Latitude Festival 2008

Latitude Festival 2008 News page 2008.latitudefestival.co.uk en Festival Republic Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:38:20 GMT Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:38:20 GMT 60 Latitude 2009 Yes, it's that time already...get your tickets now. For all you Latitude lovers, a limited number of 2009 tickets will go on sale on Monday 21st July at 6pm.  Tickets are available at this year's prices for 16th, 17,th, 18th, & 19th July 2009: - £130 Weekend - £130 Family* - £10 Campervans and Caravans - standard - £10 Campervans and Caravans - family - £15 Lockers - FREE Child tickets, but you must indicate the number of children attending when booking  IMPORTANT Please note: Groups or indiviuals arriving without children will need to purchase a standard ticket and will not be able to enter the Family Campsite. In addition, you will be unable to pitch a tent in advance of your family's arrival. Photo credit: Mairead Palmer Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-28T00:00:00 9b2a3f3f-eba6-4e2d-947c-9e6b45a6128b 1 Pimm's Summerfest If you liked the Comedy Arena at Latitude....check out our new Comedy Festival Coming to London’s beautiful Holland Park this summer…five hamper-sized evenings of top flight comedy as 25 of the world’s most talented comedians take over one of London’s best-loved parks for a week of open-air hilarity, picnics and conviviality. Running from August 27th to the 31st, the festival boasts a cracking line-up that includes Doug Stanhope, Puppetry Of The Penis, Jeremy Hardy, Jo Brand, Otis Lee Crenshaw, plus Russell Kane, If.Comedy Winner/Nominee 2008, Stephen Lynch, Russell Howard, Kevin Eldon, Lucy Porter, Jenny Eclair, Chris Addison, Robin Ince, Mark Steel and Rhona Cameron. Tickets are £22.50* from <a href="http://seetickets.com/see/event.asp?e%7Cartist=PIMM%27S+SUMMERFEST+%2D+A+WEEK+OF+LAUGHTER&n|artist=null&resultsperpage=20&filler1=see&filler2=art-srch">www.seetickets.com</a> or from 0871 231 0821 <a href="http://www.PimmsSummerFest.com">www.PimmsSummerFest.com</a>  *Online booking fees apply. Jennifer Roberts General Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-25T00:00:00 c3965946-42f3-43e4-9c46-80bd786d912a 2 BAFTA Highlights For the second year running BAFTA was at Latitude Festival bringing an incredible series of events to festival goers. BAFTA presented a dynamic series of film-related events at Latitude Festival in 2008 - all within the beautiful surroundings of Henham Park in Suffolk. The full line up: An extraordinary outdoor screening of E A Dupont’s classic silent film Moulin Rouge (1928) with live music accompaniment from the Matrix Ensemble conducted by Robert Ziegler (score by Mike Westbrook) A preview screening of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging followed by a Q&A with the director Gurinder Chadha discussing her film career. The Q&A was hosted by actor Alan Davies who stars in the film. Producer Adrian Sturges and actor Liam Cunnigham discussing the making of The Escapist. The Q&A was hosted by Jason Solomons and the crowd was treated to a screening of the film itself. BAFTA Chief Executive Amanda Berry was delighted to be returning to the Festival for a second year: "Latitude gives us the perfect forum to give the public the opportunity to ask questions, learn about creating excellence and inspire both audiences and film-makers of the future." <a href="http://www.bafta.org//learning/webcasts/bafta-at-latitude-2008,463,BA.html">Click here to watch the highlights</a> Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-08-04T00:00:00 269f556e-7d6c-4ed9-ac1c-0da89305fd5b 3 Family Camping & Child Tickets (free U13) If you have a child of 12 or under, you must register them for a FREE ticket Family Camping Family camping is for families with children under 13. There is no additional cost and it is not compulsory to stay in family camping, but when you register your children under 13, you will be sent tickets that entitle you to use family camping, if you wish to. Those wishing to stay in the 'Family Campsite' must be accompanied by (arrive with) children 16 years or younger. There will be a dedicated family campsite within the public camping area.  There is also a family campervan area within family camping. If you intend on staying in a campervan or caravan within the Family campervan area, you must have children under 13, and comply with the Terms & Conditions for Campervans/Caravans <a href="http://media.livenation.co.uk/fido/publishing/content/b/e/r/C&C-T&Cs-LATITUDEFESTIVAL_2008.pdf">HERE</a> It will have improved access to toilets / showers / water point and other village facilities and will be approx.  250m walk to the arena entrance. It doesn't have its own car park but there will be wheelbarrows available to use to transport your things from the car to the campsite. Ask traffic marshalls to direct you to Green Car Park 1 and Green Car Park 2 to be nearest the family camping entrance. Children’s Tickets Children under the age of 13 (ie 12 and under) are free but you must register for a ticket for them. All tickets are then swapped for a wristband onsite. This helps us monitor numbers and lost children are easily returned to their parents. When buying tickets for you and children under the age of 13 (i.e. 12 and under), you must select ‘WEEKEND CAMPING - FAMILY' , then choose the number of adults attending (£130 each*) and the number of children under 13 attending (free). Once your booking has been confirmed you will receive a booking reference and your tickets will be dispatched closer to the event. Depending on your point of purchase of your full price tickets the Child Tickets may arrive separately.  Should you experience problems with your booking please email <a href="mailto:info@latitudefestival.co.uk">info@latitudefestival.co.uk</a> or call our Info line on 020 7009 3001. Please add <a href="mailto:childticket@latitudefestival.co.uk">childticket@latitudefestival.co.uk</a> to your address book to ensure you booking confirmation is not read as spam when sent. If you have purchased your ticket anywhere other than See Tickets and wish to apply for a Child (Free) Ticket please email <a href="mailto:childticket@latitudefestival.co.uk">childticket@latitudefestival.co.uk</a> Please include the following information in your email request: - Number of tickets required (maximum 6 per household) - Name of outlets the full price tickets were purchased - Ticket numbers or booking reference of the adult ticket booking - Postal address and contact name to deliver the tickets. * Booking online is subject to a booking fee. Jennifer Roberts General Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:30:00 GMT 2008-07-24T00:30:00 799e28ae-66d3-4055-864d-868dc2ad936f 4 Lost Property Left anything at Latitude? The contact details for post show lost property queries is via email to <a href="mailto:laurenrayner@aol.com">laurenrayner@aol.com</a> or by post to 23 Mill Lane, Wrentham, Beccles, Suffolk NR34 7JQ Jennifer Roberts General Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMT 2008-07-31T06:00:00 a061e570-1336-4745-83ae-a96840265870 1000000 IMPORTANT TICKET INFO Beware of unauthorised ticket agencies including eBay, buying from them can be a lot of trouble - You are likely to pay over the odds for a ticket that will have never existed or might never materialise. Beware of unauthorised ticket agencies including eBay, buying from them can be a lot of trouble - You are likely to pay over the odds for a ticket that will have never existed or might never materialise. Most notable of these sites are: SOS Ticketmaster (not to be confused withTicketmaster who are the real agent) readingfestivaltickets.co.uk leedsfestival.net Westminster Events, Get Me Tickets , Splendid Tickets, Herts Box Office Click For Tickets, London Ticket Shop, anyworldwideevent.com ticketssoldout.co.uk, TicketSolutions, Tickettout.com, TicketsUK Double 8 Tickets, London Ticket Shop, Ebay, Gumtree, Viagogo, Seatwave, Stubhub,BritishConcerts.com, GetMeTickets,Tickettout.com, No1soldoutevents.com, Sold Out Events, Tickets UK, Click for Tickets , Herts Box Office, XclusiveTicket.com, Summer Festival Tickets.com, Corporate Box Office, Ticket 4-you, Euro team,Everysell.com, Anyticket.com, Getmein.com,showtime, Tickco.com, London Ticket Express Additional Unauthorised Sites: Anyone advertised on Readingfestival.org - this is not an authorised site. <a href="http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/consumer_protection/ticketagentquestions.pdf">More tout info from Office of Fair Trading - please read</a>                                ~ . ~ We are currently looking into companies selling 'touted' tickets and we are doing what we can to stop fraudulent activity. FURTHER INFORMATION & CONTACTS:  If you feel a victim of these companies we suggest a number of actions: 1.Call the police; if your money has been taken and no product delivered, this is theft. 2.Report the company to the Trading Standards 3.Contact the BBC's watchdog programme 4.Contact the websites' Internet Service Providers as they have obligations to ensure they are not publishing fraudulent and illegal activity. HELPFUL LINKS:  <a href="http://events.admin.ln-trust.com/publishing/artiste/v/e/m/LatitudeAgents2008-2.pdf">Latitude Full Authorised Agent List</a> <a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/RightsAndResponsibilities/RightsAndResponsibilitiesArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10015892&chk=I8hfA1">Trading Standards website customer accounts of GetMeTickets</a>  <a href="http://www.easynet.com/legal/acceptable.asp">Easynets Acceptable use policy, Service provider of GetMeTickets</a>  <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/">BBC Watchdog</a> <a href="http://media.livenation.co.uk/fido/publishing/news/s/b/m/2008 Unauthorised Ticket Agents and Ticket Touting.pdf">Full Festival Republic PDF information on Unauthorised Ticket Agents</a> Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:30:00 GMT 2008-07-28T00:30:00 ec3c7c3b-0445-456d-8b4d-32dc21d8524a 1000000 Interpol ~ Obelisk Arena Interpol are certainly a change form the headliners the previous night, the ethereal Sigur Ros. Being guitar driven, there is plenty of scope for movement here, a perfect end to a great festival, ready for some loose-limb action. Performing tracks from their respective discographies, they make great choices in providing opportunities for a good ol’ sing-a-long, from Slow Hands, The Heinrich Manoeuvre and (another) favourite, Evil. A lot of people have turned up in the sporadic rain showers and cold opting to be here instead of Blondie under the save haven of a tent. Paul Banks’ haunting vocals are gripping as is their stage presence which is certainly in line with their demeanour – one of maintaining an air of mystery, secrecy whilst insisting on a certain cold distancing from the crowd. However, this is the way they are, the way they choose to present themselves, what makes them stand out. This is Interpol. And it is clear to see it doesn’t hinder the crowd from engaging with the band as is marked by the enthusiasm as Interpol come on for the encore.  Aysha Hussain Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:45:00 GMT 2008-07-20T23:45:00 4e2402e3-5c5b-40d6-b79e-9e1cde30809b 1000000 Sunday ~ Jessica Hazel's Blog The majority of today is spent lazing by the lake outside of the Pimms bus which has fast become our favourite place to snooze in the sunshine and watch the punts float by from the comfort of a deckchair, plastic glass of Pimms in hand. We manage to drag ourselves over to the Obelisk Arena in time to catch Foals' set, who are just about as knackered as we are, they tell us, following a sleepless night on an overnight flight from Spain where they did a gig and got in a fight with Johnny Rotten (and we thought you were such nice boys?). 