Latitude Thoughts : all 80s special

There was a noticeable skew to more mature fare at this year's Latitude, possibly to ward off the criminal elements that cast a shadow over the 2010 edition.
And this was somewhat underlined by booking Adam Ant and OMD.
Me, I am just too young to remember these acts the first time round. Sometimes this can feel like you're intruding on a private party.
Which was emphatically not the case with either act.
Firstly, we will touch on OMD. For their first UK festival show in 25 years, they were clearly moved by the crowd's love. And wonderfully self-deprecating. Brilliant versions of their classics and bravely opening with uber-hit Enola Gay, which had the crowds racing in.
Next: Prince Charming. Adam Ant clearly relished being back. His energy was infectious and this was the biggest crowd we saw in the tent all festival long (though 'twere lunchtime and wet).
My personal theory is that without Adam Ant we wouldn't have had a Jarvis. Here was a man standing up for the geeks, the outcasts. Ridicule is nothing to be scared of.
And given what the papers have said about his mental health, there is an extra poignancy.
Now, having seemingly emerged victorious, he is a hero twice over. Bless you Adam Ant.

Latitude Thoughts : They Might Be Giants

On these shores They Might Be Giants (TMBG) are kinda thought of as one-hit wonders due to the mega-success of Birdhouse In Your Soul (possibly one of the best songs by anyone in the 90s).
Despite the worst rain of the festival punctuating their set, TMBG showed why they're so much more than that.
They are one of the funniest live acts I've seen of any genre.
The set started with a song dedicated to an "absent friend", the sun.
And after a bravely early airing of Birdhouse we were introduced to the awesomely crazy edutainment tunes including the Alphabet of Nations which is simple in concept but wonderfully entertaining even in midsummer downpours.
Also as well as the best ever song about city nomenclature there was a duet by sock puppets claiming to be Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks and nobody else at Latitude came anywhere close to that level of crazy (and this includes KT Tunstall having an interpretative dancer providing sign language).
There was a real warmth and humour to their banter. So much so I found myself drifting into a lovely little NYC fantasy in which we would all meet up at Casa TMBG's local pizzeria, get involved in Seinfeld-ian escapades and then together with Spidey writer Dan Slott we would go watch some off-Broadway gem.
Which is an odd way of saying to hear these guys is to fall ever so slightly in love with them even in bad weather.

Latitude thoughts : The Vaccines

The caravan has been doing its' summer tour of festivals and general awesomeness.
To catch up, we'll do a few posts on acts wot caught our eyes.

So, The Vaccines.
I have a slightly complicated relationship with these guys as I ADORED Jay Jay Pistolet (frontman Justin Young's previous venture).  Jay Jay Pistolet is very folksy and the tunes are stunning in a nu-folk Noah and The Whale or Johnny Flynn way.
The music's thoughtful but not navel-gazing.
And, well, The Vaccines are closer to The Strokes (or actually The Ramones). Listen to this - it's great but utterly unrecognisable from the Pistolet material.
Which means Justin Young's a very talented man (even if I don't care for the ubiquitous Post Break-up Sex).

Live, though, they won me over.
There was incredible excitement in the audience (the most we'd seen at a fairly laidback and wet Latitude).
And an understated cockiness to the band (it's like they think "Yeah, we're awesome, we don't have to prove anything") but not a laziness. The tunes back this up.
For the next week, we woke up with The Vaccines providing our internal soundtrack.
Which isn't bad seeing we saw them on the first day of a three day festival.

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.