Latitude 2015 - in full

Saturday started with Badly Drawn Boy’s much anticipated performance of his classic album The Hour of Bewilderbeast on the Obelisk stage. The field was busy…this was a very ‘Latitude’ act. Considering the band had only been playing together for a few weeks they sounded tight. Damon’s voice was spot on in tune, but perhaps not the strongest or loudest or most impactful of the weekend. It was lovely to have a little sing along and hear those great, sweet songs played live though. He decided to cause a bit of trouble towards the end of his set, and dropped the ‘c’ bomb as well as having a go at Latitude, so not sure how that might have affected others’ opinions of his set, but for me, it was nice to see a bit of a rock n roll attitude. On to Sun Kil Moon in the 6Music tent, where there was only a small crowd to hear Mark Kozelek’s dark, melodic, moving songs. Perhaps it just wasn’t quite the right time for the Latitude crowds…his music should ideally be listened to at night, sitting on a porch, looking at the stars. Definitely someone to see on another occasion though. I headed on to The Twilight Sad up at the iArena, where a nice sized crowd awaited, despite hot upcoming act Wolf Alice playing at the same time. This miserable (in a good way) post punk Scottish group totally delivered; I couldn’t take my eyes off frontman James Graham. Never have I seen someone feel their music so strongly on stage or throw down their mic to bellow the vocals at the audience with his whole heart and soul. It was extraordinary. They seemed overwhelmed with the positive response, but it was very well deserved. Good for fans of The National or Joy Division. Also I should tell you, their recorded music is not half as good as seeing them live…they are VERY loud. Next was The Charlatans in the 6 Music tent; so full I couldn’t even get in, but loitered on the outskirts, lapping up a greatest hits set which included North Country Boy and Just When You’re Thinking Things Over. They really should’ve been on the Obelisk. The sound was tight and Tim owned the stage. Then over to catch James Blake on the Obelisk stage, who seemed much more confident than he used to be, with a smile on his face for most of the set and some happy banter with the audience. He played some classics and some fresh tunes, and promised a new album is on its way. The sound was beefy and his harmonies and voice angelic; the perfect music for sunset.

There was a definite split in Latitude’s crowds for Saturday night, with the younger lot over at The Vaccines in the 6Music tent, and the olds at Portishead on the Obelisk. I was mega excited to see them after many years of enjoying their music. Visually they were stunning, with black and red the theme, and the projections of live footage taken from the stage interspersed with pre recorded video…one section particularly politically charged, showing Cameron with glowing eyes. The crowd loved it. Soundwise it was absolutely beautiful. Clear, loud, stark, spot on. You can tell those guys really know how to play. Beth Gibbons’ voice was as tortured as ever, and despite saying they were nervous, they seemed to be pretty confident to me. During the 90 minute set which seemed to last only seconds I was so engrossed, all the hits were rolled out…Glorybox, Sour Times, Wandering Star and a rousing and aggressive Machine Gun with bright white lights attacking us from the stage. As if it wasn’t exciting enough to see this legendary trip hop group play live, Thom Yorke appeared onstage to sing with Beth on The Rip from their third album. ACTUAL THOM YORKE. Best surprise ever. It doesn’t get any better than that. Or does it? The rumour that he was playing his new album at the tiny iArena tent in the woods at 00:30 has been flying around all afternoon, and so an attempt was made to get there. However the woodland path up to the stage was completely jammed with people. The dust was rising. The light was dim. There was no way we were going to get in. So we eventually and sadly admitted defeat. But still, the fact that we’d seen him sing with Portishead was so thrilling, and a real once in a lifetime experience. And here endeth Saturday.