'Cassius' and 'Red Socks Pugie' are trashed out with half their usual vigour, poor old Yannis looks like he is just about to keel over, it's a bit of a disappointment that the sprightly young Foals are playing more like knackered out old donkeys tonight, but we dance on regardless. Next up is Lykke Li in the Sunrise Arena, at sunset, in the heart of the Latitude woods, this is the perfect setting in which to watch her seeing as she is more Sprite than human and her shrill squeaks ricochet through the trees. She seems a bit disappointed that the crowd aren't all pilled up to their eyeballs and ripping their clothes off for her but nevertheless gets us all hot under the fairy wings with sensual numbers such as 'I'm Good, I'm Gone' and her single 'Little Bit'.  A bit of a gear shift in weather and mood follows with Black Lips taking to the same stage just minutes after, and the heavens open and the skies darken for the entrance of this motley crew of American outlaws. The frontman seems to have lost his trademark moustache, which comes as a bit of a shock, but we soon get over it and kick up the dust whilst jigging along to the garage rock brilliance of 'O! Katrina' and the sing-a-long joviality of 'Bad Kids'. Absolute filth and absolute brilliance. We leg it over to the Obelisk Arena for the last set of the weekend and await in the rain for the mighty Interpol to blow our minds. They spend most of their set as silhouettes in front of a psychedelic projection of light and colour. OK so they don't smile, they don't dance, nor say much or endorse any kind of bells or trimmings with their stage show, but they don't need to, songs such as 'Slow Hands' and 'No I In Threesome' speak for themselves and the driving rain only adds to the ambiance. No fireworks or explosions of confetti mark the end of Latitude but we don't really need any kind of punctuation mark on what we already know has been one of the best weekends of 2008 so far.  Jessica Hazel Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:45:00 GMT 2008-07-20T23:45:00 e9915020-73f8-44aa-a0de-7bc4368895ea 1000000 Johnny Flynn ~ Sunrise Arena A folk genius in the making You couldn’t hope for a more perfect setting for this gig. Johnny Flynn’s olde English acoustic tales of ploughs, furrows, foxes and burrows fitted perfectly with the bosky woodland location of the Sunrise Arena. Flanked by his sister Lily and a tight rhythm section (though missing a cellist through “getting beaten up in Sweden”) the up and coming troubadour breezed through a set made up of the best songs from his recent ‘A Larum’ album. Opener ‘The Box’ had the crowd onside from the outset, ‘Sally’ saw Flynn doing the most rocking performance on a violin you could imagine, and closer ‘Tickle Me Pink’ had his fans baying for more.  The crowd themselves were one of the most enthusiastic and receptive at the festival so far, cheering wildly at the end of every song . Flynn is playing another set in the Music and Film Arena on Sunday evening and, if Saturday’s performance is anything to go by, this double whammy of folksy genius will see him go down as one of the artists of the festival. Francis Whittaker Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T22:00:00 047df540-2dcc-4aa8-bedf-5c4a77ebff14 1000000 Sunday ~ Dickon Edwards's Blog How long do ducks live for...and other questions.. <div>My Sunday at Latitude seems to be about words. New uses for words, board games with words, and how best to keep an audience on your side when words let you down. Thanks to chatting backstage with the Bears in the Cabaret Tent, I've learnt some new expressions. I knew that a 'bear' is the gay slang for a large and hirsute gentleman. But it goes further than that, at least in the US gay scene. A hairy guy of leaner dimensions is known as an 'otter'. A hairy and rotund chap of advancing years is a 'polar bear' (think about it). A younger bear is called a 'cub' (which makes sense). But best of all is the epithet for a plump fellow who is not hairy at all. He is... a 'manatee'. Well, I suppose it's a Sunday School education of sorts. At noon, Joanna Newsom takes to the Obelisk Stage, and all is suddenly well with the world. Her clear, purling harp has a Pied Piper effect, drawing a vast yet uniformly attentive crowd. Judging by conversations overheard from my tent, she's made a significant amount of new converts too. 'Oh my God! Did you see that woman with the harp and the funny voice?' One of the boons of reviewing Joanna Newsom is that one feels duty bound to break open the Casket Of Flowery Adjectives. I could describe the lyric-heavy songs from her second album 'Ys' as 'verbose' or even just 'wordy'. But instead I'm going for 'prolix'. It's just that Ms Newsom's album encourages a certain stepping up to the bar: an unabashed striving for newer and more interesting way of saying things. Indeed, is there any other album in recent memory that includes the word 'spelunking'? But words can also turn against you, as she discovers during 'Sawdust & Diamonds'. Yet Joanne Newsom forgets lyrics like no one else. She pulls an incredible series of mortified grimaces, bashful smirks and makes little-girl yelps when the song eludes her for the umpteenth time. And the audience adore for it: it only endears her further. I have friends who aren't keen on Ms Newsom's records purely down to her unusual (if admittedly divisive) singing voice. To them I say: go see her live, then judge again. Afterwards, I wander about the main arena, catching snippets here and there. Passing by the Literary Tent, I take in a single random sentence from a Lorrie Moore story, read by Juliet Stevenson for Word Theatre: "I'm interested in internal bleeding." Quite. Then I walk across to the opposite corner, to find more verbal antics: Scrabble Sunday, where people languish on the grass - I really have to use the word 'supine' here - playing the famous board game. Over to the Cabaret Tent for Patti Plinko & Her Boy. The Boy in question plays guitar and wears a gas mask, while Ms Plinko sports a polka-dot 40s vintage dress and matching hairdo. She sings in a raspy, drooling blues style while strumming a ukelele (an instrument undergoing something of a renaissance: it's everywhere this weekend). I'd say she's a bit Ute Lemper and a bit David Lynch. She provides her own comparison by covering a Tom Waits number, and it sounds like one of her own. Time for a quick name drop. During our final DJ set of the weekend as The Beautiful & Damned, Miss Red and I spin a song or two from 'Bugsy Malone'. Among those dancing is none other than the daughter of 'Bugsy' director Alan Parker. Crossing the main bridge afterwards, I'm stopped by two young men.</div> <div> 'Excuse me. Do you know how long ducks live for?' 'Um. Is this the beginning of a joke?' 'No, we're genuinely keen to know. And you look like someone who knows things.' I sense they're half mocking me for looking the way I do - the bleached hair and the suit - but also half intrigued. I think they want to say something to me - anything, and 'Why are you dressed like that?' lacks imagination. Particularly on this Wordy Sunday. I first think of shrugging the boys off and walking on, but then I realise I'm actually curious about the duck lifespan answer myself. So if their approaching me was a joke at my expense, it's backfired and mutated into an unlikely moment of shared curiosity. The Latitude effect, perhaps. 'Well... I don't know how long ducks live for. But I can find out for you if you like.' Which is true - I'm on my way to use the WiFi at the Press Tent. 'Okay', say the boys, stepping aside to let me go, like bridge-guarding trolls from fairy tales. 'But you have to tell us an unusual fact in its place.' 'Right.' I think for a moment. 'Do you know what the American gay slang is for a fat, hairless man...?' (P.S. I know that sounds like I'm making it up, but the above encounter really did happen on the Latitude Bridge on the Sunday. And I did find out how long ducks live for. It's 15-20 years, depending on the species.)</div> Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:45:00 GMT 2008-07-20T21:45:00 9a1279df-1e22-4c0a-a93a-4ab64418399a 1000000 Foals ~ Obelisk Arena Now, a band like the Foals have seen many gigs and festivals which is clear from their appearance on the main stage. They seem pretty exhausted and feel the need to justify themselves.  Having just finished playing at a festival in Spain, post numerous others, an additional explanation is given for their state which includes an encounter with Johnny Lydon’s entourage (google for more info). And thus they are forgiven as they then launch into a personal favourite, Cassius. I f you are not familiar with the Foals’ sound, they are Bloc Party-esque with more of a youthful kick. That they are here and willing to perform is something in itself which requires respect from the young crowd who are more than happy to limb-jerk with the distinct stop-start sound that the Foals are associated with and recognised by. Aysha Hussain Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T21:00:00 aee06f38-2a25-4e3e-9ccc-2c1a3365a14e 1000000 Grinderman ~ Obelisk Arena To put it very simply, I heart Nick Cave. To say that I was very excited at the prospect of seeing him live for the first time is clearly an understatement. As Nick Cave and co swagger onto the stage, it’s obvious by the crowd reaction why everyone is in love with this man. A brown pin-striped suit clad, unbuttoned Mr Cave comes on and immediately starts rocking the main stage.  Get It On is raw and fuzzy, powerfully charged as a moustachioed Nick Cave prances around stage, his energy transferring to the audience who lap up every second of attention received. Other numbers include No Pussy Blues and another favourite of mine (yes, I have many of those), Honey Bee (Let’s Fly to Mars). A rip roaring set, Nick Cave is certainly an onstage presence. The energy this gentleman exudes is one all should be envious of, the blinding showman that he is. One thing Mr Cave – when are we flying to Mars? Aysha Hussain Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:15:00 GMT 2008-07-20T20:15:00 c75f91e9-5be4-401e-ab1b-2cb0a57bdc2b 1000000 frYars ~ Sunrise Arena As frYars takes to the stage, he seems to be riddled with nerves as he mumbles apologies for the mix up in setting up equipment. Taking a swig of his beer, he composes himself as he has his laptop at the ready and his backing band ready to take their cue. As he eases into the first song, a distinct, mature voice naturally flows over the synths and keyboards. The set progresses as song after song, they build a strong momentum, never faltering. Included is a personal favourite of mine, happY, which highlights the layered sound that is somewhat of a trademark for frYars.  It’s a two-way compliment, the first time that frYars states that he has played at a festival, and Latitude Festival are certainly privileged to have a talented young soul play. If anyone is in doubt, I encourage you to have a look and listen at his myspace profile <a href="http://www.myspace.com/fryars">www.myspace.com/fryars</a>. His profile picture in particular is worthy to note. Yes, it’s him at Latitude… Aysha Hussain Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T20:00:00 999f1834-e7e3-4c9f-bd38-b6100980308b 1000000 Sunday ~ Poetry Arena Midday at the poetry tent and a short set from luminous poetry talent and witty TLS columnist Hugo Williams more than meets the crowd’s expectations. His work – accessible, open poems that crackle with suggestiveness and underlying complexities, exploring the vicissitudes of love, loss and relationships – goes down well, the reading ranging from the controversial and critically acclaimed collection Billy’s Rain to an assortment of pieces from his substantial Collected Poems, finding its highlight in ‘Toilet’, a humorous poem about a train journey and the thoughts of its oversexed and bored narrator. Later, young writer John Osborne makes his third appearance of the weekend, performing poems that adopt the mundane and everyday as a springboard for deeper – and often surreal – thoughts and reflections, including the importance of drawing solace from things taken for granted; chocolate ice-cream and TV repeats of comedy duo The Mighty Boosh among them. As such material suggests, he’s also a good writer for slipping in the odd cultural reference – be it Southern Comfort or The Super Furry Animals – and this owes a certain debt to, among others, the early work of Simon Armitage. In fact, Osborne includes a poem in his set that’s dedicated to the previous Latitude Poetry Arena headliner, describing the award-winning writer as ‘his favourite poet’. But Osborne is far from the only one enjoying Armitage’s following performance. The tent is packed well beyond its edges as festival-goers listen in; the poet’s distinctive Huddersfield accent lending an added dimension to poems drawn from across his hectically productive career: one that includes novels, memoir, plays and translation as well as nearly a dozen books of poetry to date. But it’s the insights and musings that Armitage provides between poems that make the reading as much as anything else: ‘You May Turn Over and Begin’, a piece that addresses the ‘doddle’ that is the A-Level General Studies exam, being brilliantly introduced in its underlying sexual connotations: ‘I suppose’, quips Armitage, ‘that the title’s instruction may well apply to more than just sitting the exam…’ His set finishes with the affectingly simplistic ‘Evening’, a short piece of almost universal significance that was rightly commended in the annual Forward Book of Poetry, wrapping up what is an enjoyable afternoon’s worth of diverse and captivating performances. Poetry for the page, poetry for the stage: Latitude’s eclectic line-up this weekend has been more than enough to unmake such lazy dichotomies.  