Latitude 2012 - Sunday

So the final day of Latitude arrived and the sun was out and blue skies awaited me as I opened my tent! What a difference a day had made compared to the weather that had met me 24 hours earlier. After the normal morning routine it was time to pack and get the tent down. Paul and I headed with our trolleys across the campsite and out to his car whilst trying to avoid the worst of the muddy patches. We made it in one piece and got all packed away in the car in time to get back to the arena area for shortly after 12.30pm.

As we walked back towards the lake we could hear Lang Lang (more info), the classical concert pianist, playing on the lakeside stage but there was far too many people watching to get anywhere near so we took a detour off round the lake and then up to the food area for some lunch and a last beer of the weekend. Had very nice Chinese special noodles for lunch and finally it was time for the first music of the day.

On the main stage was Alabama Shakes (more info). Never heard anything by them before but they were quite wonderful. The leader singer, a young 20 something lady, seemed to incorporate the spirit of Aretha Franklin, Janice Joplin and Otis Redding. It was a quite fantastic 40 mins of proper soul, blues and R&B music (60's version) not the horrible X Factor/ "Diva" 21st century bland rubbish (sorry I am off on one now!).

Next up on the main stage were Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (more info), a vast eleven-piece American ensemble. Not sure how to describe them as they were a bit country, bit folk, bit gospel and just a bit plain odd! I managed one of my power naps during their set sat in the seats at the back much to Paul's amusement! Also we were a bit distracted during their set as sat in front of us was a woman and two blokes. We were just intrigued as from what we could make out from their conversation it appeared to be the current and ex-husband! It certainly was a very strange dynamic going on!

After this came Simple Minds (more info). Now this wasn't the bloated U2 wannabies of the late 80s but the early art-rock group of their first 5 albums which they mostly played from (11 song set included 3 tracks from Empires & Dance, two tracks from New Gold Dream, one each from Real Life, Sons & Fascination and Sister Feeling Calling plus the inevitable Don't You (Forget About Me) and Alive And Kicking) . A great band and one that certainly knew how to play a festival despite having a late afternoon slot in the sunshine. One of my highlights of the weekend.

Then it was off for a walk around, a rest chilling on the grass before heading into the Word Arena to watch a group called M83 (more info) who were very electronic (but with guitars and drums thrown in) and had a heavy dance vibe. Definitely one for the youngsters in attendance! They were initially very enjoyable but after their big hit (my assumption based on crowd reaction!) they over stayed their welcome by 2 or 3 songs and it did begin to drag for me (and for quite a lot of the crowd who began to depart in large numbers).

The final set in the Word Arena was Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club (more info). Featured in the film Buena Vista Social Club and made up of veteran musicians from Cuba they certainly lived up to the billing as "bringing back to life the exotic flavours and colours of the 1940’s Cubana era" and were a fun way to end our time at the second stage. Paul even pulled a young lady who wanted to salsa with him!

Last up as headliner on the main stage was Paul Weller (more info). Now I was a massive Jam fan in my youth and love most of his solo material as well. It was great to finally get to see him live and his performance was very professional backed by an excellent band but for me there was something a little missing. Compared to Elbow the previous night, who knew how to engage the festival crowd, Weller made no attempt to tailor his performance to the festival and had just went from song to song with a “thank you” thrown in occasionally! Professional but a bit detached from my humble perspective and probably the same set you would see at O2 or Wembley Arena. At least I got to see 3 Jam songs played live!

We left just as he was starting his encore to try and beat the rush for the car park especially as we didn't know how bad or muddy the exits would be. However we made it out fine and it was back to my car (all safe and sound) and then I headed off for the long drive home arriving back at around 3am and bed at 3.40am after a quick bath (to then be woken by my youngest at 5.20am who was very excited to see her daddy!!!).

So now for my awards…

Best performance of the weekend

Now this is a tough one as there were some very good performances. However not even being able to split them with the Olympic photo finish technology I have a tie between Glen Hansard and Richard Hawley.  Both did great sets and really seemed to enjoy playing at the festival.

Best song of the weekend

Clear winner here – it has to be “Come on Eileen” by Dexys that really had the Word Arena jumping.

Legend slot of the weekend

Just pipping LLoyd Cole, Daryl Hall and Dexys it had to be Simple Minds who showed just how to play a classic short festival tailored set.  Paul Weller take note!

New find of the weekend

Honourable mention for Zola Jesus but it has to be Alabama Shakes who were just fantastic!

