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Helping out on schools day at Latitude made it one of my best ever days at the festival even after 10 years and set the tone for me for the whole weekend! It was fantastic greeting the kids from the different Suffolk schools and taking them onto the site for schools day. Their excitement was beautiful and having the schools wristband and information sash meant that I felt it was possible to just go up to people ask questions and provide support if needed. Spotting sheep, fending off the Trolls under the bridge and helping pond dipping - excellent. Then after all that onto Gob Squad - very funny, gently subversive, interactive deconstruction of film - Christine and the Queens - sweet and then the crowd going wild when old school tracks are interspersed - why not just listen to the original track but then she is charming (old person comment, apologies) - Christopher Brett Bailey's this machine won't kill's all out assault on the body was grindingly awe inspiring - my second time and it just gets better with each experience http://christopherbrettbailey.com/ I really urge you to go see and be dealt with whenever you can - Grimes - squeaky electro pop - not a crime but...saturday Will Hutton excitedly talked to a room of like minded people occasionally sort of providing possible ways forward -  'seems like a good bloke'! Christopher Brett Bailey reading from this is how we die - I last heard this in a room as part of Pulse - the text felt fixed but here his adlibbing shocked me dragging and kicking back to the contextual reality of sitting in a tent in a field. The conversation at the wellcome tent around artificial intelligence with Prof Arthur I Miller & Dr Robert E Smith was constantly halted by their desire to agree their frames of reference and define concepts - most excellent. Cassette Boy = FULL ON FUN with great head spinning twists https://www.youtube.com/user/cassetteboy . Sophie - knob twiddling without much soul but great noises in there. Gold Panda - his beautiful swirling soundscapes were as ever complimented with lyrical projections. I can't talk about the awful Airnadette we will dub you - lip-syncing  is a great idea for 10 minutes but for an hour.....but back to dancing. Suggs - just no - old man wedding disco playing terrible records badly but then magically Rodigan is on the decks all old school sound system teaching us music history dropping squelching, fades all ska and dub and I am transported back in time to dodgy smoke filled rooms of my youth and all of a sudden its 3 in the morning  sunday Mark Kermode - my go-to film person was charming, thoughtful and direct talking about the responsibility of the critic. Mark Thomas's Red Shed had me in tears for an hour - it is important that people like him exist and his performance was a fairly sobering affair. Sh!t Theatre were a wonderful shambles, a new play with an interesting idea at its core, not quite sorted tech wise but I love their 'just getting on with it' attitude. Adam Green - (part of Mouldy Peaches) was just beautiful, stoner punk at its best! New Order  live - not interesting then not interesting now so wandered off around the site taking in the whole vibe for a final time. Where else can you sing along to songs from a big gay song book, dance to some old-skool jungle under the stars at the disco shed and in the Cabaret tent catch Kenny Everett arguing with princess Di and Freddie Mercury about who gets into Heaven (not the club) first. monday back on-site collecting material, tents and stuff to work with - general camping was carnage, who would ever consider recycling again?

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well Latitude ....some extraordinary moments - starting with - Stand up for back up tape - Ross Sutherlands tightly constructed piece about his grandfather was a form of time travel moving  and clever enabling you have another way of thinking about possible messages in the everyday. http://www.rosssutherland.co.uk/main/currently-touring/standby-for-tape-backup

Jemima Foxtrots weaving of spoken words with singing voice transported you through time and space mixing the ancient with modern https://jemimafoxtrot.wordpress.com/

Anne Bean http://www.annebean.net/home created with her people sounds with almost primeval magic that linked me to a set by Max Cooper which was accompanied by incredible visuals that were about the very beginnings of life https://vimeo.com/98435385 https://vimeo.com/113036062 https://vimeo.com/126355970

Mike Figgis telling it like it is - his thoughts on the culture of the everyday with the mediocre in charge chimed well with Gary Indiana's slot in the truly magnificent Station to Station - section 41 the devil of our age where he talks of his suspicion of normal people - they are all liars and complicit to be able to exist in the systems that have been constructed in their likeness that we have to live in - they constrict creativity by their looks and questions, controlled by their own fear they stomp out life - sound familiar? http://stationtostation.com/ here's a link to a recent show of his - http://www.vice.com/read/gary-indiana-has-a-new-show

John Hopkins set was knob twiddling at its zenith - managed to be at the front to get the full bass effect - open eye signal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04ILDXe3QE was grindingly endless and the digital hoola women were great. But if you want an experience with sound try to get to see the heroic this machine won't kill fascists but it might get you laid by the thoughtful, serious and I believe quite marvellous Christopher Brett Bailey who is rapidly becoming somebody who I think is essential in my creative landscape. http://christopherbrettbailey.com/this-machine-wont-kill-fascists-but-it-might-get-you-laid/

Obviously lots of other stuff drifts in and out - I seem to gravitate away from the corporate industry of the monolithic indie music establishment  through the need for a more  connected experience in the intimate surroundings of the cabaret tent - Dickie Beau and the Duckie crowd and the far away forest with the forest fringe, live art development agency and the little house. There is a sense of sincerity that you feel that makes one feel humble - two to look out for - the wardrobe ensemble 1972 the future of sex http://www.thewardrobeensemble.com/ and unstable king with game - two pieces of theatre by young people - there is hope...

finally if you want to have a huge thinking cry get to see fake it till you make it by Bryony Kimmings (always brilliant I'm still laughing and maybe more importantly thinking from my last encounter credible likeable superstar role model) and Tim Grayburn - men and mental health and a short film called Mute where the worlds population find their voice in an unconventional way....... 

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After leaving my brain aside for the wonderfully unnecessary and increasingly ridiculous Fast and furious 7 and the absurdly odd sponge bob square pants (although the tv show is better) I reattached my brain and watched some interesting, intelligent and sometimes challenging theatre. Watch out for Pulse winners this theatre’s police cops – very knowingly funny, taking the audience with them but how will it be developed?  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1677467423/police-cops Also some fabulous first 5 minutes – Eden by displace yourself theatre http://displaceyourselftheatre.co.uk/ and 1.9 by Jackagbritton http://jackagbritton.tumblr.com/ it will be great to see what happens next. The deaf and hearing ensemble’s People of the eye http://www.thedeafandhearingensemble.com/projects/ , shit theatre’s woman’s hour,  http://www.shittheatre.co.uk/sht-reviews.html the man from fukushima by kazuko hohki http://www.kazukohohki.com/kazuko/performance.html and annie siddon’s how (not) to live in suburbia were really enjoyable 20 minutes. But the brutalising 70 minutes that was Christopher Brett Bailey http://christopherbrettbailey.com/ was the highlight – how does he do that? – a dark truly alternative to the mundane life around us and yet in some way timeless – channelling so much of beat-poet-80s-anger – this is a good thing – I felt at home. He really is a must see – this is how we die is near the end of its tour but go see if you can your brain will be given a through workout.