Who knew there were two trains heading to Ipswich at the exact same time from London Liverpool Street? Don Letts. That’s who. We’d seen him on the right train knowing he was due to play a set that evening, and we thought about quickly correcting his course. Until the universe laughed in our faces and 4 bags, we missed the connection and were stranded. A panicked taxi call- out and we made it to the scorching Henham Park for the 20th edition of Latitude Festival, taking in the of gorgeous landscape of the East of England peak heatwave.
Between clocking the pink sheep and punting lake, The Itch were first on our list at The Alcove Stage. With their ESG style samples and euphoric synth sounds, Simon Tyrie and Georgia Hardy pushed the audience to entrancing electro punk heights and didn’t let us fall back down until they left the stage. The Alcove became a dancefloor as band members Ben Hambro, Charlie Meyrick and Louis Haynes barely caught a breath between ‘Aux Romanticiser’ and ‘The Influencer’. Try answering ‘how come you say you’re not coming out tonight, don’t you know you only live once?’ with conviction after that set.
Friday was David Byrne day (x2). We headed to the Obelisk Arena, where we’d watched Alice Phoebe Lou mesmerise the crowd earlier. Naturally, we had high expectations for David Byrne. As soon as he came out to ‘Heaven’ as the sun set though, the main stage of Latitude transformed into a surrealist Broadway show, and it was easy to forget we were standing in powdery festival soil. We stood dancing with new friends to ‘Strange Overtones’ and ‘Like Humans Do’ thinking how amazing it was that David Byrne had managed to create what felt like a completely new approach to live music, with decades old songs.
And what better way to celebrate David Byrne headlining than to go to a tribute night straight after? We sprinted to The Comedy Arena for Byrnes Night, a David Byrne x Robert Burns tribute act, with rotating house bands founded in East London. Standouts were Adam Buxton covering ‘Cities’, Spider Stacy of the Pogues’ ‘Life During Wartime’and Jonique’s (Formally of alt-rock duo Fraulein) ‘This Must Be The Place’. As joyful and life affirming as the actual talking heads, Byrnes night weaved songs, poems, kilts and tartan and bagpipes to create 2 hours of pure elation and Scottish ecstasy.
Pem, stage name of folk singer song writer Emily Perry, took to The Alcove on Saturday. The lights flickered on the tent as Pem’s voice flickered delicately in ‘m4 windy’ and ‘ellipsis, silencing the festival crowds with their intimacy. By the time she closed out her set with “Awe’, her husky lullaby sound and the raw emotion of her performance had granted us access into her mind for a moment of reflection amongst the latitude chaos. Pem, post set, told us that two women informed her she’d moved their partners to tears. No surprise given the beautiful orchestral sound of Jeanie Leach, Annie Walton, Beth O’Lenahan and Anton Sconosciuto that heralded Pem’s songs across the stage and up to heaven.
Getdown Services at The Sunrise Arena were next. The most entertaining fever dream, a hedonistic revolt, an overcrowded tent chanting back “Jamie says the dinner takes 15 minutes I said get back Jamie, I’ve only got 5” to duo Josh Law and Ben Sadler. If something is going to bring the audience together it would be the communal hatred of Jamie Oliver ruining school dinners, but Getdown Services already have that covered. Despite the hilarity of their lyrics and set (“My body is a temple filled with Lucozade and shit”) the crowd were clearly there for their genuine talent and songwriting abilities. Josh played one of the most beautiful stripped back acoustic versions of ‘I Wish It Didn’t Bother Me’, halted the madness of the crowd and left us bleary eyed for the second time.
Sunday was difficult for clashes, but we managed to tick off LEMONSUCKR, whose set at The Alcove reminded us that the Sundays of festivals aren’t winding down day. Having recently joined the bill for Opus Kink’s album launch in Brighton, the band were keen to shout out their pals as their on-repeat tracks, alongside ear and, Fcukers. We could hear this in their set and thoroughly enjoyed the overly playful synths and heavy crunch guitars that sent frontman Guy Ferris stage diving.
We parked firmly between the Second Stage and The Sunrise Arena to catch Saint Etienne, English Teacher, and Deadletter. Both English Teacher and Saint Etienne defied genres on The Second Stage, in the same way the dark tent challenged the heatwave. Slightly detoured outside the tent by a few blokes from who spotted my ‘Save The George Tavern’ T Shirt. (They’d seen Jack from Little Grandad with the same one and thought we were part of a cult). Little Grandad were their favourite new find of the festival, having been coming for 12 years and not having ever seen harmonies like it- ‘chef’s kiss’ they sang.
We closed out the festival with two Deadletter performances that had consistent passion but completely different energies. It served as a blissful reminder that each festival moment is sweeping, unique and special. Sweaty, dusty and done, as Zac Lawrence of Deadletter proclaimed ‘More heat, more heat, more heat’ to close their second set, the Latitude gods had listened.