Purchase of the weekend

It has to be Paul’s festival hat which can be seen in all its glory below!  Cleary why he pulled!

Overall it was a very good weekend (wallet apart) and actually the weather was much better than it had been during the day at last year's festival. It was only because the ground started so wet that the mud was worse this year. I suspect I will be back again next year if permission is given!

(All live Latitude pictures with kind permission of Paul Waring)

Latitude 2012 - Saturday

There was lots of heavy rain over night which woke me up a number of times. There was a brief break in the weather allowing a quick trip to the toilet block, to clean my teeth at the water station and have a quick chat with Paul before heading back into my tent as the rain started to come down heavy again.

Now after a quick phone call to the police about my wallet I had the chance to do something I never ever normally get the chance to do - get back into bed and have a morning nap! I know I easily pleased but those couple of hours back in the sleeping bag whilst the rain came down was just bliss!!

The rain finally eased up and with full wet weather gear on it was off to the festival site through the mud for some lunch (very nice pie, mash and mushy peas washed down with a pint of real ale!) whilst sitting at a picnic table watching a band called the Establishment (more info) on the Lake Stage. The Lake Stage is a small stage in the middle of the food and beverage area and features new bands. They were nice enough indie guitar pop to watch whilst having your lunch. From the programme they were from Nottingham and featured a former Notts Forest footballer and managed by another former footballer (Dion Dublin!).

We then went into the Word Arena to see a band called the Smoke Fairies (more info) . The best I can describe them is a delta blues band fronted by two young English Public school girls! All a bit weird and just didn’t work for me.

Then it was off to the main stage to see Baxter Dury (more info) son of one of my all time heroes the late great Ian Dury. He has some of the same mannerisms as his dad and a similar voice but found it all a bit disappointing to be honest as his songs were a bit one paced and average. Oh well!

Back to the Word Arena to see Josh T Pearson (more info) . He is a solo country singer with just his guitar for company. He looks like he is just wandered out of the American wilderness with a huge beard and long hair! The songs were very dark and dripped with emotion and passion. His guitar playing was wonderful. A feel gem after a little bit of a disappointing start to the day musically. He also had a fantastically dry sense of humour. At one point he stopped and looked out at the packed tent and said " wow I don't usually play to this many people [pause] it is usually more"!!! I can’t even start to tell his Willie Nelson joke!

He was followed straight after by someone at the other end of the spectrum - Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates fame (more info). He had a big band with him who were as tight as a knat’s arse as my mate Paul put it! He was every inch the star (he even had his microphone disinfected before he started!!!) and did a very professional spot on set with mostly hits and a couple of new songs. He was joined by Rumer to do a duet on “Sara Smile”. Seeing Daryl Hall was a big treat for me as Hall & Oates were a big favourite of mine in the early 80s and I had never seen them live. I wasn’t disappointed!

Next it was back to the main stage and a spot near the front to see Richard Hawley (more info) . He recently broke his leg and was wheeled onto stage by Guy Garvey from headliners Elbow to huge cheers. He did a great set and for me one of the best of the weekend. Also featured more heavily his guitar playing and showed what a talented and underrated guitar player he is. As with Glen Hansard on Friday he seemed to really enjoy his time on stage although that may have been the painkilling drugs he kept talking about!

With an hour or so to spare before the headliners we decided to have a walk around to areas we hadn't been to so far before. We ended up heading for the I-arena, which is a small stage in the woods that features bands that are up and coming. Before we could get there we had to cross the Sunrise Bridge and we were confronted with a vast army of people coming the other way! Apparently they had just been to see a band called Django Django. According to Paul it was an example of a band that was the right size for the stage when booked but who had got much bigger since and could have easily gone on the Word Arena. The people just kept coming and coming out of the woods, trudging through the mud and across the bridge. Did feel a bit like watching Napoleon’s armies retreat from Russia!

When we did finally get to the I-arena we came across an American female singer going under the name Zola Jesus (more info) . She was a small attractive blonde with a huge voice and songs that definitely were influenced by Siouxsie and the Banshees! A very nice enjoyable late afternoon surprise.

Then it was back to the main arena to see the headliners of the day Elbow (more info) . The clouds had parted and we even had some late evening sun and clear skies! Elbow were very good and really showed how to play a festival headlining set and engage with a large crowd.