Ben Wilkinson     Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:45:00 GMT 2008-07-20T19:45:00 9cc3b619-cc3d-4097-8f35-037b3b29a651 1000000 Sunday ~ On The Lake If there was ever any doubt that dance is a more than welcome addition to the Latitude programme, you needed to look no further than the massive crowd gathered in the warming sun to see the Sunday afternoon performance from Sadlers Wells. People were lining the bridge over the water as well as filling both banks of the lake in anticipation of some world class dance from this acclaimed theatre. The programme was made up of three sections, each displaying a different style and range of dance. Boy Blue Entertainment were the first to take to the On The Lake stage and the ensemble of eight dancers hit the ground running with a magnificent display of hip hop street dance in all its glory. They worked together brilliantly as a group and their dynamic throws, flips and lifts worked the crowd into an early frenzy. These guys have attitude a plenty and they embraced their roles as entertainers with some fantastically animated facial expressions. With some serious old school body popping thrown in for good measure, this brilliant and energetic group put on an awesome show. The next section was a piece by Gauri Sharma Tripathi, an exponent of the north Indian classical dance form of Kathak. Performed by Tripathi herself alongside two others, this mesmerising and enchanting piece was highly dramatic as well as a fantastic example of stunning timing. The womens’ beautiful gold saris and gorgeous jewelled adornments glinted in the sun and the bells around their ankles jangled as their feet danced hundreds of tiny steps. It was a pointed, graceful and elegant performance and Tripathi in particular was wonderful, clearly a master at her art.  Wayne McGregor and Random Dance brought the final and longest piece to the waterside stage, with an extract of their latest production Entity. Ten of the most tiny, taut and trim bodies writhed around as if they were double jointed contortionists trying to get out of a box. This ensemble were so limber I thought they were going to snap rather than stretch themselves into some staggeringly difficult positions. The choreography was edgy and original yet flowing and fluid. It was fascinating seeing what these incredibly fit dancers could do, their movements at times seeming completely unnatural and at others floaty and organic. The brooding trip hop inspired music by Massive Attack collaborator Jon Hopkins was gorgeous and complemented thoroughly the entwined and entangled dancers. I had never in my life seen bodies move as these dancers did and I realised that although each dancer performed independently, the non-stop movement of the entire piece allowed it to become one fluid motion. Simply stunning. Lesley Pinder Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:15:00 GMT 2008-07-20T19:15:00 3ff1230f-d2eb-4768-830b-017fd504e7d4 1000000 Saturday ~ Literary Arena Marcus Brigstocke’s Early Edition & Simon Armitage Now a staple festival favourite, Marcus Brigstocke’s Early Edition kicks off the Literary Arena’s line-up bright and early this morning, guests including Andre Vincent and Phill Jupitus as irreverent topical comedy puts the Daily Mail and similar tabloid villains through the grinder. The chat ranges from dissecting appalling journalism to the festival-going experience; that is, from tales of unlikely unexploded bombs littering the Suffolk countryside to Brigstocke’s ‘blue splash-back’ toilet trips, as well as rumours of Geoff Hoon MP being a genuine Latitude regular. There’s also the Mirror’s mention of a leopard-crocodile fight, curly wurlys being used as a bribe to ‘discipline’ misbehaving school kids, and Andre’s sly digs at Brigstocke’s ultra-posh festival motor-home ‘The Superbrig’, reportedly made by a company sharing the namesake of Red Dwarf nerd Rimmer. Come mid-afternoon and the tent is bustling again, this time for Simon Armitage’s reading from his autobiographical Gig: The Life and Times of a Rock Star Fantasist. A chatty and laidback persona on stage, Armitage reads passages which resonate with wit and real feeling, charting his and a friend’s attempts to form a new rock band, or, as Armitage has it, ‘a guy who works as a respected computer technician and wears glasses for reading, and a poet and father in his forties’. Not ideal rock star material, then, but Armitage’s obvious passion for the music of his youth and the odd contemporary band is both understandable and admirable.  He also mentions a chapter in the book that focuses on his reading as headliner of Latitude’s Poetry Arena last year, recalling how his declaration that ‘I used to work with drug users in Manchester’ was met with pockets of applause and cheering from a half-cut corner of the audience. In fact, after inviting questions from the floor, Armitage announces his reading at the Poetry Arena on Sunday, which again promises to be totally unmissable. In the meantime, it’s tongue-twister performance piece ‘Luddenden Town’ that Armitage finishes with to rapturous applause, leaving the audience to head out and soak up the glorious July sunshine. Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:45:00 GMT 2008-07-20T18:45:00 a5a8b39a-7c75-4820-b3f4-c56247c07f4c 1000000 Frankie Boyle ~ Comedy Arena Topical taunts from the Scottish comedian Following a brief walkabout through the audience from compere Rufus Hound, ‘Mock The Week’ mainstay Frankie Boyle takes to the stage, seemingly delighting in the free rein given to him away from the constraints of television. Regularly tightrope-walking the boundaries of decency, he delivers a wickedly crude yet clever set of material during his Sunday afternoon slot in the Comedy Tent.  Starting in true shock-and-awe fashion, Boyle sends the more sensitive moral compasses twirling by starting with some edgy material on abducted children before working through some brilliantly borderline-libellous jokes about everyone from Lewis Hamilton to John Leslie.  His style is short, sharp, defiant and quick witted and any heckler is made subject of a razor-sharp retort based on their personal appearance. Self-deprecating remarks about his Scottish homeland go down a storm, and the comedian chuckles wildly at the audiences rapturous reception, evidently immensely enjoying his afternoon appearance here at Latitude. The topical material from his television appearances is woven brilliantly with some marvellous rants on the state of the modern world that could never be broadcast before the watershed. One of Sunday’s main Comedy draws certainly doesn’t disappoint. Francis Whittaker Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:45:00 GMT 2008-07-20T16:45:00 4281dc33-97b4-4e75-a6ca-95057e256ad4 1000000 Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging Gurinder Chadha’s current release to the film world is an adaptation of Louise Rennison’s novel Angus, Thongs & Full-Frontal Snogging. Being a fan of Chadha’s previous offerings (Bhaji on the Beach, Bend It Like Beckham), I thought it nice, relaxed way to start my Sunday as it was to be a jam-packed schedule for me. I was intrigued to say the least, as a lot of her work has been associated with diaspora. I took my time strolling up to the Film & Music Arena and was taken aback by the excitable queue that had formed, young girls and their mothers, awaiting eagerly to be let in. Slipping in a side door (with permission, of course!) I witnessed a scramble in search of a decent place to watch from.    Alan Davies kicks things off with an introduction, the film immediately sees an instantaneous, positive reaction from the audience who whoop in delight. Without giving much away, Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging revolves around today’s youth, a British take on the American high school movie, focussing on the trials and tribulations of protagonist Georgia as she deals with the various situations she finds herself in. The film is well received with smiles and applause all round as it draws to a close. Appreciation doesn’t wane as few choose to leave after the film as young and younger (I shall refrain from using ‘old’) continue to wait for the appearance for Gurinder Chadha and the Q&A session. The Q&A was conducted by Alan Davies, who, in his charming manner, wittily probes and is able to provide a better insight to the workings of this director. Interspersed with clips from Chadha’s other works, she aptly explains her reasons for the various decisions made in the film making process. The session is informative and entertaining, Chadha remaining to take pictures and to converse with her young fans.  Aysha Hussain Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T13:00:00 1b7dc655-6d56-4232-8a40-1bd465964d93 1000000 Seasick Steve ~ Obelisk Arena Bluegrass, bugs and beer It’s a warm, muggy sunny afternoon, probably due to the stop start showers and sunshine, the air is thick and people are wiping the sweat from their brows. I’m sure this is as close as many of us will get to the Deep South, as tonight Seasick Steve takes to the stage with his collection of broken instruments, broken English and broken hearts. Sitting lonely at first in the middle of the giant Obelisk Stage, many were worried that Steve, normally known for his smaller more intimate festival slots, would be able to create the sound needed to give his finger pickin’ tunes what they deserved. As Steve began to play out the first of his bluegrass jams it became clear that there was no need to worry, where most bands would rely on huge stage sets and stacks of amplifiers, but Steve makes up for it with his giant personality.  He introduces each track with some form of personal story, be that how to get rid of bug-induced skin infections or a story about his troubled youth. This is all done with a warmth and honesty which makes you feel like it’s just you and Steve in a bar somewhere in the deepest Mississippi. I even noted someone describing him as a “Deep South Santa Claus”, I couldn’t agree more. The bond between audience and artist is further strengthened when he introduces his Son who is playing the washboard and his friend Eli who fills in on Harmonica for most of the set, this is a grassroots thing, this is a family thing and the crowd are invited to join.  While other bands on the bill have blown their record company advances with expensive equipment, Steve blows them out of the swamp with just a wooden plank with one string on it. After Steve serenades a highly embarrassed girl from the audience, he then goes on to perform the most renowned of all his tracks, ‘Dog House Blues’ a growling, fast and sweaty slab of hillbilly Blues that inspires fits of barn dancing from the audience. After a manic ending Steve says his goodbyes, takes a bow and shows his thanks.  