Yorke Goes Solo At Latitude

In four years, Latitude Festival has established itself as a big stop on the summer circuit but retained its quaint charm, according to The Times of London.

That’s the sort of comment that will please festival organiser Melvin Benn of Festival Republic, who also felt the fourth staging of the event in the Suffolk countryside was the best his company had produced so far.

“I’m certainly not resting on my laurels,” he told Pollstar, “but it was much better than last year – and I thought last year was very good.”

He said securing Thom Yorke of Radiohead’s first solo performance was the coup that put the cherry on the cake, a show that drew most of the 25,000-capacity sellout crowd to the main stage.

He also had praise for Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan, who performed so well during the worst rain of the weekend that the Obelisk Arena crowd stood its ground and got soaked so it could watch her.

Any other heavy rain that fell was at night and the weather remained bright during the day. Grace Jones was the only act to clash with the worst of the weather.

Benn said that Latitude, which has become a favourite among the serious papers’ critics, is moving in the intended direction and is now getting much closer to the vision he started out with in 2006.

It’s also become a favourite for agents, as acts enjoy the cultural mix of the event and the warmth of the crowd.

This year’s July 16-19 lineup included Pet Shop Boys, The Pretenders, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Grace Jones, The Gaslight Anthem, White Lies, Doves, Editors and Regina Spektor.