After a couple of after show beers we stopped on the Writers Bridge over the lake to watch Olympic projections on a huge fountain stream, a ballerina covered in fairy lights dance across the lake (a board just under the water surface gave the impression of dancing on water) and then an acrobat attached under a large balloon that floated up in the sky up and down the lake. A very cultural end to the evening!

After a quick night cap back at our tents it was off to bed to get some sleep before the final day. Despite the worst weather of the weekend this had been a good day!

Latitude 2012 - Friday

I woke up at 7.45 after a relatively good night’s sleep only woken by some heavy downpours on the tent. The rain seemed to have passed mainly through and the morning was overcast but dry. Paul & I had a leisurely morning reading the programme in our camping chairs sat outside our tents & planning our day ahead.

We headed off around midday into the arena area. First up was the Silver Seas (info here) in the Word Arena. This band was a recommendation of Paul, via Danny Baker and the Word massive, and we were right down the front for them. They were pretty good playing melodic pop/rock and definitely the right time of year for it with their 70s west coast summer rock feel.

They were followed by Lloyd Cole (info here) who did an acoustic set accompanied by his son, Will. Lloyd started off wearing an old man’s flat cap and what looked like golfing trousers which made him look much older than he actually did once he took off the hat to reveal he still had a full set of hair! As he said himself it was made worse by the fact his young son looks like he did back in the day! Looks aside it was a good set and Lloyd is obviously very proud of his son. His son also brought a very noisy and enthusiastic fan club of friends (who had American accents).

Next we were off to the main stage and the Obelisk Arena. They have some banks of seating on the back of the arena and we settled there to watch a Swedish female duo called First Aid Kit (info here). I guess best described as an alternative country band. They were ok but not really my thing. I have to say I probably nodded off in a couple of places for one of my legendary Latitude power naps!

They were followed by Glen Hansard (info here) who we went down near to the front to see . He is an Irish singer songwriter and I have been a huge fan of his band the Frames since the early 90s. They are criminally over looked in my humble opinion. He has also done a couple of albums with the Czech female singer, Markéta Irglová, as the Swell Season and they are best known for the song “Falling” which won an Oscar. He has just released his first solo album ("Rhythm and Repose") which is very good and I would highly recommend. His performance was great & one of my favourite performances of the weekend. What was really nice to see was that he had a huge smile for all of his performance and looked like he was really enjoying it. He was joined for some of the songs by a selection of Bon Iver band members.

Last up for the day were Dexys (info here) back in the Word Arena. Now the set was heavily weighted towards their new album which I was glad I had bought & listened to in advance. It is an excellent album and worked well in the very theatrical performance the band did (which included the legend that is Mick Talbot on keyboards). Kevin Rowland looked very old but considering the well documented problems he has had it is good to see him well and performing again. The single song performance of the weekend had to be their version of “Come on Eileen” which had the tent really rocking!

Sadly the day was brought to an abrupt end shortly afterwards with the theft of wallet including all my money during the Dexy's set.  I had even put it into my bag for safer keeping than in my pocket but when I went to get it out I found both the front and back pockets of my bag were open and the wallet was gone.  After reporting it we headed back to our tents for a few drinks (me vodka & orange & Paul gin & tonic!). The rain arrived at around 10pm & we bid each other good night and headed into our tents for an early night.

As a post note I have to say that all of the people that I dealt with following the theft were excellent from the Welfare tent, who very caring and sympathetic when they took my crime report, to the Suffolk Police, who must have called me at least 5 times, and the Lost Property team who returned my wallet to me in the post after it was found dumped minus the money but with driving licence still intact. My mate Paul was also a star and just went straight to the cash point and said how much did I need. Big thank you to all concerned.

(All live Latitude pictures with kind permission of Paul Waring)

Latitude 2012 - Thursday

Latitude 2012 had finally arrived!

Given the weather forecast for the weekend, and the already very wet conditions under foot after the wonderful summer weather we had recently, I had agreed with my mate Paul, who I was going to the festival with again, that I would I leave my car at a nearby location and he would drive us both in as he has a 4x4 which would get us on and off in the mud (hopefully!). Given the conditions it was the right decision.

After doing the school run for my oldest and then dropping my youngest at pre-school it was off on the car journey to Suffolk with the iPod spinning the sounds of first Weller “..at the BBC” and then the very good new Dexy’s album “One Day I'm Going to Soar”. Traffic on the journey up was pretty good and even the M25 behaved itself!

