Live Review

Latitude – Henham Park, Suffolk

• 22nd Jul 2010

With the sun beaming down on Latitude, the festival really kicked off on Friday. With people being let into the arena from 11, things started slow as punters made their way exploring the nooks and crannies of the site, finding wonderful delights such as The Literary Arena, the gem of The Sunrise Arena, and the warming Poetry tent. The first band we ventured out to see where Yuck, a band highly praised this year. Their set seemed alright as a starting point, but the bar needed to be set higher. Next up was Spoon, playing a delightful show at the Obelisk Arena, followed by Laura Marling, playing to her biggest crowd ever, easing and relaxing everyone into the festival. Trouble came at Sunrise when I Blame Coco was delayed due to problems with the tent, though when she finally did, the crowd were all more than eager. Wild Beasts were next to venture onto the lovely Lake Stage who received a good reception and played a good set, then to be followed by one of the most moving sets of the weekend, from Girls. The five piece played a selection of tracks from their brilliant record ‘Album’. The evening was then glistened off with a stonking set from Florence & The Machine at The Obelisk Arena, and a well performed set from an almost as packed Word Tent, with The National. After all this, Smash And Grab and White Wedding delighted through the many early morning hours.

Sun shining once again, the day set off slowly with Friday hangovers being nurtured, first band to witness were School Of Seven Bells, who’s set seemed to lack any energy, which was a shame. Followed by a brief acquaintance with local lads The Cads, followed by a delightful walk around the site, allowing me self to explore everything on offer. Theatre was of a prominent significance to the festival, with performances on throughout the day around the woods and other places. After the brief interlude of live music it was over to Sunrise for an invigorating set from O Children, featuring there brilliant new single ‘Ruins’. Then a quick skip over to word for Frightened Rabbit who i was eager to hear, who luckily pulled things off. Madness occurred towards the evening, with The Maccabees livening up the younger crowd at Obelisk, followed by an insanely messy crowd for Crystal Castles, who walked off stage 20 minutes early after Alice Glass was reportedly grouped. Luckily enough, this left time to enjoy The Horrors, topped off with what i thought a fairly disappointing set from The XX, finishing abruptly as the crowd just started to sooth to them..

Sunday came as easily the best day for bands, with 3 of my favourite performances from the weekend all on the day. A musically haunting set from The Antlers set the day off perfectly, eyes gushing, we headed over to Liberty Vessels, an enthusiastic 16 year old group from Liverpool who enlightened the crowd, described as the new Joy Division. Annoyingly Egyptian Hip Hop disappointed with a lack lust approach to their performance, followed by an almost as shabby set from Dirty Projectors on the main stage. Luckily These New Puritans picked things up, as did the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, leading into a night of great shows from The Coral, Darwin Deez, and the stunning Jonsi. The end of the whole weekend rounded off well with Vampire Weekend doing a hit filled site packed with tracks from both Contra and their first album. Grizzly bear also impressed playing crowd favourite ‘Two Weeks’ among other tracks. Finishing both their summer stint of shows and Latitude.