LATITUDE FESTIVAL (GIGWISE BLOGGER)
Henham Park, Suffolk, 17/07/2008 - 20/07/2008
Review by Adam Murcutt
Pink sheep, beautiful lakes, eerie woods. Theatre, cabaret, poetry and literature. Did I mention music? The Go! Team and British Sea Power got things moving on the Obelisk Stage, setting the scene for Friday headliners Franz Ferdinand. In between BSP and FF, I hot-footed it to the film arena to watch London band Invasion provide music for a series of brilliant short films.
Saturday, it don't matter day. Right, the yellow skinny jeans are coming out to play, this is serious. We head to the main stage where White Lies are opening the day. They look and sound like a watered down Joy Division but that's what makes them so good. Their music is more suited to dark, dingy derelict venues but even in the blazing sunshine they were still wonderfully miserable. The Coral and Seasick Steve are just what the doctor ordered and Elbow sound majestic in the glorious settings, putting everyone in the mood for Icelands own Sigur Ros. Soundscapes, landscapes, fire escapes and renault espaces are all evoked by this wonderful music but to be honest I find it all quite boring. I've never liked Iceland since Kerry Katona started doing the adverts. I went over to the Uncut arena to watch 15 mins of Mars Volta which was actually just one song with a 8 minute guitar solo and a 7 minute saxophone solo. Mmmmm heavy metal jazz. Nice.
Sunday starts with Joanna Newsom plucking at her harp (not a euphemism). It's an absolutely divine way to start the day and leads us nicely onto Foals. Lead singer Yannis was in a bad mood onstage, despite the adoration given to him from the 'crazy kids' down the front. Security weren't expecting any crowd surfing this weekend so they weren't fully prepared for the onslaught of wave after wave of 12 year olds flinging themselves over the barrier like lemmings in the popular Atari game. Yannis later told me how they'd had a fight the night before with Jonny Rotten and his entourage which explained their bad moods.
As we walked to the Uncut arena my girlfriend Claire tells me I'm only allowed to wear my sunglasses inside the arena if James from Glasvegas is wearing his. Unfortunately, James let me down. However, I forgive him due to him and his band being the best thing since sliced cake. Speaking of the Scottish contingent, some people don't like Irvine Welsh books because of the indecipherable Edinburgh dialect. After meeting him backstage, I can say he's exactly the same in person. He did say something to me about my yellow jeans but as I couldn't make out what he said I'll just take it as a compliment.
Headlining tonight are doom merchants Interpol and singer Paul Banks is rocking the Dennis Pennis look, and he's rocking it good. Despite the rain, its a great way to end this fantastic Latitude 2008 weekend.
Review by Adam Murcutt 06/08/2008
