Latitude Festival 2008

Back in the land of hot running water and bed linen after a long weekend in the Suffolk countryside. The Henham Estate was host to Latitude Festival 2008 and much fun was had by all. Latitude is a great festival - the right size both in terms of people and area and full to bursting of great acts to see.

More than a music festival, Latitude caters for a whole range of tastes with comedy, cabaret, movie and poetry tents packing out alongside the various music stages. This doesn't mean the music gets neglected; far from it with each night's lineups providing wholesome entertainment. Lots of highlights but here are some I was able to capture on film.

Seasick Steve played the main stage on Saturday afternoon. He blew the crowd away with his Mississippi blues played on homemade or customised guitars and his engagement with the crowd was fantastic, he certainly knew how to work the crowd. Not bad for an bearded old timer in dungarees.



Elbow followed Steve and were the band that I wanted to see the most having totally overplayed all of their albums and fallen head over heels for the latest offering 'seldom seen kid'. Again crowd engagement was particularly strong - headline acts please take note! Mostly their newest material but a few oldies slipped in. Stunning, definetly lived up to anticipation.



The Breeders were a cult band at art college and I remember borrowing a tape from a friend and becoming hypnotised by the haunting bassline of 'cannonball'. To hear it played/wailed live only reinforced the strength of those memories. Good to see the band themselves, none of whom are spring chickens, belting out the songs and full of American chutzpah and conversational banter particularly between the Deal sisters. Couldn't figure out what Cheryl was meant to be doing there though....



Don't know who this bloke was but he was the last act in the poetry tent on the Sunday. A very funny man.



In between stages and dotted in and around the woods were various art projects. Not sure about the pink sheep myself but thought this light projection was mesmerizing. Once darkness had descended a fine mist of water was fountained from the lake, upon which an animated light was projected. Far out.



Lykke Li could well be my new calender girl. This pint sized Sweedish songstress bounced around the stage and wowed the small crowd in the sunrise arena. Here she is covering the classic Tribe Called Quest song 'Can I kick it?'. One to listen out for, she does great videos as well. And speaking of pin-ups, my university heart throb Beth Orton was on stage on friday. Very good to see her back after a long absence.

Everything we need to know, we can learn from Batman

"The greatest enemy you face is yourself – Stare into the abyss long enough, and the abyss stares right back. The Joker? The Penguin? Two-Face? Catwoman? The horrors of the outside world can never hurt you as much as you can hurt yourself; a pain that can lead to self-destruction if you let it. Cultivate an inner-strength."

Read more bat-osophies here

The search for inner peace

Thanks to Phil C for this approach to better karma:

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me, and we all could probably use more calm in our lives. Some doctor on tele this morning said that the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started.

So I looked Around my house to see things I'd started and hadn't finished and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of shhhardonay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of vocka, a pockage of Prunglies, tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valum scriptins, the res Of the Chesescke an a box a chocolets.

Yu haf no idr who fkin gud I fel.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

An endearing film about two lost souls looking for companionship on the loneliest night of the year - New Years Eve. Lots of sharp, witty dialogue between the two main characters as they push and probe each other and slowly draw closer together. Nicely paced story which although set over one afternnon and evening feels neither rushed or drawn out. Lovely, slightly poignant ending that perhaps could have been a bit more ambiguous and less rounded off.

Obvious connections to other great American Indie films such as Clerks, Before Sunset/Sunrise and Swingers, ISOAMK injects a bit of 21st century zeitgeist into the Rom-Com genre - this is the first film I can think of that name checks facebook, myspace and the movie's main prop - Craig's List.

Shot in downtown LA on what I imagine was a miniscule budget, the film looks stunning. The west coast sunlight and shadows emphasised in the stark black and white cinematography, a distinct contrast to the warm pastel hues of Micheal Mann's LA based films.