Latitude 2015 - porcine shards and the joys of Public Service Broadcasting

Dear Sheddists,

the new day arrives like an asthmatic lark with the splutter of a diesel motor from the camper-van next to us. Time for a quick recce with the camera followed by a skirmish in the showers.

Two things strike me as I undertake my morning ablutions, namely the increasing popularity of ill-conceived tattoos amongst men of all ages and the high incidence of pubic topiary amongst the young.  On my return to Veronica the van I convey this alarming news to mrs electrofried, who is just awakening from her slumbers. She feigns complete indifference and rolls over.

An hour and a half later and we're comfortably ensconced in the breakfast tent. The morning tsunami of hungry campers has already washed away most of the breakfast fare leaving us with crisped slices of bacon that explode into shards of potentially lethal porcine shrapnel on first bite and a variety of mushy things that are orange and of uncertain origin.  Fine stuff with which to start the day!

We've opted to kick off the festival proper in the Comedy Tent, arriving just in time to catch the back end of Elis James and the entirety of Alan Davies, who is side-splittingly fantastic.  His distinctive facial features change chameleon-like from sad spaniel to moon-beamed gurner and back in an instant as he shares the perils of middle-aged manhood.

And so to music...

Femi Kuti and the Positive Force - a fantastic display of Afrobeat on the Main Stage from yet another musical scion of the late, great Fela Kuti. His energetic dancing troupe kicks ass too, considerable quantities of it, clad in blue spandex and pointed for the most part in the general direction of an adoring audience.

King Creosote - an excellent set in the BBC Radio 6 Tent from the legendary Scottish singer/songwriter Kenny Anderson.  Mrs electrofried gives it the thumbs up.

Public Service Broadcasting - we stay on to catch one of the highlights of the festival. I take up position in the mosh-pit only to have Ruby Wax (yes, THE Ruby Wax who is speaking later in one of the other tents) push past me to the front. The music is sublime and when PSB strike up the opening notes of 'Go!', accompanied by the spoken-word archives from the Apollo 11 moon-landing the crowd goes wild. J. Wildgoose, Esq and Wrigglesworth - we salute you!

Caribou - we catch the tail end of their set on the Main Stage. Mrs electrofried is unimpressed by their Neu-like motorik beats so I'm sent in search of a nice cup of PG Tips.  This gives me the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the lady running the Crepe Stall who introduces me to her short-order cook. Apparently he plays Rugby League for England.  I don't know much about his sporting prowess but he makes a mean brew.

Alt-J - a huge disappointment. They look lost on the Main Stage and in desperate need of a comfy blanket and a bulk order of pacifiers.  We leave early on in their set to make our way across to the Film Tent for ...

The White Mink Electro-Swing Club - I thoroughly enjoyed their club evening last year and they prove equally as good this year. Regrettably a long day is starting to catch up so we depart after the first act to make our way back across the twinkling-lit fields in search of Veronica the van and our bed for the night.

Latitude - the last dance

And so to the last day of Latitude.

Departures

Dear mrs electrofried has already gone.  She has to attend a funeral tomorrow, sadly an increasingly common occurrence of late as we enter the autumn of our lives.  Teenygoth and I go our separate ways,  she toward the Comedy Arena and me to the BBC Radio 6 Music Stage.

James are due to play, having had to cancel last minute on Saturday evening. The tent is already rammed by the time I get there and the crowd stands some ten deep by the exits, so I content myself with yet another nicely chilled festival cider as I take in the vibe at a respectable distance.

And arrivals

This sets me up nicely for the Atomic Bomb, a tribute band featuring a stellar cast that includes members of Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, the Beastie Boys and Scritti Politti. They're here to recreate  the music of cult Nigerian funk artiste, William Onyeabor.

With the sun beating down once again on the Obelisk Arena the Atomic Bomb get to work and they are utterly, utterly fantastic - one of the real hits of the festival.  The music captures the very essence of Onyeabor's electro-funk; sadly the man himself has been missing some thirty years from the music scene since embracing  the Christian faith. Shame, he would have loved this performance!

Beating the retreat

After a glorious hour's worth of the Atomic Bomb my knees ache, so I buy a tastily priced Cormac McCarthy paperwork from the on-site book stall and retreat to the camper-van for a restful afternoon in the company of a full wine-box of cheap Shiraz and an i-pad logged into Master Amazon's finest musical emporium.

It proves an expensive combination. Before long orders have been placed for seminal works by the artists that have most taken my fancy during the last three days. In addition to the electrofried bank account, a significant dent is made too in the contents of the wine-box.

Suitably refreshed it's back to the music for the last leg of the journey.

Dying embers

I arrive in time to share with Teenygoth a box of the finest chips on offer at the festival, served from a bar constructed on the remains of a VW bus before catching a brief snatch of War on Drugs. They sound rather good but the main Obelisk Arena calls.

Tame Impala are very good, their light psychedelics accompanied by a tasteful screen projection. And before you know it, it's time for the last headliner of the weekend, the Black Keys. Sadly, despite high hopes they fall short of expectations. Somehow they just seem a little bored with proceedings, so I make my way across to the BBC Radio 6 one last time for Lykke Li who I'm pleased to report puts on a far more impressive performance.

Ears ringing, Teenygoth and I link up for the long walk back to our camper-van, and that folks was Latitude 2014!

Best acts:

Mogwai
Tinariwen
The Atomic Bomb

Unexpected surprise:

A fabulous night in the Film and Music Arena curated by the White Mink electro-swing club

Flop of the weekend:

Damon Albarn, by a country mile, bringing new meaning to middle-age angst

All in all … an enormous success!

Latitude Photos - Vol. 2

Latitude Photos - Vol. 1