Grizzly Bear at Latitude 2010

I really enjoyed these chaps at Latitude. They were the final live act that we saw at the weekend and they put on an amazing show. I think I first heard of them through the Twilight soundtrack. Not sure, can't remember.

Latitude Festival 2010

I got back from Latitude on Monday after a glorious, culture rich festival but a hellish journey back. Usually, I would be prime candidate for promoting public transport but a 3 hour wait, two trains, two tubes and a bus with a rucksack about three quarters of my weight has put off a little.

Not to linger on the negative though, I feel like we really took the best advantge possible of all that was on offer at Latitude. Kevin Bridges, Josie Long and Russell Kane were my top picks from the hours of time spent in the Comedy Arena, four music stages with Florence (a great set, beautiful costume and the whole crowd singing happy birthday to her little sister Grace), Vampire Weekend (I had forgotten how much I loved the first album, they were brilliant live and embarrassingly, I knew aaaall the words to every song), Rodrigo y Gabriela were absolutely captivating, I couldn’t take my eyes off them, The XX, I wasn’t really a fan of before but the performance was amazing, honestly absolutely flawless and the atmosphere was probably one of the best of the weekend. And then talking of atmosphere, my friend wanted to go see The Feeling (not top of my list, bit boring and mainstream) but they were just so happy to be there and had the whole crowd singing and dancing, it was a really happy set. Here are some photos I took, Florence and the Machine, The XX and Vampire Weekend.

The big downfall of the festival for me was the I Blame Coco set (which, if you click here, you can see I’m completely obsessed with). I arrived, after a certain amount of persuasion with a friend who hadn’t heard of her, in good time and we were busy making our way to the front just as Lissie were finishing off their set. They finished off and loads more people moved in and just as we were feeling a little smug about our front row spots, the organisers came on stage and told us to move out the tent. Not cool. So off we went and waited for 20 minutes away from the stage whilst they tried to prevent the tent from falling down. They then came to tell us that it would take up to an hour and a half before the band would come on. Reluctantly we left to go watch something in the Comedy Arena and made our way back an hour later to find out we’d missed it. I’m really quite sad that I didn’t get to see her. I did take this photo whilst she was standing outside rolling a cigarette waiting for the tent not to collapse though. Best picture of a van I've ever taken. And she is playing at Secret Garden so all is not lost just yet.

Festivaling - Secret Garden, Latitude

So I may have touched on the festival season a couple of times before (here, here, here and here. oh and here. But just to warn any poor soul who may be sick of it, I most definitely am not. I'm planning on doing A Girl's Ultimate Guide to Festivaling. It's going to tbe great, wait and see!
I was listening to the radio this morning as is the norm, and they wouldn't stop talking about how everyone will have an incredible time at Glasto and not to worry if you're not going because you can always watch live coverage on the tellie. OR if you really feel like you're missing out and really have very little to do with your time, please do click here to watch the live web cam. I couldn't think of anything more unsettling.
So in order not to annoy, I shall post all my festival preparations as they happen in the run up to the festivals I shall be attending. This way hopefully I won't come across to smug about my Great British Summer.

Fun starts tomorow.