A Quiet Place - "Kevin" Garnet Mimms
well - it's that time of year so it must be Latitude - having attended all of them from day one it's easy to see the changes that have taken place - initially an alternative space with a bold live art offer we now have a NEXT and Pepsi Max - George Ezra where once we had Kraftwerk. There is also a feeling of a general lack of care, the program had lots of difference from what was actually on the stage, each tent feeling similar, the Film and Video space appears to have no direction, or anybody actually hosting hence acts were often 30 mins late and the usual rolling program of odd and interesting short films was gone. Finally the wood feels lost and slightly sleazy rather than purposeful. Oh well - anyway the highlights for me was the almost magisterial Simon Armitage who spoke with confidence and professionalism, a really class act. Egg - a comedy duo with great energy who were very funny http://eggcomedy.com/about-us/ Luke Wright - keeping the edge of old school anger alight, an alternative island in a sea of mainstream https://www.lukewright.co.uk/ Los Bitchos, all female guitar band playing a soundtrack to a dodgy psychedelic Mexican cowgirl film https://losbitchos.bandcamp.com/ Mark Kermode - talking about the bands he has been in was just a warm glow of knowingness Underworld - a 10 minute version of Born Slippy Daughter by Adam Lazarus was a harrowing series of uncomfortable calibrated questions https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/11/daughter-review-canada-hub-kings-hall-edinburgh-fringe-festival The Middle Floor - easy going hip hop garage tunes from Ipswich https://www.facebook.com/themiddlefloor/ Sons of Kemet - afro jazz madness, their entire set felt like it was on the edge of collapsing with every member of the band (two drums) playing fast and furious giant solos throughout - totally excellent. http://www.shabakahutchings.com/sons-of-kemet/ The real highlight of the weekend was John Cooper Clark on Desert Island Discs - superb tracks, thoughtful and insightful commentary - a true gentle giant of words - tremendous radio https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000701x
