This is likely to be my last post before going to latitude as the rate at which I get these things out I’ll likely not write another before it. The thing about writing about which bands to see at Latitude is that I don’t really know where to start as the festival has got pretty much every single one of my favourite bands, or at least most of them. So bands that you should watch if you are going to latitude, I’ll do it stage by stage, probably the easiest.
The Obelisk Arena
The Saturday headliner for a start are ones to watch, well they are probably the reason you got a ticket, I know they were a major reason why I got mine, Belle and Sebastian, they haven’t toured in years and this is their first gig since the last time they played, so it should be something special, and I’ve heard somewhere that they are going to have an orchestra on stage, amazing! Then there is Laura Marling playing on Friday, it’s going to be the first time I see her and I cannot wait, I’ve watched her live, heard people talk about it, read about her live performances and they all say how fantastic she is, so another I’ll be really looking forward to. Another really good band on the Friday is the Unthanks, Northumberland folksters, who were Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, but then they realised they all had amazing voices and so it was fairer to call them the Unthanks, at least that’s the story I concocted in my head. I’ll go on to Saturday now, I’ve already mentioned the headliner but there are some other great acts on earlier in the day, starting with John Grant, one of Bella Union’s finest, just released an album, Queen of Denmark, which is fantastic, he was in 90’s band the Czars, he has played with Midlake (I’ll come to them in a bit) and they feature in the album, they toured together recently also, he is one you should really really watch. Then there is Frank Turner, need I say more, he has a fantastic rapport with the crowd, and a loyal following that makes any live performance by him just that bit more special, and he’s coming to Liverpool in December, hell yeah! After Frank comes James, Mancunian Indie forefathers, as they are called on the Latitude website, I reckon they’d be well worth a watch. And so we march into Sunday, nearly all of the bands are worth seeing perhaps only Vampire Weekend, the headliner is one that I wouldn’t choose to see. my pick of the lineup there though would be Midlake, fantastic harmonies, brilliant americana folk music, they are rather great, their album ‘The Courage of Others’ is perhaps one of my favourite albums of the first half of the year. GO see them, don’t miss out! Also Mumford and Sons are on that day, they are the forerunners now in the resurgent british folk scene, with their latest tour selling out rather quickly, really good stuff, and looking forward to hearing some new songs which I hope they will play, the one flaw in that plan is that I don’t actually know if they have written any new stuff so we’ll have to wait and see. Others to see on the sunday are Temper Trap and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
The Word Arena
The National, The National, The National … er someones a little excited, they are the headline act for the Friday, and what can I say, with their brilliant indie-rockness they are surely going to be one of the great bands at Latitude this year. Other bands of note on the Friday are Villagers, Bright Eyes-esque indie-folky stuff, and Richard Hawley who is just really good. Onto Saturday, Frightened Rabbit, Scottish rocky music kind of, but not heavy or anything they are just a great band to see live, you can read my review of them at Liverpool somewhere on this thing. The other band on the Saturday to see is Noah and the Whale, really good live they are up in the top three gigs I went to last year. Sunday, this day brings us The Antlers, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The Coral, Jonsi and Grizzly Bear, what a good line up.
The Sunrise Arena
This is my favourite stage, tucked away in the woods it is more intimate than the other two, and the bands playing there this year suit it to a t. On the Friday go and sit down and relax while watching Holly Miranda’s lovely floaty airy music, then the antipidean The Middle East, and the perfectly lovely Lissie, I’ll be there watching them, will you? On the Saturday First Aid Kit are there, after having some trouble getting to Latitude last year, something to do with flights, they are coming and playing much higher up the bill on this stage, well last year they were supposed to open it on one of the days, now they are second from the top. That shows how much the sisters have done in the last year, I suppose the biggest thing that helps them is the release of there wonderful album The Big, The Black and The Blue. When I went to see them at the Deaf Institue in Manchester they were superb and I can’t think of a better setting for their lovely harmonics other than the Sunrise Arena at Latitude, I’m making a big claim here, I think they will be one of my highlights of the weekend. On the Sunday check out Jesca Hoop, the American singer songwriter who Guy Garvey persuaded to move to Manchester because he loved her music so much, and what higher praise can you get than that of Mr Garvey’s, one of the best songwriters around at the moment.
The Lake Stage
Curated by Huw Stephens from the BBC, this stage is where there are bands that he thinks will be big, and with the likes of Frankie and the Heartstrings, loveable Sunderland indie-popsters, Everything Everything, Esben and the Witch, Beth Jeans Houghton and Tom Williams and the Boat there are some great acts lined up, admittedly I haven’t heard many of the other bands but I’ll report back and let you know what they are like.
That concludes the music at Latitude, or at least I thought that was the case until yesterday when it was announce the legend that is Sir Tom of Jones is doing a midnight set in the woods on the Thursday night, something which I think cannot be missed. But Latitude is more than just music, with great comedy too from Ardal O’Hanlon, Richard Herring, Mark Watson, Kevin Eldon and Josie Long, who incidently writes in a rather good Alan Moore comic called Dodgem Logic, it’s got some really good articles and stuff in, check it out. If none of the music or comedy takes your fancy then you can always lie down and enjoy some Poetry, the compere Luke Wright is really good, and on the Friday Eddy Argos from Art Brut is there, that could be rather good, or you could go to literature tent and catch a book club, they are well worth it, with Robin Ince and friends, people like Phil Jupitus, Josie Long, Gavin Osborn, see at least one of them if you can. Also at midnight on all three nights Gavin Osborn and Daniel Kitson are performing Stories For the Starlit Sky, that should be good and funny, especially because they are both so good, Gavin Osborn probably being my favourite thing last year at the festival. So thats it, well, actually there is so much to write about Latitude I could go on for ages but I shant, this’ll do. It’s only in less than two weeks maybe I’ll see you there? Oh and you can win tickets to it from the BBC here, the ever wonderful 6Music is giving them away.
We Sat Staring at the Stars 