Met Paul at around 1pm and we arrived at festival at just after 2pm. A little bit of a queue to get in to the site but we were soon in and headed off to same area that we camped in last year which isn't too busy compared to some of the others as you can see from the ariel shot below!

 

We got the tents all set up in the sunshine and had a beer to celebrate outside our tents. Now before I get even more sarcastic comments on the choice of drink – this was provided to me by Paul and I spent the rest of the weekend on the proper stuff!

Then we headed off into the arena area for a wonder around and a couple of ales followed by a lovely homemade burger from the Isle of Arran. As the rain started to come down we decided to head back to the tents for a nightcap. After a quick vodka & orange the rain really started to come down so we decided to call it a night and head off to our tents for a relatively early night in preparation for the event to properly kick off on Friday.

As an aside this was the first time that I had come on Thursday (usually I had rushed up on Friday arriving at around 1pm a little stressed and missing the first few bands) and it definitely made a difference for the rest of the weekend with getting all set up on Thursday and a relaxing start on Friday before catching the first acts of the weekend. Big thank you to Mrs D who gave me the pass and permission to go up on the Thursday!

(All live Latitude pictures with kind permission of Paul Waring except for aerial shot)

It's the Riff....

The latest challenge has been thrown down by Mr W....

"Right, after a lot of indecision and prevarication, the next challenge is out there.  And it's the Riff. The guitar line (and it has to be the guitar line) that turns a good song into a classic.  I want your top ten riffs.  No more than two or three bars. Played to death by young boys in guitar shops. Long of hair, behatted and beaded, no doubt.  I'm not talking solos here, I'm talking riffs. Ba-danga-danga-da-dang dang. Ba-danga-danga-da-dang dang.  You know what I mean."

Firsly lets start with one that always tops riff charts and won't be in my list .... step forward Smoke on the Water. Sorry but I find this song so boring and if I ever hear the story behind the song again I think I will scream!!!

Now that I have that out of my system let's go!  So in reverse order....

10. Last Night - The Strokes

For a period at the start of the new century they were the hottest band around.  A great first album that they have never been able to match.  This is a great song and if you looking for riffs this certainly has one of the all time greats.  Simple but so effective and drives the whole song.

9. Doctor Doctor - UFO

Now I could have a top 10 of riffs just featuring UFO songs and the riff meister himself Michael Schenker.  This is one of their best and still gets the crowd bouncing to this day.

8. Seven Nation Army - White Stripes

Now strictly this is part bass and part guitar riff.  But this cannot be left off the list as Jack White's riff drives the whole song, along with Meg White's wonderful minimal drumming and is a great example of how less can be more.

7. Paint it Black - Rolling Stones

Now most top 10 riff lists will include the Stones but it will be (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.  However I believe this another great example of how a riff interwoven with the drum track can really make a song move up to the next level.  Always loved this song with it's Eastern flavoured riff.

6. House of The Rising Sun - The Animals

Now Paul's challenge suggested songs played by young boys in guitar shops and when I was a lad and all my friends picked the guitar for the first time this is the one that they all learnt to play first.  The riff is basically the song and love the way that the Hammond organ comes in and follows the guitar part.  Another example of simple is best and a timeless classic.

5. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne

Featuring the sadly missed and legendary Randy Rhoads.  A song that features at least two classic riff lines - nothing quite matches the opening riff when the main part of the song kicks in - the Crazy Train is off and running!

4. Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

The grunge riff classic. Had a whole generation of young boys in the early 90s learning Kurt Cobain's classic riff.  Unfortunately led to bands like Bush so maybe not such a good thing!

3. Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Great riffs should have the ability to get under your skin and this one from sublime, and under rated, John Frusciante certainly does that. I think I couldn't get this out of my head for about two years!

2. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses

One of the most memorable and famous riffs in the last 20+ years.  Probably one of the greatest starts to any song ever and all thanks to the excellent guitar work from Slash.  Their greatest song by far and the heights were never matched again.

1. Paranoid - Black Sabbath

This is the riff bar none from another of the masters of the riff Tony Iommi.  A staple of every rock club in every town and never fails to get a floor full of blokes all pretending that they can play guitar.  A true classic.  Here it is in all its glory....

So there you have it!  As ever a really difficult task of narrowing down my favourites and some narrowly missed out so I have to give a few honourable mentions to ones that nearly made it including Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix, Ever Fallen in Love - Buzzcocks, This Charming Man - The Smiths, Down Down - Status Quo, Spirit of Radio - Rush plus many more that I haven't got time to list here.