But tonight it’s the audience that need to show thanks, we’ve been treated to an hour with one of the most heart warming and inspiring sets of the weekend, its definitely been my highlight so far. So in conclusion I’d like to quote Steve himself, “S’all good!”  James Farrelly Jennifer Roberts General Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:30:00 GMT 2008-07-20T07:30:00 1fc221e1-1874-47b2-8a4c-7540ef3e4c05 1000000 The Bush Theatre 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover Well the Bush Theatre is at Latitude folks and in case you missed it then let me tell you something - it came, it saw and it conquered! I had to squeeze my way through the biggest crowd I have seen at the Theatre tent so far this whole weekend just to find a spot where I could see. The sun was shining down and everyone was in great spirits.  “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” was written especially for Latitude 2008. Before this years festivities kicked off, festival-goers were asked to anonymously submit their real-life break up stories to the Latitude website. These stories of love and loss inspired the writers to create a show combining characters, stories, skits and songs. At times heartbreakingly sad and at others side-splittingly funny, this production gives all four cast members a chance to shine and shine they do, with all of them putting in stunning high-energy performances.   Ralf Little nearly brought the tent down with his rousing guitar-led ode to an ex-girlfriend, the tender chorus of “Fuck You Jenny!” ringing out over the audiences heads and into the fields beyond. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Michelle Terry brought impeccable comic timing and an endearing quality to their skits about the couple who have been together a long time and who spend every night side-by-side in bed together winding each other up. There were terribly sad moments too – it is inevitable when the tales revolve around heartache. Claire Keelan almost made my cry with her powerful and heartbreaking portrayal of a desperate woman, recently abandoned by her love and sitting desperately by the phone. Dishevelled and with her emotional state slowly but surely unravelling, the woman embarks on a series of misguided texts and endless phone calls to her ex- tragically breaking down in despair. It is almost unbearable to watch as we have all been in that familiar place before. The true brilliant moments though were those where the performers worked together and bounced off each other. The Swingers Party sketch was hilarious and the props and… well… um…  appendages (!) were an inspired choice. The crowd were in theatrical heaven and the laughter was at its loudest when the songs were performed. Ralf and Kobna rapping and beat boxing, complete with backwards baseball caps, about the girl that played them both was absolutely hilarious. And I challenge you to hear a stranger chorus than the group song “You’re a cow” with the backup lyrics “An actual cow, an actual farmer” very nearly breaking me. When the whole ensemble broke into Justin Timberlake style dancing I nearly lost it altogether. So far this production has been my highlight of this years Latitude festival.  Forget all those big name music acts. Give me a sunny day and a man shouting about “the harpy slut bitch” that broke his heart and I’m happy. Lesley Pinder Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 4781cd33-3af3-4703-a3aa-6af8876a4eee 1000000 Golden Silvers ~ Uncut Stage We like cowbells. Do you? Now, the Golden Silvers are an interesting choice. They’ve already played their first Glastonbury, winning the New Talent competition thus thrusting them into the limelight. Michael Eavis likens their potential to that of Oasis and Coldplay.  This three-piece certainly look the part. Gwylim Gold (singer/keyboardist) sports a sparkly sweater which is reminiscent of my childhood. Both Alexis Nunez (drummer) and Ben Moorhouse have enviably big hair, the latter being reinforced in one’s mind due to his moustachioed presence. Thus there is an expectancy in the air already, they look the part, the right things have been said about them, can they now play the part? A general allusion can be made to synth-pop but their sound can be quite difficult to pin down. Personally I likened them to Franz Ferdinand, Klaxons, Bloc Party et al, yet they are all very different from each other.  My own interpretation tells me it must be due to the danceable nature of the tracks, combining different tempos, keeping things interesting without losing momentum. Your never-very-still reporter can’t contain herself - their sound is catchy and instantaneous. As they finish with their recently-released single 'Arrows of Eros', I have a smile on my face. It has a funky bass-line and the intensity of the drumming continues to drive the song. Oh, and I like cowbells. A lot. Aysha Hussain Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 6ed4c22b-fd26-40ad-aa33-2a895eadee9d 1000000 Yacht ~ Sunrise Stage 'Ai ai ai ai, HUH!' Now, I’ve had it on good authority that Yacht are a must-see. Having recently missed out on seeing them in London, I was well informed of their onstage antics and unique style (PowerPoint presentation involved in onstage banter) from acquaintances that had been in attendance. Thus I looked forward to it. Unfortunately, as Sod’s Law would have it, the time imprinted on my memory was incorrect and I missed the first ten minutes of the set. Rushing to the Sunrise Arena after realising my error (tea and flapjack in hand – how very rock ‘n’ roll!), I was greeted with a collective ‘Ai ai ai ai, HUH!’ and knew I was in for a treat.  Jona Bechtolt’s creation, along with Claire L . Evans, both enlighten us over the backing track, delivering their lyrics with a passion and do not disappoint. The mish-mashed influences and genres are reflected in Yacht’s sound, with emphasis on the dance aspect as both frequently flail around the stage with great timing and precision to the beat, Jona in particular, very Napolean Dynamite-esque, the omission of expected onstage projector expected by me was instantly forgotten. The loosening of one’s own limbs was a natural progression, absorbed in the beats that were interjected by Claire’s yelping , adding yet another dimension to the band. A literal explosion would serve as a trademark to signal the end of a track and the appreciation of the crowd would no doubt ensue.  The set finished with ‘See A Penny Pick It Up’, a Knight Rider bass-line infused track which sees both Jona and Claire bounce around the stage with exuberance. A fitting end. I continue to bop my head, my tea having been set down a long time ago. I know suggest you visit their website at the very least. Aysha Hussain Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 fe041b13-db65-48e5-8faf-71845932eea1 1000000 Saturday ~ Dickon Edwards's Blog Someone from the Guillemots' marketing team must have a Carry On-like sense of humour. Adverts for the band's new release appear next to one of the Latitude toilet blocks. Specifically, right by the non-flushing latrines where the toilet bowl is a hole above a deep trough in the ground. The Gullemots song is called 'Don't Look Down'. There's intermittent bursts of rain on this Saturday afternoon, but the sun is out for The Irrepressibles on the lakeside platform. They attract a large and attentive crowd, filling the space between the water and the woods. With gondolas passing behind, it's the perfect setting for this unique if difficult to categorise group. They're part pop, part chamber orchestra, taking in a stately Michael Nyman-esque piano, double bass, strings and woodwind, while the players themselves are decked out in silver and black theatrical costumes. But the most defining element is lead Irrepressible Jamie's melancholic songwriting and incredible operatic falsetto. Like Joanna Newsom and Sigur Ros, A few years ago, I saw an earlier - and much smaller - incarnation of the Irrepressibles playing in tiny London clubs, like Bistrotheque in Bethnal Green. Jamie's talent was so obviously unique and awe-inspiring that a record deal and cult following seemed inevitable and swift. In fact, nothing appear to happen, and the band split up, perhaps out of frustration. So to see them at Latitude, resurrected, enhanced, and finally playing to the crowds they deserve is truly heartening. Today Jamie announces an album release for October. The phrase 'Mercury Music Prize' springs easily to mind. Like Sigur Ros and Joanna Newsom, the Irrepressibles are uncompromising and genre-defying, and are unlikely to trouble, say, the Chris Moyles playlist. But at Latitude, they fit right in. Back at the Cabaret Tent that evening, I take to the stage for three separate Beautiful & Damned DJ sets. Other DJ acts such as the Voguettes, whose colourful pop set we book-end, have their own costumed go-go dancers. Myself and Ms Red prefer to do it our ourselves, arms aloft and Charleston-ing away around the decks. As the night goes on, the dancing becomes more unhinged and manic, and I come off stage needing a good sit down to recover. I suppose I'm a kind of go-go DJ. In a stiff, besuited kind of way. I get my breath back to catch a couple of songs from The Buzzcocks over at the Film Tent. Mark Lamarr introduces them on stage, and makes a neat observation on the legacy - or not - of punk rock. 'Tonight it's the 32nd anniversary of the Buzzcocks forming,' he says. 'And it's also the day McFly gave away their new album with the Daily Mail.' The Buzzcocks launch straight into roof-raising full-throttle versions of 'Boredom' and 'I Don't Mind', sounding as effervescent and as thrilling as they day they were written. As Mr Lamarr suggests, some old people are better ambassadors for youth than some young people. Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 474fe269-6c49-47f3-ab06-70f7be3ed5f3 1000000 Tim Turnbull ~ Interview Talking to the dog and pacing help Turnbull overcome nerves Tim Turnbull is an award-winning poet, known for maintaining little distinction between poetry for the page and the stage. He won the inaugural Edinburgh Book Festival Slam with a poem which had also been published in the prestigious literary magazine The Rialto. In 2005, his first full collection, Stranded in Sub-Atomica, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. More recently, he won the Arts Foundation’s Performance Poetry Fellowship which resulted in Caligula on Ice, a theatrical performance which blends poetry, caustic comedy, ghost stories, folk songs, parody, pastiche and cutting satire. Performing three sets across the weekend, he took time out to talk… Hi Tim, welcome to Latitude Festival and thanks for taking the time out to do this interview. Have you performed here before? What’s your experience of the festival so far? No, this is my first time at Latitude – the festival’s grand. My previous experience of a festival was Reading in ’89, which was a bit ferocious. This is altogether more civilised, with a good variety of music, poets and more. Which other artists, writers and bands are you planning on seeing while you’re here? Simon Armitage, Blondie, Seasick Steve, and I’ve enjoyed wandering into the comedy tent in-between times. Joanna Newsom was impressive this morning. Generally speaking, what drew you towards writing and performing poetry, and when did you start? I started out writing as a kid but spent most of my twenties in various bands. When I got to thirty three this seemed a little undignified, so I returned to poetry in around ’94. I’ve taken the performance route rather than starting out with magazine publication. Now I’ve pretty much devoted to poetry it tends to feed itself. The poems in Stranded In Sub-Atomica move between and often combine everyday, conversational vernacular and a lyrical, more ‘poetic’ register. How does your speaking voice relate to the poetic voice in your poems? I write pretty much as I speak, but it’s fun to mix registers and feel a poem wrestling with itself through syntax and diction. I suppose my answer to ‘What’s a performance poet’ is poets doing their poems in different voices. I test my written work by reading the poems out – usually when the wife’s out with only the dog to listen in. Your poetry daringly yet successfully treads the line between performance and page poetry, and you famously maintain little distinction between the two. What do you see as the potential benefits and pitfalls of such writing? I don’t really know as it’s the only route I’ve taken. I don’t know what’ll work until it’s tested – the only empirical evidence for that particular assertion, you could say. Ultimately, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly. The media often relish in noting the apparent lack of popularity that poetry currently suffers. But the rapid growth of performance poetry and new, independent poetry magazines suggests the opposite. What do you reckon to be the truth at the bottom of all this?  