Photography by Tim Adey.
Last time I went to Latitude it was a mere toddler of a festival… way back in 2007 it was still possible to roam freely amongst thin crowds and I remember commenting back then that the secret wouldn’t last long. 30,000 people attended the fifth Latitude, held in the rolling wooded grounds of Henham Park which belong to an eccentric sheepfarming millionaire known as the Aussie Earl. Every year the sheep are famously dyed various shades of pastel then penned into small enclosures surrounded by signs Do Not Feed The Sheep. There’s something quite ironic in the exoticisation of such a common animal, but then again most middle class urbanites have little cause for close contact with their food. Reading through tweets on my way to the festival I laughed at one suggestion that a bunch of hippies were clogging up the local roads… nothing could be further from the truth. Latitude is famously the home of the well read intellectual classes, a fact which was mentioned on repeat throughout the whole festival.
Nigel Kennedy by Jenny Costello.
Despite a lack of line up on Thursday evening most punters had already set up camp by the time we arrived. Like Glastonbury, early crowds baying for entertainment guaranteed a packed audience for the few shows being staged. Our first stop was Nigel Kennedy, playing with The Orchestra of Life and visiting Polish musicians on the Lake Stage: the gig was attended by an all age crowd, a significant feature of the entire festival. Nigel romped through a selection of Duke Ellington jazz standards before crashing into a barndancing favourite that had the crowd hooting in delight. In between he flirted salaciously with a lady in the crowd and swore copiously. As Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray was later overheard saying – it’s a pity Nigel has to open his mouth. It was a bit like Madonna at the Turner Prize trying a bit too hard to be hard. But I liked the ceilidh classic – more of that please. Try as I might I just can’t get into the jazz thing.
Latitude crowds by Paul Shinn.
Large parts of Henham Park forest have been opened up to accommodate more theatre, and down amongst the towering trees we were ushered into the heaving theatre arena for Les Enfants Terribles: The Vaudevillians. It was certainly terrible. Despite being billed as “a unique and exciting night out” I was only able to watch ten minutes before I was so bored and unexcited out of my brain that we had to leave.
A pretty picture of flags at Latitude. Photography by Tim Adey.
Instead we paid a visit to Robin Ince in the Literary Arena. Robin Ince is the literary high priest of Latitude – he was holding court whenever I went past despite his assertion (in my recent interview with him) that he would be spending less time on stage this year. Joining him were a wide range of comedians and writers over the course of the festival, and it made me smile to hear him delivering more of his climate change material to a packed audience.
Tom Jones by Abby Wright.
Tom Jones sans hair dye was of course the big act to appear on Thursday night – clearly a last minute addition designed to promote his new album Praise & Blame. Even before we approached the lake I realised we might have trouble attending his bijoux gig on the In The Woods stage. Many thousands of people + small stage = frustrated pile up. We took the back route up to the guest area where we listened from behind the fence once they had sorted out screeching feedback, and could just discern a frenzy of enthusiastic front row teenagers screaming Sex Bomb. There was to be no Sex Bomb. One man was overheard commenting that his new bluesy songs sounded “like Johnny Cash on a downer”, but I quite liked them. Security spent the whole gig shining torches at anyone who dared get close the fence. Since I couldn’t see anything I fell asleep on the ground. Thanks for the soothing lullabies Tom.
I’ve reviewed all other days according to genre. Why not get started on my Friday Music Review here?
Tags:
Abby Wright, Barndancing, blues, ceilidh, Duke Ellington, In The Woods, jazz, Jenny Costello, Johnny Cash, Lake Stage, Latitude Festival, Literary Arena, Madonna, Nigel Kennedy, Paul Shinn, Praise & Blame, Robin Ince, Sex Bomb, The Orchestra of Life, Tim Adey, Tom Jones, Turner Prize
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- An interview with ace comedian and Latitude regular Robin Ince.
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I know you can’t be everywhere at once but its a shame you missed Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, who played as part of a Blues Brothers-themed night on the Film and Music tent. A family of young/teenage siblings playing authentic raucous 50’s rock and roll, amongst other traditional styles. The tent was packed and they brought the house down. Undoubtedly the musical highlight of the entire festival for me.
Hi Jamie, thanks for your comment and very good suggestion – I did actually pop into the tent when they were playing, but it was hot and sweaty and I’ve seen them play many times before – I actually first discovered them about four years ago and put them in issue 08 of Amelia’s Magazine – available here: http://www.ameliasmagazine.com/shop/Magazines/c1/p27/Amelia&%2339;s-Magazine-Issue-8/product_info.html They are indeed fabulous!