Hello again.

The return of thoughtsfromwestfive from its sabbatical.

Over the past seven months I’ve been focusing on writing the third novel in my HOPE Trilogy. It’s called Different Days and is about HOPE in government. And, of course, it’s not all plain sailing. In fact there’s hardly any! Events, dear boy…

I’m about 60% of the way through now. I had hoped to finish it before our election, here in the UK, to avoid HOPE’s agenda looking too similar to that of a Labour government. But Rishi Sunak scuppered that by calling a surprise July election. But oh what joy that he did. More of that, perhaps, in a later blog.

I’ve been toying with re-starting the blog for a while. I did quite miss doing it. I thought about writing about the Premier League and then the Euros. I’ll cover those in my next set of predictions. I was tempted to write a music round up at the end of June – the first six months. Things moved on, but I’ll come back to that too.

And then, in the last week, things just had to change. On Thursday (25 June) it was Bruce Springsteen at Wembley stadium. And then Latitude. I’ve been writing about Latitude since my first one in 2012. How could I leave out 2024?

And so Latitude is where I will begin. Then I’ll go back to Bruce.

I missed the Thursday entertainment at Latitude as I was still in London for Bruce. But my friend Jon tells me that he enjoyed Hotwax and Mystery Jets on the Sunrise Arena. The Sunrise hasn’t been open on Thursday before, so that seems like a good development.

I got an early train from Liverpool Street on Friday. Destination Halesworth in Suffolk, via Ipswich. All ran to time – well done, Greater Anglia trains – and I got the shuttle bus to Henham Park. I was in the tent – glamping, courtesy of Pink Moon – by 12.30. Had some lunch and a bit of a rest and made my way over to the Arena to meet Jon in the Taproom bar. Beers bought, we made our way over to the main stage, the Obelisk, for Waxahatchee.

I’m going to keep the reviews a bit shorter this year, but will do them day by day, as usual.

Friday 26 July

Obelisk. Waxahatchee, the vehicle of Katie Crutchfield, played a lovely set of soulful Americana with a bit of edge. That edge comes from Katie’s almost rasping voice and the occasional burst of searing guitar. A great start to the festival for me. Check out the 2024 album Tigers Blood.

Sunrise Arena. Fat Dog, from South London, put on an in-yer-face live show, with big beats, wailing saxes and punching electro. A dancier Fat White Family. Quirky highlight, the slight figure of the saxophonist doing robot dances with the rangy keys player!

The Alcove. Ebb, featuring the keys player from our favourite, Butch Kassidy, play relentless eerie beats while the singer wails and dances around like Morrissey or Ian Curtis. Compelling for a few songs. Might think about some communications with the audience…

Second Stage (the big tent). Corinne Bailey Rae is a wonderful, soulful singer, but tonight was about the rocking guitars of her Mercury-nominated album Black Windows. All a bit earnest and ultimately rather dull. Play to your strengths, Corinne!

Obelisk. Khruangbin were funky and slinky in their usual way. Both dressed in elegant pink, those basslines gliding through the night air. Always a pleasure.

BBC Introducing stage. Fourth Daughter, from Scotland, is the stage name of new artist Emily Atkinson. She played an enjoyable set of house-influenced electro-pop. Inevitably the early music of Chvrches and Lauren Mayberry came to mind.

Second Stage. Future Islands played a lively and melodic set which went down a storm. I got some War on Drugs in the beats (without Adam Granduciel’s searing guitar) and some of the National in the melodies. Most striking was the keyboard player perched on a platform high above the stage. Almost gave me vertigo watching! Highlight was a rousing Seasons near the end.

Saturday 27 July

Sunrise. Mary in the Junkyard. I loved this set. A kind of psychedelic folk with scuzzy guitars. They describe themselves as angry, weepy, chaos rock. Three women; the singer Clari Freeman-Taylor sings high and almost out of tune, but it fits the music perfectly.

Second stage. Antony Szmierek. Amiable pop-rap which felt like a more mainstream version of The Streets and Dizzy Rascal. Very slick and very popular. We were there at the insistence of Jon’s daughter, Connie, but didn’t regret it!

Second Stage. Ritchy Mitch and the Coal Miners. The name’s enough to put you off, but I had a window in my schedule. Good old-fashioned American 70s rock, from Colorado. If you like that sort of thing, you’d love this. I loved it!

Alcove. Lexie Carroll. Had to have a least one up-and-coming sensitive singer songwriter on the agenda. Lexie met the description, though the guitars were a bit rockier than expected. Holly Humberstone without the keyboards. Very enjoyable, and as a bonus, there were seats!

Listening Post. Luke Wright. The house poet of Latitude. Supremely gifted and very funny – he could easily do stand-up comedy. Tonight was a greatest hits selection and as ever, one of the highlights was the univocal lipogram, using only one vowel – in this case A. It was called SPAD, a tale of politicians and gangsters. Very clever and very amusing. His voice was very hoarse, but he soldiered through. Luke Wright, I salute you!

Second Stage. Jockstrap. Another brilliant show from Taylor Skye and Georgia Ellery. Still based around the album I Love You Jennifer B, but with Taylor adding even more noodles and diversions on his array of keyboards. Georgia had abandoned the violin, but played some guitar and danced elegantly around the stage. I’m so predictable, but the highlights were Glasgow, Concrete over Water and 50/50, with its rib-crushing bass lines. They are simply one of the best.