I suppose, as you suggest, that some – though not all – journalists can be a bit lazy, with the occasional broadsheet piece about poetry just mumbling along. But there are good pieces on contemporary poetry in the right places – a recent article by Niall O’Sullivan in The Wolf magazine comes to mind. But you don’t get into poetry to be a superstar – you should practise snooker for twelve hours a day if you want to be famous. How do you feel about baring your soul to an audience of strangers when reading your more personal, autobiographical poems? I do perform very personal poems, but I disguise them as being about someone else. I suppose I’d say that I’m not hiding but revealing things. Realistically, the confessional is only ever ‘apparently confessional’. Any personal rituals before reading to an audience? Pacing and walking, walking, pacing, pacing and walking. I must’ve done fourteen miles before going on yesterday. What’s your favourite poem by another poet? It changes on a daily basis, but for today, I’ll say ‘Green Sees Things in Waves’ by August Kleinzahler. What’s next for Tim Turnbull? Well, a ten-hour drive home tomorrow for starters. My second collection, Caligula on Ice, is published in May, and there’s a bilingual edition coming out in Germany too. They get my stuff. Interview by Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 dfd03e9e-8f60-48ef-8e7b-f9ff0d1d59cf 1000000 Daljit Nagra ~ Interview Daljit Nagra was born and brought up in West London and Sheffield. He lives in London, and works as a secondary school English teacher. In 2004, his poem ‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!’ won the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, and this became the title of his first collection, published by Faber in 2007. It went on to win the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection and the 2008 Arts Council England Decibel Award. It relates to the experience of British-born Indians, and often employs ‘Punglish’ - English spoken by Indian Punjabi immigrants. Performing two sets across the weekend, he took time out to talk… Hi Daljit, welcome to Latitude Festival and thanks for taking the time out to do this interview. Have you performed here before? What’s your experience of the festival so far? No, this is my first time here – I’m really enjoying the range of stuff on offer, particularly the poetry, but there could perhaps be more diversity in terms of the music. That’s one aspect of the festival that lacks real cultural latitude. Which other artists, writers and bands are you going to see or have you seen while you’re here? Franz Ferdinand, Beth Rowley, and I really enjoyed headliner’s Sigur Ros on Saturday. I’ve enjoyed the funnier and quirkier stuff in the Literary Arena, too, as well as Simon Armitage reading from his book, Gig. Your poetry collection, Look We Have Coming To Dover!, mixes semi-autobiographical poems written in English and dramatic monologues written in ‘Punglish’ – English spoken by Indian Punjabi immigrants. How do you feel about performing the latter poems in this adopted accent? I really enjoy it. I feel through those poems in particular I’m reclaiming the territory of a voice that has been ransacked in the past by often racist English comedy. I want to allude to this in my writing and performance of the poems. Your poems are often as entertaining to read as they are to hear performed. Do you think there’s much of a divide between poetry for the page and poetry for the stage? It all depends on the individual, and has a lot to do with the poet’s presence on stage. But poems that are read ‘straight’ are a performance too. I feel it’s a bit elitist to categorise between page and stage, as ultimately that’s each reader or listener’s decision. And I do think it’s important to discard old snobbery.  How do you feel about performing your more personal poems? Well, no poem is entirely autobiographical – it consists of constructs and a reinterpretation of events. You bring in other elements when writing – I’d agree with Picasso’s idea that ‘all art is a lie to make you tell the truth’. Any rituals before taking to the stage? When I do get occasional nerves, I’ll maybe have a glass of red wine. Generally speaking, what drew you towards writing and performing poetry? How does your work as a secondary school teacher affect or influence your writing? Firstly, a love of other poets, starting with William Blake. It also feels like the right art form, tying in with the way I think and feel and experience the world. As far as my career as a teacher goes, it helps with the poetry in terms of being around interesting and exciting young minds and in the way early mornings and routine give a good work ethic. Though now I have a young daughter to look after, it isn’t always easy!  What’s your favourite poem by another poet? ‘The Garden of Love’ by William Blake. What’s next for Daljit Nagra? I’m working on a second collection, which will include a sequence of ‘cocky sonnets’, hopefully combining a cheeky linguistic playfulness and the sonnet’s more serious and strict form. Interview by Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 91557ba5-827c-4b92-a970-42798a46439e 1000000 Saturday ~ Jessica Hazel's Blog hoppípolla ....hopping into puddles. <div>It's day two of Latitude, I am rudely awoken by a toddler who' s shrieks and laughter can be located as being approximately half a foot away from my throbbing head in the tent next door, The sun is heating up the temperature inside of my tent to greenhouse proportions, I only got back 3 hours ago but it soon becomes apparent that a lie in is just not going to happen this weekend. Across the yellow camping village, snoozing bodies in wellie boots are spewing from tent doorways and the smell of bacon is in the air.</div> <div>A few wet wipes and a sausage baguette later and we are roaming around the main arena again, there are 20 people in tuxes and rubber horse heads wandering around and neighing at people, we make a detour to avoid getting in any kind of man-beast confrontation and dodge the people on unicycles to make our way to the cabaret tent. Inside, cabaret extraordinaire and clear nut-job Regina Fluff is warming up the crowd ready for the session entitled 'How To Play The Ukulele In Under An Hour (How George Formby Saved My Life'. The tent is packed and 100 ukuleles are handed out to the excited crowd, we are told that it is impossible to feel depressed whilst playing this tiny instrument and when a mass ensemble of ukuleles start plucking out 'Row Row Row Your Boat' it's not hard to see why. </div> We duck into the Uncut Arena to escape a freak rain shower and check out Golden Silvers who are winning over the crowd with their humble synth pop, rounding off the set with their synonymous 'Arrows Of Eros'. The rain takes pity on White Lies and retreats just in time for a remarkable set by White Lies in the Obelisk Arena, they look like they are sh**ting themselves, they are only wee young things bless 'em, but they trash out half an hours worth of stonking tunes which can be likened to a cheerier Interpol, having said that, closing with a little number named 'Death', the brooding darkness of Ian Curtis's lyrical dryness is clearly present here.   <div>Falafel by the lake is proceeded by dEUS back at the Obelisk Arena, who inject a little much needed rock'n'roll into our Saturday. Five weather-beaten Belgian rock stoners who've got a substantial amount of late nights under their belts bosh out the hits that the crowd are hungry for. 'Sods And Soda' and 'Theme From Turnpike' are like a shot of whisky to the bloodstream and get heads nodding and thighs stamping down the grass.</div>   <div>Next on our agenda is Elbow. Guy Garvey appears, wielding a trumpet and captivates the audience from start to finish. Granted, Elbow aren't going to get their rocks off in the festival scenario but they are the perfect band to precede Sigur Ros and take us through the sunset and into dusk, by the time 'One Day Like This' draws the set to a close, the entire crowed are doe eyed and ready for the Icelandic invasion. </div>   <div>Latitude couldn't have found themselves a better headliner for tonight. A full moon is hanging in the sky, some crusty is blowing bubbles everywhere and 6 white orbs are inflated on stage, ready to become part of an enchanted light show of what can only be described as a hauntingly beautiful set by Sigur Ros. A mixture of new songs from the new album 'MeÃ° SuÃ° Ã Eyrum ViÃ° Spilum Endalaust' alongside old favourites like 'Hoppipolla' and 'Glosoli' are played out with the help of the all-female string section 'Amiina' and a flash mob brass band who appear to parade around the stage and raise their white bowler hats at the audience at opportune moments This isn't just a gig, it's a full scale theatrical performance that even the short-arses like I can appreciate. We leave feeling sure that Jón Þór is an unearthly creature, meant for bigger things than life on planet earth.</div>   <div>A night of wandering around, chatting to insane people in face paint and sitting by the lake watching the light show follows, we pop our heads in the Cabaret Tent a few times to see what exactly 'Boylesque' is all about, turns out it's all about hairy, beardy men getting their kit off in a very camp manner. Amazing, We love Latitude and before we know it the sun is coming up again and we are getting kicked out of the woods for another 3 hour stint of sleep. Jessica Hazel   </div> Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 81c954b3-109e-4e7e-aeef-00a898abf773 1000000 Tips For Tomorrow Make sure you catch Joanna Newsom at midday over at the Obelisk Arena. Glasvegas are ones to watch in the Uncut Arena on Sunday afternoon. Lykke Li and Black Lips are expected to draw the masses when they play the Sunrise Arena later and headliners Interpol will round off the weekend. Sadler's Wells round up their performances On The Lake tomorrow afternoon along with Riccardo Meneghini. Gurinda Chadha's 'Angus, Thongs & Full Frontal Snogging' is an early one at 11am, but is sure to pack out the Music & Film Arena. The Hammersmith Lyric presenting 'Hard Hearted Hannah and other stories' is one to add to your schedule as is The Royal Shakespeare Company. Just to say you've seen a bride hanging from a tree by meat hooks....from her back, head to the Cabaret Arena after midnight. Enjoy! Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-20T00:00:00 3fbed122-48da-4bca-a839-637816ce558c 1000000 Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed & the True Loves, Buzzcocks ~ Music and Film Arena Comic –turned-DJ Mark Lamarr’s annual Latitude sojourn saw him curate a rare treat for an intimate gaggle of revellers crammed into the Music and Film Arena in the wee small hours of Sunday morning. A tie-in with his radio show, God’s Jukebox saw Lamarr presenting five of his favourite acts over five hours over Saturday night and early Sunday morning. The penultimate of these – Massachusetts native Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and his backing band The True Loves, were something really quite special. Fresh from a guest appearance playing some storming harmonica solos with Seasick Steve in the Obelisk Arena earlier, Reed had jaws resoundingly dropping with some bona-fide old school soul screaming. If you closed your eyes and you could’ve been listening to prime James Brown hollering his way through the greatest songs he never wrote, such was the gravity of Reed’s voice and the relentlessly tight groove of his band. His first show on British soil, Reed’s Latitude appearance was, as Lamarr himself said ‘something to tell the grandkids’ – truly phenomenal. After this and closing the evening were a band who Lamarr was famous for ‘Never Minding’ on BBC2 for a number of years – punk rock legends The Buzzcocks. Although a little older and craggier than in their prime, the Mancunian quartet tore through their greatest hits and brought some snarling punk-rock attitude to an arena more used to arthouse flicks and beard scratching film buffs. ‘What Do I Get’ evoked some fervent call-and-response cries from energetic devotees down the front, while the showstopping ‘Ever Fallen In Love…’ prompted the largest amount of pogoing ever to take place in a makeshift cinema.  Come the end of Lamarr’s extraordinary evening of live music, hundreds of happy campers trudged back to their tents sweaty and smiling thanks to a riotous performance from this unsurpassable British institution. Francis Whittaker Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:45:00 GMT 2008-07-19T23:45:00 b5312562-328c-4283-ac9b-ddf288145eef 1000000 The Coral (acoustic) ~ Uncut Arena Cosmic scousers The Coral were a little naughty in billing this as an acoustic set. Anyone hoping for the band to be sitting on stools, gently strumming through stripped down versions of their best songs surrounded by candles and flowers MTV-Unplugged-style would’ve been sorely disappointed with their Latitude appearance.  What we instead got was something vastly superior: a bombastic greatest hits set peppered with some great new tracks that, through much of it, was actually fully electric. OK, one or two members may have occasionally picked up an acoustic guitar where they previously might’ve played an electric – but fully amped-up takes on the likes of ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Dreaming of You’ had the crowd in raptures, and a currently-untitled set-closing number boasted some guitar riffage that would do Led Zeppelin proud. When they did play acoustically – as on ‘Bill McCai’ and ‘Pass It On’ they were equally fantastic, and their version of ‘Jacqueline’ sounded as though it could’ve reached number one had it been released in the sixties.  Some may say that in this age of bands in skinny jeans, angular haircuts and luminescent threads that The Coral’s star is fading – but on Saturday in the Uncut arena, the band proved this is far from the case. Francis Whittaker Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:00:00 GMT 2008-07-19T23:00:00 61174011-c1ff-4ab7-988b-5f621d1c041a 1000000 Rich Hall ~ Comedy Arena Rich Hall is a face familiar to most from the BBC’s quizcoms QI and Have I Got News For You, and its clear that Latitude punters have enjoyed his unique brand of American deadpan and cynicism before as the Comedy Arena grows ever busier in anticipation of his arrival. His set features staple gags about George Bush, America’s reputation here and in Europe, but also the resilience and bloody-minded defiance of the British mentality, as well as witty banter with the audience in between times. Here, a bloke who ‘works’ as a lifeguard in the circus is milked by Hall for all the comedy he’s worth until he finally admits he’s a Chemistry student at Cardiff, while those making for the toilets mid-set are hilariously accosted until they flee or sit, revealing Hall’s playful cruel streak. Ultimately though, Hall’s a totally likeable persona, and his sarcastic and wry wisecracking is so British you could forget he were American were it not for that unmistakeable, dialectic drawl. What other American comic would self-deprecatingly quip that ‘you can have my jokes, you might enjoy them, and you’ll probably tell them damn well better than I do’? An underrated genius with a sure understanding of the absurdities of life, love and language, Hall’s set will no doubt be remembered by many as the alternative comic highlight of Latitude 2008. Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT 2008-07-19T21:00:00 199b6478-7b30-4087-873d-159f5bc64361 1000000 Saturday ~ Poetry Arena Daljit Nagra, Adrian Mitchell, Tim Turnbull Saturday’s line-up boasts a range of poetry familiars and exciting newcomers, kicking off as it does with animated Faber poet Daljit Nagra, an adept and inventive performer whose Punjabi-English dramatic monologues and tales of multicultural Britain have won his poetry collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover!, the Forward Prize for best first book. His half hour set is an instant crowd-pleaser, charting refreshing poetic territory from a Sikh schoolgirl ‘slipping into tongues’ to the cornershop love story of the rhythmical ‘Singh Song!’. As compere Ross Sutherland notes, Nagra has done more for the exclamation mark in contemporary poetics than any other writer, and given the energy, musicality and passion evident in his work – both on the page and the stage – such literary flamboyance and irreverence is hardly surprising, not to mention totally refreshing. Adrian Mitchell is Saturday’s Poetry Arena’s headliner. Whether or not you agree with it, his famous statement that ‘most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people’ has been the chiasmic mantra that has driven his lifetime’s work of bringing poetry to everyone, writing verse with a strong political and social conscience, and working closely with schools, charities and as the unofficial ‘shadow poet laureate’. His poems effortlessly move between the sombre and serious to the laugh-out-loud and genuinely heartwarming, giving the afternoon’s crowd pause for thought and challenging W.H. Auden’s assumption that ‘poetry makes nothing happen’. Mitchell certainly has the audience captivated when he reads from a lengthy and beautiful translation of the late poet Bertolt Brecht, and when reading one of his more famous pieces, the playful extended metaphor of ‘A Puppy Called Puberty’. Come late evening, Sigur Ros’s ethereal Hopelandic tunes drifting across Latitude, it’s the turn of skilful performer and stand up Yorkshireman Tim Turnbull to take to the Poetry arena; DJ-ed, booted and looking shockingly dapper compared to yesterday’s laidback outfit of denim jacket and T-Shirt. His sing-along set of pieces finds its highlight in a long, surreal poem about the life of a bloke with two heads, ‘one sipping Moet while the other snorts cocaine’, but it’s a scathingly funny poem about everyone’s favourite bete noire, Tony Blair, that gets the whole tent singing along and sees Turnbull bow out to enthusiastic applause. Having secured prizes for his performances as well as a Forward Prize shortlisting for his collection, Stranded In Sub-Atomica, then, his unmistakeable fusion of page and stage is clearly a resounding winner. Whatever the media might say, Saturday’s Poetry Arena is yet another testament to the growing popularity and diversity of the art form.  Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:00:00 GMT 2008-07-19T18:00:00 03c1e985-30da-497f-98df-47d6f458ef67 1000000 Saturday ~ Comedy Arena Early-afternoon round up ~ Dan Atkinson, Carey Marx, Tim Minchin The early part of Saturday’s comedy program saw three of the finest up and coming stand-ups strut their stuff here at Latitude. Opening the proceedings, cardigan-wearing wildman-lookalike Dan Atkinson breezes through a routine of marvellous comic observations. Much of his gig focuses heavily on geographical differences in attitude, such as northerners views on living in London (“If you move there you’ll wake up every morning finding yourself stabbed in the face”) and the ‘wife-material’ nature of West Country women thanks to the fact they appear low maintenance (an idea he later concedes is gross stereotyping), as well as some intriguing advice on thrush treatment involving Crumble Corner yoghurt. All in all, it’s an extremely solid routine that has the early afternoon crowd on his side throughout, despite him profusely apologising for the apparently crude nature of some material, it supposedly being ‘inappropriate for 12pm’. If Atkinson’s material is too X-rated for early afternoon, then the following act would make the censors heads implode. Londoner Carey Marx regularly veers well into the realm of political incorrectness – but nevertheless his gig goes down a storm with the Latitude crowd, despite a few parents rightfully  guiding their kids away from the tent to protect the innocence of their young ears. Marx manages to get away with material that cleverly yet crudely uses wordplay to detail some frankly disturbing scenarios by placing a teddy bear on stage. Occasionally he brings it up to the mic to balance out any bad karma generated from crossing the offensive/wholesome divide with some unashamed cutesiness. Comedy and music seem be increasingly intimate bedfellows these days. Songs make up an integral part of Latitude favourite Bill Bailey’s routine, while The Mighty Boosh and Flight of The Concords have moved from being purely comic into become fully fledged bands. Today’s third act – Tim Minchin – is right up with the aforementioned in using music to generate genius humour. The set sees him deliver songs about the trials of being ginger, the usage of taboo racist words, as well as a fantastically catchy ‘peace song’ aimed at finally solving the Israel/Palestine conflict entitled ‘Let’s Not Eat Pig Together’. Overall, Minchin is utterly hilarious and a fantastic entertainer, closing the opening part of today’s comedy proceedings brilliantly. FRANCIS WHITTAKER Jennifer Roberts General Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:45:00 GMT 2008-07-19T13:45:00 85e8147e-c8d8-4b0b-9ee5-b47dfe33855e 1000000 Friday ~ Dickon Edwards's Blog Bears, Brooks and Bjork-esque sounds. It's the Friday morning, and I survive my first night in a tent since my teens with no apparent ill-effect. A good, uninterrupted night's sleep. However, I put much of this down to over-indulging on campsite cocktails the night before, thus knocking myself out soundly. The downside, of course, is that I spent much of Friday with a severe hangover. There's a huge queue for the showers in the Performers Camping field, so I wander over to the Cabaret Arena backstage and try there. Success: a row of available working showers, and no queues. It's my luckiest moment of the weekend. The afternoon is spent wandering idly all over the site, now teeming with people, taking it all in, and revelling in Latitude's serendipitous approach to the festival experience. Sure, you can grab a timetable and compile a strict  shopping list of artists to see, but the thrill of accidentally stumbling upon a new favourite band, or comedian, or cabaret act, is just the sort of thing Latitude does best. Wandering through the woods in this spirit, I catch The Do in the Sunrise Tent - a marvellous Franco-Finnish guitar duo whose female singer has one of those pure, Bjork-esque singing voices: that same kind of pristine otherness. I give up trying to get into the Comedy Tent, now so popular that the crowd spills out some distance from the entrance. Thankfully, there's speakers dotted around the marquee sides, and you can leisurely sit on the grass outside and listen to the comedians' sets, if not actually see them. Ross Noble does a rather good Star Wars-inspired routine, putting his freewheeling, charismatic Geordie spin on geek-pleasing quotes like 'these aren't the droids you're looking for'. The rest of the day is spent preparing for my own stint in the Cabaret Arena, DJ-ing with Miss Red as The Beautiful and Damned. Tonight, we mainly work as a kind of quirky punctuation between the live acts, adding a little visual accompaniment via our dressed-up dancing behind the decks, along with excerpts from silent movies playing on a screen to one side. (tonight it's Louise Brooks In 'Diary Of A Lost Girl'). I stick around for 'The Smiths - The Musical', an adult puppet show that's at turns riotously funny, explicitly rude, and unexpectedly touching. The protagonists encounter, as per the Morrissey lyric, 'a ten ton truck' which indeed 'kills the two of us...'