It's day two of Latitude, I am rudely awoken by a toddler who' s shrieks and laughter can be located as being approximately half a foot away from my throbbing head in the tent next door, The sun is heating up the temperature inside of my tent to greenhouse proportions, I only got back 3 hours ago but it soon becomes apparent that a lie in is just not going to happen this weekend. Across the yellow camping village, snoozing bodies in wellie boots are spewing from tent doorways and the smell of bacon is in the air.

A few wet wipes and a sausage baguette later and we are roaming around the main arena again, there are 20 people in tuxes and rubber horse heads wandering around and neighing at people, we make a detour to avoid getting in any kind of man-beast confrontation and dodge the people on unicycles to make our way to the cabaret tent. Inside, cabaret extraordinaire and clear nut-job Regina Fluff is warming up the crowd ready for the session entitled 'How To Play The Ukulele In Under An Hour (How George Formby Saved My Life'. The tent is packed and 100 ukuleles are handed out to the excited crowd, we are told that it is impossible to feel depressed whilst playing this tiny instrument and when a mass ensemble of ukuleles start plucking out 'Row Row Row Your Boat' it's not hard to see why. 

We duck into the Uncut Arena to escape a freak rain shower and check out Golden Silvers who are winning over the crowd with their humble synth pop, rounding off the set with their synonymous 'Arrows Of Eros'. The rain takes pity on White Lies and retreats just in time for a remarkable set by White Lies in the Obelisk Arena, they look like they are sh**ting themselves, they are only wee young things bless 'em, but they trash out half an hours worth of stonking tunes which can be likened to a cheerier Interpol, having said that, closing with a little number named 'Death', the brooding darkness of Ian Curtis's lyrical dryness is clearly present here.

Falafel by the lake is proceeded by dEUS back at the Obelisk Arena, who inject a little much needed rock'n'roll into our Saturday. Five weather-beaten Belgian rock stoners who've got a substantial amount of late nights under their belts bosh out the hits that the crowd are hungry for. 'Sods And Soda' and 'Theme From Turnpike' are like a shot of whisky to the bloodstream and get heads nodding and thighs stamping down the grass.

Next on our agenda is Elbow. Guy Garvey appears, wielding a trumpet and captivates the audience from start to finish. Granted, Elbow aren't going to get their rocks off in the festival scenario but they are the perfect band to precede Sigur Ros and take us through the sunset and into dusk, by the time 'One Day Like This' draws the set to a close, the entire crowed are doe eyed and ready for the Icelandic invasion. 

Latitude couldn't have found themselves a better headliner for tonight. A full moon is hanging in the sky, some crusty is blowing bubbles everywhere and 6 white orbs are inflated on stage, ready to become part of an enchanted light show of what can only be described as a hauntingly beautiful set by Sigur Ros. A mixture of new songs from the new album 'Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust' alongside old favourites like 'Hoppipolla' and 'Glosoli' are played out with the help of the all-female string section 'Amiina' and a flash mob brass band who appear to parade around the stage and raise their white bowler hats at the audience at opportune moments This isn't just a gig, it's a full scale theatrical performance that even the short-arses like I can appreciate. We leave feeling sure that Jón Þór is an unearthly creature, meant for bigger things than life on planet earth.

A night of wandering around, chatting to insane people in face paint and sitting by the lake watching the light show follows, we pop our heads in the Cabaret Tent a few times to see what exactly 'Boylesque' is all about, turns out it's all about hairy, beardy men getting their kit off in a very camp manner. Amazing, We love Latitude and before we know it the sun is coming up again and we are getting kicked out of the woods for another 3 hour stint of sleep.


Jessica Hazel