THE SUMMER BALL 2001

On Friday 15th June 2001 I went once again to the Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education Summer Ball. This years event boasted to be the biggest in the country, and the bands that performed this year included, "THE CHIP SHOP BOYS", "BOOM", "ATOMIC KITTEN", "DUM DUMS", "HEAR' SAY", and "CHICANE".

I arrived at the Race Course (which was where it was held) at 4.50 pm and at 5.30 pm "THE CHIP SHOP BOYS" came on stage for their first performance, and they were their usual good selves.

After they performed for about 50 minutes we had what I regarded as the worst band of the evening "BOOM" whom if there had been a crowd I reckon would have been BOO-ED off stage, just as well they were only on for about 15 minutes.

Then it was back to "THE CHIP SHOP BOYS" before "ATOMIC KITTEN" came on stage. This was nearly as bad as "BOOM" as they were, in true 'Top Of The Pops' style, miming to the records.

It was then time for "THE DUM DUMS" which in my opinion was the best band of the night as they played all their own instruments and did not use backing tapes at all plus they gave it their all.

We were then treated to about a 30 minute performance from "HEAR' SAY" who were surprisingly better than I expected as they were able to sing. However this performance was spoiled for me by the fact that one of the security people stood in the way of me being able to see properly.

The last act of the evening came from "CHICANE" whom would have been alright if their tunes did not all sound the same.

I left the race course around 12.30 am.