. They're followed by the Penny Dreadfuls, a League Of Gentlemen-like comedy trio who do addictively silly Victorian-themed skits. That two of the three performers are in t-shirts and jeans, while the other one is in full 19th century garb (a technical hitch? an indulgence on the third member's part? both?) only adds to the intrigue. After that, the late night Cabaret Arena plays host to a series of burlesque turns, ranging from the silver screen Follies-style serenity - and enormous feathery fans - of Vicky Butterfly, to the 1950s go-go stylings of TrixieMalicious. Male disrobing is provided by a troupe of 'bears', as in the gay slang term for hirsute (but well-groomed) gentlemen, built for comfort rather than speed. That said, there's a distinct bear aesthetic at work: a sense of deliberation that sets them apart from the average larger and hairier man. Their routines draw on choreographed parodies of Madonna and Kylie videos, from the steps down to the costumes - specially altered to fit, of course. At about half past midnight, Fred Bear performs a 'Bear-barella' aerial strip routine, somersaulting and undressing from a glittery space suit, all the time suspended from the huge, green-lit tree outside the tent. I traipse off to bed, all bear-ed and burlesque-d out. Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-19T00:00:00 69160cee-2d11-45a7-a43d-fa54067ff342 1000000 The Little Ones ~ Sunrise Arena Not so small now... Today my main assignment was to make sure that I caught the amazing line-up at the comedy tent. I had a little trouble, due to the huge popularity of television regular Bill Bailey. Deciding to go elsewhere, I wandered around to find something that I really wanted to see (a pretty easy thing to do at Latitude). So I pulled out my guide and looked at what wonders I could see, one name stepped out, The Little Ones. I had heard a buzz about these guys a while ago, but the Californian residents went through a few problems with record labels which delayed any material being released. So personally, and clearly around the room, there was a lot of excitement about the show. As The Little Ones took to the stage the sun came out to shine upon their smiley tanned Californian faces. From the first song anyone with a hint of the Blues was instantly cured with an injection of laid back summer melodies. All too often these guys are compared with the Beach Boys, in all honesty they are not so much Brian Wilson but more Mike Love. Edward Nolan Reyes sings with such innocence that it’s impossible not be taken away by the songs. The Little Ones posses such unified understanding of what they are trying to achieve, which is to make people smile. In these modern musical times it’s all too familiar to find a sour faced ‘rock star’ on stage who cares very little about the music let alone the audience. But with The Little Ones stunning  ocean driving tracks such as “Lovers Who Uncover” and “Ordinary Song” these guys are out to prove a point, that enjoying your music and playing for people is one of the most fun things you will ever do, and The Little Ones are loving every minute of it. I’m sure Bill Bailey would’ve put a smile on my face,  but I’m certain that The Little Ones did that too, with more style. James Farrelly Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-19T00:00:00 91aba8be-2b49-4148-9441-d09e69cdad2a 1000000 Paines Plough ~ Mark Ravenhill Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat Plaines Plough brought their renowned touring theatre company to Latitude on Friday with plays from playwright Mark Ravenhill’s Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat cycle. Each play takes its title from a classic work and each is a separate entity yet all are linked by characters and a general theme: the effect of war on modern life. “Love (But I Won’t Do That)” is a fraught and emotional tale of a woman living in an occupied country. Her husband has died at the hands of a soldier and as a result, the soldier asks to be given her house to protect. He embeds himself in her home and her life and the woman struggles to maintain some sense of morality and dignity in the face of such an aggressive and needy houseguest. The growing audience were jostling for seats and taking to the floor in order to get a better view of the strong performances. The next play, “Twilight Of The Gods” begins as a straightforward interview between two women – Susan, whose country has been occupied is being interviewed by Jane, an official from the occupying country. Susan is desperate for Jane to understand the severity of her situation. There is no food in her zone and malnutrition is rife. Susan is a proud woman.  She used to be a university lecturer but now finds herself nothing more than a starving beggar and this humiliates her.  “You are a society in transition” Jane tells her. “Everything is going to get so much better”. Susan doesn’t seem to think so.  Jane seems full of guilt for the conditions Susan lives in. As if she alone is personally responsible. Then Susan makes a rash and impulsive choice and the interview takes an altogether unexpected turn. The level of emotional intensity increases and reveals a moving and harrowing tale. Lesley Pinder Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-19T00:00:00 f557303e-2578-4a29-ba36-4a60d0e5e512 1000000 Death Cab For Cutie ~ Obelisk Arena Become a follower of the Death Cab religion There’s a split in the crowd this evening. One third of the audience is fanatical in their almost cult-like following of Death Cab For Cutie, the next third has labelled them as television show hopping indie upstarts, and the final third have no idea who the Seattle band is.  High up on the bill for the Obelisk Arena, Death Cab draw a crowd which reflects their number one Billboard chart album ‘Narrow Stairs’ success. The band launch into the set with the first track on the album ‘Bixby Canyon Bridge’, a mellowed out slide into the first real opener of the evening ‘New Year’ from their breakthrough album ‘Transatlanticism’, the track thunders in surprising many who had Death Cab down as a quiet modest indie band. Ben Gibbard’s vocals float over the top of the crowd, demanding the followers to relay every line straight back to him, this is like a religious ceremony, people clapping, rejoicing and singing, yet there is something different about this religion. Far from being clichéd, they excel in performing songs which paint a very bleak picture, Gibbard’s lyrics describe moments of despair and loss, yet with a surprising optimism. You may wish to describe Gibbard as rock’s very own Thomas Hardy, but to draw such lazy comparisons would not give Death Cab the credit they deserve. More acoustic numbers of ‘Plans’ track ‘Soul Meets Body’ draws everyone in, even those who have not heard of the band. Later in the set fan favourite ‘Title and Registration’ soon becomes everyone’s favourite new song, its simplistic drum machine beats give way to a full band rendition, opening up the track more than the album could ever hope to do.  I’ve had the chance to see Death Cab in a small venue and always felt they would never suit a large festival stage, but it’s clear tonight that this is a band of friends in their element, they are relishing the audience interaction, and almost involuntarily thrashing about like it was their last ever chance to play each song. For the most part the weather has held up during Death Cab’s set, but as the looming progressive gloomy bass riff of ‘I Will Posses Your Heart’ begins, almost on cue, the skies turn black and Gibbard begins his tale of a desperate unheard plea from a stalker to the object of his desire. The song haunts all in the crowd, sparse piano lines merge with intricate guitar work, a great festival song and one many people here tonight will remember. The final track ‘Transatlanticism’ ends the set in a crashing crescendo of layered vocals, sampled beats, guitar feedback and a crowd at this point going full-pelt in singing along. It is clear to see that all three divisions in the audience have now become one, finally after all the hard years of graft Death Cab have made the UK audiences understand, there’s no sitting on the fence on this one, Death Cab For Cutie have proved themselves to be a band of huge importance, and something Seattle can be very proud of. James Farrelly Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT 2008-07-19T00:00:00 851684b1-29c6-4ab2-b61e-4b505ff374f2 1000000 Friday ~ Jessica Hazel's blog British Sea Power, Johnny Foreigner, Franz Ferdinand and the Disco Shed The countryside of Suffolk is filled with pens of multicoloured sheep, strange elf-like children are being wheeled around the woods in wheelbarrows by their parents and there is an enchanted lake with giant luminous water lilies and an interpretive dance stage floating on it, this can only mean one thing, it's Latitude time.  After hassle free parking and ticket collection, followed by the strangely straight forward pitching of our tent hamlet, we set out through the woods to explore the magical wonderland which is to become our playground for the next 3 days.  First up is British Sea Power in the Obelisk Arena, although this is an abnormally large crowd for BSP to find themselves facing, they rise to the occasion and execute their classics with gusto. The stage is littered with leaves and branches and a few members of the audience have torn down a bit of tree en route to wave around in the air as is customary to this Brighton-based band, who have brought in the skills of a yodelling ensemble for their festival appearance, sounds a bit weird but it works. An aptly epic and atmospheric start to what is going to be a very special festival. At this point I decide to poke my head into the Cabaret Area, but two deluded girls are doing a very 'unique' rendition of 'Oh Sweet Child Of Mine' as part of some sort of sadistic karaoke rampage. Amusing as it is, this is more than my sensitive ears can take at this moment in time. A quick chocolate and crisp pit stop back at the tent, and then it's time for a short but sweet Johnny Foreigner set on the Lake Stage who seem even more electrified and powered up than normal. 'The End And Everything After' seems faster than more frantic than humanly possible to execute, Alexi and Kelly are bouncing off each other explosively, Junior is just about managing to keep it all together via his drumsticks.  