Thursday 24 March 2011

Latitude 2011 line-up

Last year was my first Latitude and it felt tailored to me.
Just in case you're unfamiliar, it's the most Guardian-est of UK festivals. There's strong music, comedy and literary line-ups (James, The XX, Vampire Weekend intermingled last year with Jon Ronson and Brett Easton Ellis as well as international ballet companies).

There was a rowdy element last year and, tragically, two sexual assaults.
The lineup for this year feels that the organisers have disposed of some of the edgier bands, focussing on melody, folk and electronica on the music side.
The headliners are, to be honest, not the strongest. The National, Paulo Nutini and Suede (aka London Suede for American audiences) are all solid acts but none of them really get the juices flowing.
The undercard though is terrific. Anna Calvi is a rising star being compared to Jeff Buckley. Check out her cover of Jezebel.
There's two generations of electronica in OMD and Hurts and awesome folkiness from Bellowhead. I'm most looking forward to the deeply underrated Thea Gilmore and the alt-country stylings of My Morning Jacket.

So, Latitude is back on track.
And chavvy hooligans need not apply.

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