Variety is the festival word

One of the things that I find hardest to do when thinking about writing about festivals is to devise some hopefully coherent plot.  That difficulty is actually also one of the great selling points of the very same festivals - the bewildering variety to be found there.  It is perhaps no surprise that 'Thoughts on Music' is a blog title that conveniently makes it quite difficult to go totally off-message!
Here are a few pictures, all from Latitude 2011 but in no particular order, of acts that I saw on the tented 'Word Stage' and all of which I particularly enjoyed.  Last year I spent a disproportionate time in front of the Lake Stage but this year very little in comparison. I spent it here instead.
  

The Naked and Famous, from New Zealand.

Tirelessly energetic and incredibly tight - it is hard to credit that this time last year they were all but unheard of beyond their distant home-shores. The début album 'Passive Me, Aggressive You' has certainly carved them a home from home and a well deserved live following.

  

The reliable half of a totally unpredictable, but equally legendary, musical partnership.

Carl Barât and his own band finished with something you just knew they couldn't resist!

There were plenty of those hats in tribute to HMP Peter Doherty but no delays, no bust-ups, just a thoroughly professional and entertaining set. The new solo material was very interesting too but equally I had failed to realize how good the 'Dirty Pretty Things'-era Barât material would sound live. That cello wasn't included as a nod to current trends; it played a major part in the structure of the sound.

  

More assuredly in the traditional and acoustic theme was Bellowhead. It is true that it is a 'marmite' band in that those who do not like it tend to do so with a passion. I am not one of them.

In my opinion they can do no wrong and, given this performance, I believe that I am right.

I should have taken this differently as I only managed to include nine of the eleven band members.

The next is another band that I have seen before at Latitude (in 2008, I think). If you are going to make quirky indie guitar rock then the best way to do it is with absolute conviction but on the face of it there seems to be nothing remotely unusual doing here.

  

  

You may not make as many fans that way but, as British Sea Power amply demonstrates, the ones you do will be equally passionate and quirky too. The fascination with greenery goes back to the earliest days of the band, though don't ask me why. For those wondering about the return of guitar bands in 2011 this is one to make you realize that they never really went away.

Last but not least, in what is still a far from complete synopsis of the acts I saw on the Word Stage last weekend, is James Vincent McMorrow.
  

These songs were mostly from the 2011 album 'Early In The Morning'. If you think that it is good (and it is) then live it is just something else.

Two more bands that amazed me...

British Sea Power were, as I have already mentioned and had also been led to believe, simply terrific live. What I did not anticipate is that I would soon feel the same way about two other bands, both of which come with at least some kind of reputation that might possibly have presaged a disappointment.

Foals - live on the Obelisk Stage @ Latitude 2008.

While Foals have been hotly tipped since they first appeared, and never more so than for their live performances on which their reputation is built, it does predispose one to worrisome thoughts. Their set was, however, one of the best I have ever heard and I now understand what all the fuss is about! If this is what "math rock" really means then I'm a convert now...

I have mentioned acts on the Lake Stage (BBC Radio 1 - Huw Stephens - Introducing...) before and I spent a great deal of time there at Latitude 2007. While I did not spend as much time there this year it was, regardless, the venue graced by the last of my "top three" bands!

The Beep Seals live @ Latitude 2008 on 19th July 2008.

The break-down to the final track of the set was just incredible - in both scope and disciplined execution - and without doubt it takes a lot of practice to make such apparent ad lib chaos so perfect...
They did it, with no second thoughts, and it was quite simply AWESOME.

2008 Mercury Music Prize nominations

The twelve albums that are short-listed for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize were made public today and, as it happens, the list dovetails with both my thoughts on Latitude 2008 and several other matters on which I have commented in the last year.

To serve as a point of reference here are the 2008 Mercury nominations (in alphabetical order):

• Adele - 19
• British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
• Burial - Untrue
• Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
• Estelle - Shine
• The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
• Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
• Neon Neon - Stainless Style
• Portico Quartet - Knee-Deep In The North Sea
• Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
• Radiohead - In Rainbows
• Rachel Unthank And The Winterset - The Bairns

The selection is, as perhaps we would like, eclectic and that makes my life easier. Two acts here - Elbow and British Sea Power - were amongst those that I saw live at Latitude 2008 and in a pantheon that was not without competition, even if some of it was not eligible for a Mercury nomination, was far from lightweight.
[As usual click the images for a rather larger version.]

I've been told many times that British Sea Power are stunning live and, if I ever doubted you, all I can say is that I now plead guilty as charged; you were right and I was wrong!

Naval pennants, foliage and Hungarian backing vocals - British Sea Power live at Latitude 2008!

On a different tack I'm delighted to see that modern folk gets two nominations and that Northumbrian band Rachel Unthank And The Winterset are amongst them is yet another massive boost for the impact that folk-inspired music now has and, as you might well know by now, Laura Marling has been on my play list for over a year and it is about time that she got some recognition.

This leads me on to another band in that genre and, as there is a collective tendency here, one with whom Laura Marling has also often played live. That is Noah and The Whale. They were at Latitude 2007 on the Lake Stage but I didn't get to see them. They were back this year, on the much larger Uncut Arena, and although there was a big turnout this time I did see them and it was another highlight of the weekend.

Noah and The Whale - live on the Uncut Arena - at Latitude 2008 on Sunday 20th July 2008.

Latitude 2008 - a festival update...

I got my ticket over a month ago, which is why I'm willing to share this! Tickets are still available I believe and this, in my opinion, is just getting better and better.

A band that has been going thirty years is something that I'd usually be ambivalent about seeing at a festival. If there were one exception - and a band that I really regret never having seen live - it would have to be Blondie. That said at Latitude 2007, while the top-link artists were headlining, some of the things that made the most impression on me were acts that I would never have heard live or, in many cases, I had never even heard of until I bought the guidebook on Thursday evening! I may well be better prepared this year but I really don't think that I will be any the less surprised and I can see that the choices between which acts to see will only be more difficult the second time around.