Second/Obelisk. Orbital/London Grammar. Putting these two headliners together as I moved between the two. Started in the tent – packed to the rafters – with 90s electronic duo Orbital. Everything you’d expect: spectacular backdrops and lights, pounding beats, slivers of melody. After half an hour I was finding it all a bit relentless, so took the short walk to the Obelisk for London Grammar. I’ve a soft spot for them – singer Hannah Reid has one of the most beautiful voices around. To my delight the band were just starting Wasting my Young Years as I arrived – one of my favourite songs. Unsurprisingly most of the set favoured their more upbeat tunes. I felt Hannah was a bit nervy – the burden of headlining? But a good show – with a strange ending. Hannah announced the last song was Strong. Hooray! Then she invited a woman up from the crowd to sing. Maybe just a couple of lines? No, the whole thing! Call me an old curmudgeon, but while the woman in question will remember the experience forever and wasn’t bad, I wanted to hear Hannah’s anguished vocals suffuse the song for a beautiful ending. Oh well: the set ended a bit early so I nipped back to the tent and glory be, heard Orbital play a triumphal Lush. All’s well that ends well.

Orbital

London Grammar

Sunday 28 July

Obelisk. Alexis Ffrench. We’d planned to see Welsh singer Georgia Ruth on the Second Stage, but she wasn’t there, so we caught a bit of pianist Alexis Ffrench on the Obelisk. We sat in the sun in the seats at the back – never sat in them before! This was like one of those relaxing classical compilations you can listen to – complete with backdrop of gushing waterfalls and mountain streams. Became a bit cloying after a while, and we were baking. So it was over to the Alcove.

Alcove. Samfire. I could put sic after that. That is the spelling. First song we heard was a lovely, jazzy R&B number which augured well. The songs got a bit more guitar-based and dramatic after that. Good, but the slinky soul suited her best.

Listening Post. Luke Wright. This time Luke was previewing his new show, Joy, which he is taking to Edinburgh. Mostly reflections on family life – his has been quite complicated. Heartfelt and powerful. He had time to throw in another brilliant univocal lipogram, again in A. This time a highly amusing tale of two warring poets. The venue was packed and highly appreciative. A star.

Second Stage. Been Stellar. New York indie rock. Hints of the Strokes, of course, but just as much Stooges. Singer Sam Slocum even stands at the mike a bit like the young Iggy Pop used to. I liked them a lot, though we could have done with a little more light and shade over the course of the hour. Will be checking out their debut album Scream from New York, NY.

Sunrise. Clarissa Connelly. Beguiling Celtic/Scandinavian folk music, played somewhat incongruously as many of the crowd – us included – basked in the sunshine and shade just outside the tent on a glorious afternoon. A mellow Sunday tradition at Latitude when the weather allows.

Sunrise. Picture Parlour. Quite a new band (formed in Manchester) and destined for good things. Energetic indie guitar rock at heart, but with some twisted melodies and a very charismatic singer, Katherine Parlour. 2023 single Norwegian Wood – not the Beatles song – was a rousing highlight.

Second Stage. Ash. What a show! The celebration of the festival for me. The tent was heaving, a bit lairy in places, but all good-natured. Ash played a magnificent greatest hits set. Oh Yeah and Goldfinger were anthemic, and you can’t go wrong with a final three of Kung Fu, Girl from Mars and Burn Baby Burn. Singer Tim Wheeler wielded his Flying V with a big smile on his face. Pure, unadorned rock’n’roll pleasure.

Sunrise. Talk Show. Another rocking South London band. Getting rave notices at the moment and watching this show, that was no surprise. A brilliant, punching set of songs, played with high energy and real quality. Singer Harrison Swann has a powerful, brooding presence. I didn’t know any of the songs and loved every one of them. One of the best shows of the weekend.

Sunrise. English Teacher. The last show. And a big decision – we didn’t go to Duran Duran! We so enjoyed Talk Show (which cut into the DD set), love the Sunrise Arena and like English Teacher, who have just released their debut album This Could be Texas. It’s nominated for the 2024 Mercury Prize, and deservedly so. It’s a highly varied collection of songs and formed the basis of the show tonight, which was excellent. They are talented musicians and are playing with a lot of confidence. The songs even had a prog rock feel at times, but I was ok with that! The arena was full – all the Duran Duran refuseniks! – and had a great end-of-festival atmosphere. And I was delighted that they finished with the hard-rocking R&B, the first song of theirs I heard in 2022, and re-worked for the album. Tonight’s version was more like the early single. It ended the festival on a high.

So, another excellent Latitude. Beforehand, the line-up seemed a bit underwhelming, a bit too dominated by nostalgia. But, as ever, the undercard revealed all sorts of delights. Best discoveries for further listening were Mary in the Junkyard, Been Stellar, Picture Parlour and Talk Show. Most striking live performances were Fat Dog and Talk Show. Warmest and most soulful was Waxahatchee. Most fun of all were Jockstrap, Ash, and just for being so good at the end, English Teacher. Individual star was poet Luke Wright – two captivating performances.

We’ll be back next year, aching limbs permitting!