Sunday started off with a very special show from Thom Yorke. This drew the biggest crowd of the day at the main stage. Solo with piano, guitar and loops, songs came from his solo album, from that other band he plays with, new and off the shelf tunes. Thom seemed in excellent ‘dry’ humour throughout, even pre warning the U-tuber’s and Bloggers that it was a new song coming up, so get ready. This attitude harked back to the Pretenders show the day before when Chrissie said, we are gonna play some new songs …. Ah, naah , you can buy the album, CD, download or whatever you want to do, I don’t care anymore and off they launched into a classic hit!

I suppose it is fairly universally understood these days that the income is on the live circuit (good news for us punters) and I suppose that’s still ok for the established bands. Newer bands just have to get creative I guess which most for them seem to do and I take my hat off to them!

Thom’s set list:

'The Eraser'
'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi'
'Atoms For Peace'
'Harrowdown Hill'
'Follow Me Around'
'Everything In Its Right Place'
'The Present Tense'
'Cymbal Rush'
'Black Swan'
'Videotape'
'There There'
'True Love Waits'

iliketrains next (Julie immediately likens them to Joy Division). This is an excellent band. Cool tunes, stage presence definitely worth checking out. Red Light Company is straight ahead soft rock. Alfonso (on the Lake Stage) from Edinburgh is straight ahead heavier rock and better!

The wonderful Lisa Hannigan is next but after one song, the heavens open and we are soaked to the skin within 2 minutes. Taking ‘Shelter from the Storm’ it’s not Bob Dylan in the Uncut tent but, Gurrumul an Aboriginal musician who has an out of this world voice and songs loaded with emotion. Julie falls in love and the album is ordered!


Change of clothes and its back for The Vaselines and WOW how great is it to have this band back again. Edgy, catchy pop tunes, Droll humorous banter, just brilliant! Kurt Cobain was not mistaken in his admiration of this band.

Tea was spent listening to Tricky (impressive) whist eating Haggis, Tatties and Neeps (there was an underlying Scottish trend to my festival this year it seems)

The final evening brings St. Etienne who where late on stage but were great from what I saw then, a lean, hungry looking Editors. I saw around 30 mins of their set with two new songs both keyboard driven. Great things to come (again)!

Back to the Uncut tent for Magazine or the “venerable Magazine”, as Howard Devoto described them. I have never seen a front man looking so unlike his younger self than the shaven headed Howard. Resplendent in pink jacket the vocals, stance, power and humour all intact, the band rip trough their back catalogue. It’s stunning, it’s humble, the band seems so pleased to be there and we get a decent length set!

Finally it comes to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to blow us all away, playing at a volume loud enough to be heard back in OZ. (Nick even comment how loud it is on stage). Back this year after his 2008 set with Ginderman the show is all we have come to expect from the Band. Much sharper now than the Hammersmith shows from 2008, the band played:

Tupelo
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Red Right Hand
Deanna
Midnight Man
The Ship Song
Henry Lee
We Call Upon The Author
The Mercy Seat
There She Goes, My Beautiful World
The Weeping Song
Papa Don’t Leave You, Henry
Stagger Lee

A welcome distraction from the previous two night’s headliners (Pet Shop Boys and Grace Jones).

Another great Latitude Festival!