Next up are headliners of the Obelisk Arena, Franz Ferdinand. A surprising and untimely choice this one, but it goes down a storm with the crowd and even the arrival of half an hours drizzle can't dampen our spirits as the opening thrashes of 'Take Me Out' and 'Matinee' kick in. The classics are the sure winners here and new material is somewhat lost on the crowd who by this point, just want to dance like loonies to 'Michael'. The rain disappears and we power forward to a night of dancing outside the Disco Shed, oh yes, it's a disco which emulates out of a humble shed, and it's a right hoot. Followed by frolicking through the woods like wild creatures from 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' before stumbling upon a sensationally eclectic DJ set by the Beef Warehouse DJs on the 'In The Woods' stage, where else can you dance to the The Beatles followed by some weird death metal and then a nice bit of Arcade Fire to round things off? Security finally persuade us to go back to the tents at 4am, it's getting light and another day of fun at Latitude is just around the corner and we don't want to miss a minute of it. Sleep is far from our minds. Photo credit: Mairead Palmer Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:45:00 GMT 2008-07-18T23:45:00 26996b95-afe7-4fc7-aa28-991b137bdd57 1000000 DryWrite: Guilty ~ Theatre Arena You decide! The concept of DryWrite’s “Guilty” is thus – their writers have been given a newspaper headline of a real crime that has been committed and each writer creates a piece trying to justify that crime from the criminal’s viewpoint. We know the legal powers that be have already condemned the criminal, but what about humanity? Are they ready to forgive them? ‘Humanity’ in this case, is represented by the good people of the Latitude theatre audience who shout out their decision at the end of each play. The headlines are both intriguing and gruesome at the same time – A baker stabs a woman 99 times, A man concocts a killer pill and sells it in nightclubs, Foetus thief gets life sentence –and they all end with the same question. Guilty or not guilty? The writers have developed some complex back stories to explain their news stories and they were performed with much gusto by each actor. Every voice was real and not contrived and I found myself trying to pre-empt where the stories were going to go but each time I was mistaken. The story of the foetus thief was particularly striking with emotional twists and turns and a very powerful and moving tale at the centre of it all. It was great to see such a large crowd turnout late on a Friday night and what an involved crowd we were. We were all swept up in the drama and the weight of having such a moral and ethical decision on our shoulders and we lapped it up. Guilty I say! Lesley Pinder Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:15:00 GMT 2008-07-18T23:15:00 d7e9db9c-a01e-4a8e-b521-cfbdf3ff0543 1000000 Tips For Tomorrow Can't get into Bill Bailey, may we suggest another... Hanif Kureishi's Q&A Saturday morning is one for the early birds in the Music & Film Arena and check back again for Jeremy Deller presenting The Fairey Band who will play live. Burly Q and Cabearet are ones to watch on the Cabaret Arena, and just outside the stage is Pandora's Playground which drew a huge crowd dancing to the Disco Shed's impressive tunes.  Simon Armitage and Iain Banks head up a strong Literary schedule tomorrow, and over in the Theatre Arena, The Bush Theatre perform 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, an amalgamation of stories sent in by the public. Do you dare watch Ralf Little act out your heartache and heartbreak? Start your ears off with Nic Dawson Kelly on the Sunrise Arena, followed by Wild Beasts and Soko and round up the evening with Sigur Ros who are sure to enchant the crowds. Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:00:00 GMT 2008-07-18T23:00:00 719845a9-e265-4773-b447-f027ae986ba3 1000000 Friday ~ Literary Arena Ian McEwan, Robin Ince's Book Club and Gavin Osborne After Franz Ferdinand’s amplifiers die down and the live music draws to a close, the highlight of the Literary Arena’s Friday line-up draws an ever-growing and attentive crowd. Irvine Welsh is perhaps the best-known novelist alive today – Ian McEwan the only writer with similar status – and given his staple subject matter of the seedy underbelly of Scottish culture and the vivid, memorable characters who inhabit his novels, it’s hardly surprising. He reads a captivating half hour extract from his latest novel, Crime, the broad Glaswegian accent you might expect being reserved and sotto voce in person. The book itself is a return to themes of corruption, sex, violence and existential doubt that is by turns thought-provoking and witty whilst also harbouring dark, sinister undertones. Small wonder the critics are already calling it ‘better than Trainspotting’, the classic that catapulted Welsh from talented writer to household name. After his set, a scaled-down version of Robin Ince’s Book Club returns, minus Ince himself and with the brilliant Asher Treleaven at the helm. Like an Aussie Rick Mayall he contorts and writhes about the stage, delivering hilarious lines from ‘the best Mills and Boon love story ever written’, including some particularly vivid and disturbingly unusual images of a couple in the throes of foreplay. It’s hilarious stuff, but the late night star of the Book Club is Gavin Osborn, an acoustic guitarist who delivers a brilliant song dedicated to a fictional ‘attacking midfielder’ who left his team in the footy video game Championship Manager. ‘I got quite upset by this player leaving’, he explains in his intro, ‘in the way that I realise you should only do over real things’. Good job that in the literary tent, fiction always holds sway over the everyday.      Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:45:00 GMT 2008-07-18T22:45:00 ab2a80b8-e024-4987-aadc-a24b04ea6f2d 1000000 The Go! Team ~ Obelisk Arena The Go! Team brighten up the day If postmodern art is defined by pastiche, then The Go! Team should be the soundtrack. The Brighton sextet fuse Sonic Youth guitars, RnB, double-dutch vocals, synthesisers, horns and sunshine-pop to brilliant and ear-popping effect. Though dark clouds and rain loomed overhead, The Go! Team’s energetic stage antics made it feel like the sun was shining over Henham Park, playing songs from their two acclaimed albums 'Thunder, Lightning, Strike!' and 'Proof of Youth', including ‘Ladyflash’, ‘Grip Like A Vice’ and the feel-good classic, ‘Bottle Rocket’. The band switch instruments with each other frequently, a testament to their mixing-pot creativity and dynamic approach to music-making, as well as the obvious talent of each colourfully-dressed member. In fact, the day-glo outfits of the group look much like those of Nu-Rave come-latelys Klaxons or MGMT, a subtle reminder that The Go! Team were the first band to plunder a hotchpotch of genres and revamp indie-rock in earnest. An intentional move? Do they even care? The Go! Team seem content enough just bouncing around and playing the music they love making. And the crowd in The Obelisk Arena are more than happy for them to do just that. Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT 2008-07-18T21:00:00 9fe9e4bb-befc-422e-9712-0dc25ad6fd98 1000000 Friday ~ Poetry Aisle 16, Caroline Bird, Hannah Walker, Aoife Mannix and Carol Ann Duffy Though the all-bloke collective Aisle 16 share compere duties via the irrepressible Luke Wright and Ross Sutherland, the female poetry talent at Latitude is thriving and Friday’s line-up more than testifies to it. Caroline Bird is a precocious teen who had her first collection published by the prestigious Carcanet Press when she was just fifteen. But her performance skills are razor-sharp too: cutting, witty poems on love, loss and the melodramatic trials of adolescence set-off with a wry sarcasm. Her set is followed by Hannah Walker, a rising performance poet whose insights and subject matter range from men’s underhand chat-up lines to a surreal re-imagining of Big Brother featuring Narcissus as a strangely apt housemate. Only Tall-Lighthouse poet Aoife Mannix can top it, her imagery-rich and metaphorically charged verse combined with a distinctive Irish lilt that has the audience captivated, not least when she launches into a post-punk piece on the virtues of drawing attention to oneself, pace Jenny Joseph’s ‘Warning’. ‘It’s not a crime’, says Mannix, and after her impressive performance, you can’t help but agree. The highlight of the Poetry Arena today, however, is Carol Ann Duffy, that rare combination of a living poet who is also a household name with oodles of talent to boot. As the tent fills with eager listeners, Duffy reads predominantly from two of her bestselling collections: the post-feminist and brilliantly comic The World’s Wife and her most recent publication of love poems, Rapture. Her style, wit and flair are effortless, but you don’t expect any less when hearing such an experienced writer and reader perform. When she reads ‘Prayer’, her renowned sonnet that offers faith to the faithless, the feeling is of poetry’s ability, in the right hands, to combine profundity with a hard-hitting relevance to everyday, modern life. After Duffy’s set finishes, Luke Wright is gushingly thankful, and in other situations, this might seem like mere pandering or falsity. But Luke Wright knows the importance of Duffy’s work and genuinely respects it, as well as the impact it has had on the poetry of younger writers like himself. Language as common property; poetry as language’s most thought-provoking form. Latitude’s Poetry Arena is something special. Tell me that ain’t beautiful.  Ben Wilkinson Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:30:00 GMT 2008-07-18T20:30:00 81521cbe-fdb4-4224-922c-e23296078b6a 1000000 Bearsuit ~ Lake Stage Local stop-start boy-girl cutie-killer six-piece pop band Latitude is a festival that prides itself on its location – its idyllic rural home on Suffolk’s ‘Sunrise Coast’ being proudly plastered over almost all publicity. So it’s fitting that East Anglian music scene legends Bearsuit were granted a homecoming of sorts with a prime afternoon spot on the Lake Stage.   Hailing from Norwich and favourites of the late, great John Peel (a long time Anglia-dweller himself), the band appear to have built up quite a following on the local circuit over the last few years, and many are evidently out in force at Latitude this weekend. Fans routinely chant out requests, bust moves and smile gleefully through the bands set.  While some dedicated followers go to the trouble of dressing in actual bear suits for the gig, the band themselves settle on performing in matching blue capes in front of gold helium letters spelling out their name. The sound is brilliantly ramshackle synth-pop, replete with girly yelps and madcap lyrics about everything from foxy boxing and having sex in a cupboard. Members flit from keys to flute to trumpet with ease and the dance moves the girls in the band pull are so endearing you can’t help be drawn in. It’s genuinely touching to see a band that have plodded relatively unsuccessfully on the margins for a number of years draw such an enthusiastic at a festival like this. However, if the downright catchiness of new song ‘Pushover’ is anything to go by, this obscurity may not last much longer. Francis Whittaker Jennifer Roberts General Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT 2008-07-18T20:00:00 13f9a43d-3f73-4107-a4dc-e34b87aadfda 1000000 Ross Noble ~ Comedy Arena 'Sausage Rolls, Sausage Rolls....' Friday afternoon saw the North-Eastern comedy circuit’s favourite son instigate a Latitude, nay, a festival first – a  full-on falafel flashmob on an unsuspecting vegan food stand. This bizarre event served as the climax to Noble’s hugely successful gig in a packed out Comedy Arena. Not one to be constrained by pre-prepared material, the comic delivered a hugely enjoyable ramble through his train of thought – touching on some of the most eccentric, surreal and downright odd subject matter you’re likely to hear emanating from the human mind. Going off on tangent after tangent, his stream of consciousness comedy saw him focus on - amongst other things - the uselessness of wind chimes, the uselessness the decorative gold plinths festooning the stage and Mariah Carey singing whale song, as a well as fending off a heckler’s accusations that he was starting to look like an ‘Geordie Russell Brand’ (which, although much less stylish, he sort of is). At one point, he went as far as sending one audience member around the crowd to distribute as much complimentary backstage Red Bull as possible, much to the consternation of by-standing festival officials. The set was hugely inclusive and interactive, Noble regularly gaining material from the actions of the crowd both inside and outside the tent. This peaked when, at the end of the set, he led the crowd through a rendition of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’  before vaulting the stage barrier, starting a conga line outside the tent and leading it around the festival site. Only a few metres outside the Comedy Arena, this descended into something a resembling a bull run, with thousands of revellers following  their hero to a Felafel stand to chant, en-mass, ‘Sausage Rolls!’ at the stall’s bemused and probably offended vegetarian staff. The strange euphoria created by this saw our Geordie hero lifted aloft the crowd and, before the downright weirdness of the situation had hit any of them, he was gleefully crowdsurfing above their heads. Humankind has never, and probably will never see su