 Lizz

Sunday July 19th

Sitting in a field under the baking sun is about as far removed from the normal gig experience as you can get but Daptones Records artist Naomi Shelton &The Gospel Queens provided the perfect soundtrack. A classy set of rock ‘n’ soul with Naomi’s voice seemingly untroubled by the passing of time, this was the perfect way to start the day. Next up were The Boomtown Rats. I’m old enough to remember the Rats when they were chart regulars and Bob Geldof was merely their lead singer, but it took a while to remember this as it’s been so long since Bob has been famous for just his music. He certainly looked the part in his faux snakeskin suit, but a muddy sound took the edge off the start of the set. Slowly things settled down and the Rats impressed with a particularly good rendition of Like Clockwork reminding us of their former glories. My schedule didn’t allow me to see the full set though and as they played I Don’t Like Mondays I headed off to the DIY curated Alcove stage. Scottish indie trio Tuff Love played a solid 30 minutes of 90’s influenced fuzzy shoegaze. Growing in confidence throughout their set, the only aspect of their sound which I found lacking were the weak vocals which needed more conviction, but expect to see them playing at a Pony Up night in Norwich soon.

Time to get serious now – into the 6 Music tent for the majestic Young Fathers. Their recent Arts Centre show was one of the best gigs I have seen in the past five years and once again they delivered a hypnotic performance of the highest intensity and passion. Playing to a packed tent with a lot of people obviously seeing them for the first time it was brilliant to watch them step up with ease to a bigger stage. Eventually the masses will catch up with one of the best British live acts around. I stumbled out wondering if I’d just seen the best band of the day. An hour’s gap allowed for some food and a sit down before heading back to the Alcove for Bad Breeding. Their 20 minute set at last year’s Norwich Sound & Vision is something I will never forget but this was bettered by an astonishing 30 minute aural assault. Confrontational to the max, the look of excitement and fear etched onto the faces of the teens at the front as frontman Chris Dodd prowled amongst them was priceless. He just has that knack of making people feel uncomfortable. Aggressive and loud, bringing to mind early Discharge, this most un-Latitude of bands delivered something that felt genuinely thrilling. They make Slaves look like The Wombles. They are possibly the only band out there to rival the focused rage of Sleaford Mods. Again, I wondered if I’d just seen the band of the day. A real gear change next for La Roux in the 6 Music tent. I’m not sure what it is that makes me love La Roux so much, but as with her UEA show last year, she once again delivered an hour of pop perfection. The hits from the first album still get the biggest crowd reaction (Bulletproof was one of the songs of the day) but the second album is much better and it is those songs which provided the majority of the set. The tent was rammed and La Roux and her excellent band seemed genuinely blown away by the response they got. Here’s hoping for some new material next year. After failing to get into the Other Voices tent (sorry East India Youth) I headed over to the Film Tent for drum ‘n’ bass overlord Roni Size. I’ve never fully forgiven myself for missing his show in Norwich when his New Forms album came out so it was a chance to finally lay those demons to rest – and then some. The tent was jumping as I arrived and very soon I had completely lost it, breakin’ out some moves that haven’t seen the light of day for many years. With full live band in tow, Roni was simply incredible, and I could have happily spent the rest of the night immersed in the show. For the third time I was thinking I’d probably just witnessed the band of the day.

The need for more electronica trumped my need for trad-rock (sorry Noel) so I squeezed my way into the 6 Music tent for one last visit to catch SBTRKT. Not the sort of thing I would necessarily listen to at home, but in a festival setting it proved the perfect way to end the day – Aaron Jerome using a live band to fully bring his glitchy dub step to life. It was very impressive, very euphoric and just a few notches down from the intensity of Roni Size to help us all on our way home. As it turned out Latitude had one last surprise in store and I found myself at the iArena in the woods watching all female jazz septet Nerija. This really was the perfect musical palate cleanser, at times bringing to mind On The Corner era Miles Davis jazz fusion. I really don’t know much about this band but I will certainly be investigating further. I still can’t decide who played the best set – Young Fathers, Bad Breeding and Roni Size will have to fight it out amongst themselves. La Roux and SBTRKT followed closely behind and Nerija were the unexpected treat. And here endeth Latitude 2015.

Stuart (@StuPres)