Latitude, Day 2

From Latitude 2011

The weather forecasters got it right. The rain arrived on Saturday morning and continued off and on pretty much all day. Luckily most of the Latitude site is well drained, so the resulting mud did not attain Glastonbury proportions, except in Tangerine Fields, where we had paid a small fortune for supposedly up-market facilities. But one of the good things about Latitude is the fact that all but a couple of the events are held in tents, so there is plenty of opportunity to keep dry.

I started my musical day with They Might be Giants, whose quirky songs some of you may recall from the '80s. Then into the Word tent to take in British Sea Power performing a lively set, which was hard to pin down stylistically, but was suitably epic in proportion.

Back outside again in the Obelisk Arena to see Seasick Steve, and the sun! A great performance of his own unique take on the blues, accompanied by ex Led Zep, John Paul Jones, on bass and mandolin. Some wonderfully dodgy home made guitars in evidence, but an amazing sound. Next up a band that I did not really know much about before hand: The Cribs. Not quite my thing, but entertaining enough anyway.

After some fine fish and chips, it was time to see Echo and the Bunnymen. I had not really been a great fan first time around, but on the basis of this performance I had to revise my opinion. They certainly have a few good tunes up there sleeve. I was not too bothered about seeing the day's head-liner, Paulo Nutini, on the main stage, and opted instead to see the Foals again (having previously been very impressed by their performance in Hyde Park a couple of weeks earlier). This time around their show was, if anything, even more manic than before and clearly a massive crowd pleaser.

We rounded off our evening with a visit to the Poetry Arena to see the amazing hop-hop poet, Kate Tempest, in action. She certainly knows how to string words together in a rhythmic stream-of-conciousness outburst that bowls you over.