Over to you now Paul!

What *were* you thinking?

As can be found on Paul's blog here I throw down another challenge.  Albums you have bought but now you just ask yourself why???  Well here is my list. I am not proud and actually very embarrassed about some of these.  All I can say was that I was young at the time....

1. She's the Boss - Mick Jagger

I have no idea why I bought this album.  I hadn't really liked anything the Stones had done since the early 70s so why I went out and purchased this I cannot recall.  Given that the credits has a talent list to die for including Jeff Beck, Ray Cooper, Sly Dunbar, Bernard Edwards, Rabbit Bundrick, Herbie Hancock, Nile Rodgers, G.E. Smith, Tony Thompson & Pete Townsend this album is just dreadful.  I have really tried to like it and once a decade I try again but sorry it is still almost unlistenable.  I repeated this all over again with his next solo album Primitive Cool which is just as bad if not worse. Don't ask me why I repeated my mistake - I must have been having a memory failure at the time!

2. Hooray for Boobies - the BloodhoundGang

Bought on the strength of the single "the Bad Touch" which I did find funny at first, probably on the strength of it's video.  The album is basically the same joke over and over and over again ("A lap dance is so much better when the stripper is crying", "Magna Cum Nada", "Yummy Down on This" to name just three "classics"!!!).  It lost it's novelty after one and half plays and after that it became very unfunny and just tedious.  Not to be recommended....

3. Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Spin Doctors

Another album I bought on the strength of one track I loved ("Two Princes" - which I still like today).  Allmusic describes the album as "full of the loose, leisurely three-chord pop/rock jams".  Yes there is that dreaded word "Jams".  A jamming session may be fun for a band and it's mates down a small pub/club on a Sunday evening but not as a full proper album.  This album is not in anyway offensive but it is just so completely boring and seems to go on forever!  Every time I have tried to listen to it I just lose the will to live way before the end....

4. Heartbeat - Don Johnson

I can't believe I am admitting owning this album!  I have no excuses or mitigating circumstances.  I just went out and bought it.  It is average at best and completely awful at it's worst.  If I remember correctly a song called "Coco Don't" would end up on trial for crimes against music!  I haven't played since the 1980s and that is the way it is going to stay - I haven't been tempted in over 20 years to dig out the record and put it on the turntable....

5. The Return of Bruno - Bruce Willis

My god it just gets worse and worse!  I am so ashamed.  I liked Moonlighting and Die Hard but it is no excuse for paying hard cash for this.  At least I wasn't the one who commissioned and released it - step forward Motown!!!  This album has nothing to redeem it and features Bruce murdering classics such as "Under the Boardwalk", "Young Blood" and "Respect Yourself".  No more to say really - I will get just get my coat and leave....

6. Rhythm and Stealth - Leftfield

I really don't like Dance/House Music.  Nothing personal but just isn't my thing.  So why I bought an album that features just that I have no idea.  I can't even remember buying this album but yet it is in my record collection just sitting there staring at me and collecting dust.

7. Release the Stars - Rufus Wainright

Does anyone actually really like Rufus' music or does no one want to admit it?  I downloaded this album on the back of strong reviews at the time and was interested to find out what all the fuss was about.  I quickly found out that I really didn't like his voice or the theatrical pop opera music.  It got played once and may never be played again....

8. The Miracle - Queen

It is very sad when one of your favourite bands releases a really poor album and this is just such an example.  I remember RAW, a short lived rival rock weekly to Kerrang!, reviewing this and raving how it was a return to their 70s best.  Trust me it wasn't....

9. St. Anger - Metallica

Another example of decline in a great band.  To be honest Metallica's albums had been getting worse for most of the 90s and it reached this low point in 2003.  The recording of this album and the band's near implosion is captured in the classic music documentary "Some Kind of Monster".  The album itself is almost totally devoid of anything that can be described as a tune, has a very weird drum sound mix, has no guitar solos and is just relentless mess of noise.  Avoid at all costs but watch the documentary - it is a classic!

10. Permission to Land - the Darkness

Now I should never let curiosity get the better of me!  I had the misfortune of seeing the Darkness before they broke big playing a small pub/venue the Monarch in Camden.  My friend Jim's band at the time (International Jetset) had been supporting and I was told I had to see this lot.  I walked out after three songs as I hated the preening idiot lead singer/guitarist for both his stage antics and his really annoying voice! I should just have walked out of the store when I saw this album on the display racks in MVC.....