Latitude Festival, 13-15th July 2007

In only it's second year and Latitude is already looking like a success. Last year I unfortunately missed most of the festival but this year I managed to take in the whole event. The first thing you notice about Latitude is the picturesque site it's situated on- grassy slopes, forest and a winding river running through. I've only been to two other festival sites but it's obvious that Latitude is one of the more aesthetically pleasing festivals in the UK at the moment.
There were some bands I missed that I would have liked to have seen, including Midlake, Bat for Lashes, Camera Obscura, Scott Matthews and Final Fantasy, but overall I saw a good selection. There were other attractions such as the poetry, cabaret, theatre, comedy and music and film tents, but for me it was really about the music on offer. I managed to see a few bits and pieces at the music and film tent, such as the recent Joe Strummer documentary and a distinctly odd dance homage to Metropolis, but the comedy tent was out of bounds. Even with the poor comics the comedy tent was overflowing, so it was essentially avoided. Friday was a bit of a slow start with only Tinariwen and New Young Pony Club seen. Tinariwen brought some exoticism to proceedings, but the lead singer wore a bemused expression throughout that probably betrayed the fact that he was looking out into into a sea of white middle class faces. Still, I took some amusement from some of the audience members attempts at North African dancing. NYPC closing the Sunrise Arena managed to get the crowd going, and seemed to carry some decent songs.
On Saturday the quality of the bands started picking up. Herman Dune, the Scandinavians, had some nice, breezy tunes but I'm reliably informed by my brother that they've "sold out". Next on the Obelisk Stage was the Hold Steady (Springsteen wants his B-sides back), and then Clap your hands say yeah, who I had been looking forward to after enjoying thier debut album. They were quite good, but danced off the stage by a boisterous CSS, who were one of the most fun performers at Latitude. I then headed off to see Rodrigo y Gabriela headlining the Uncut Stage. From the moment they walked on stage the crowd was roaring and clapping, which kinda surprised me as I hadn't really gaged their popularity. I enjoyed their energetic performance, but felt theit guitar playing was a bit sloppy at times and they could do with a bit more practice. Just kidding!
Sunday got off to a great start with Silversun Pickups, an LA band who are probably doing a better job of being Smashing Pumpkins at the moment than the Pumpkins themselves. They were pretty and noisy. Special praise goes to their awesome drummer, though. Looking more like a machine than a man, his fast and furious strokes were emphasised by his wild hair spinning round and round, seemingly moving and static at the same time. Ahem. Anyway, away from mesmerising hair was Au Revoir Simone, who I couldn't help but feel sorry for. The only band who I saw who had to contend with a sudden downpour of rain, their problems were accentuated by some technical difficulties. Their synthy pop was pleasant but not exactly jawdropping. The National, who have often been mentioned in the same circles as Interpol, proved good value with their angsty lyrics and melancholic, clanging guitars. Then followed The Rapture, a band I had seen live recently, so I knew they would put in a good performance. Like CSS, they got the crowds dancing and Gabe Andruzzi's robotic/Napoleon Dynamite dancing was a highlight. Jarvis Cocker is always an interesting performer, and he didn't disappoint. Peppering his set with musings about the weather and boats, he was an amusing presence. His band finished on a high note with a rendition of 'Eye of the tiger', which was a pleasant surprise. Ending the festival were Arcade Fire, who I was seeing for the second time. I really don't think they are capable of a bad performance, such is the energy and enthusiasm running through the band. Although Neon Bible is a slightly disappointing follow-up to Funeral, the songs worked well on stage and my only regret is that they didn't play 'My body is a cage', one of my highlights of their sophomore album. A fantastic end to the festival, Arcade Fire's set was uniformly awe-inspiring.

Highly recommended.