Benn Praises Brit Resilience

Festival Republic chief Melvin Benn added his name to the list of outdoor promoters to praise the British festivalgoers’ resilience in the face of filthy weather after his Latitude Festival made the best of a wet weekend on the Suffolk coast.

Although it didn’t quite match last year’s sellout figures, the 35,000-capacity gathering came so close that it made little difference.

The exact numbers weren’t available at press time, but Saturday sold out and the Friday and Sunday sold more than 34,000.

“It’s been a terrific weekend,” Benn told Pollstar. “The weather has been a challenge but now it’s interesting to listen to a weather forecast and have no interest in it at all, whereas for the previous two weeks I have been obsessed with it.

“It’s gone really, really well, not a single performance disrupted because of the weather and that, I think, is in itself is a remarkable achievement.

“The atmosphere was brilliant, the audience just didn’t seem to let the weather conditions perturb them at all. They were just there to enjoy the festival and crikey, they certainly did,” Benn added.

Benn, who has just left his role as license-holder for Glastonbury Festival to focus on Festival Republic’s expansion, said he feels this year’s Latitude was a “very complete” festival, adding, “It really did feel very rounded and an awful lot of people got a huge amount from it.”

One of the leftfield festival’s oddest choices turned out to be one of its greatest triumphs, as Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang was a huge hit with the Latitude crowd.

“It was extraordinary … there must have been seven, eight, ten thousand people spread along the banks of both sides of the lake and watching from the bridge,” Benn explained. “It was the most extraordinary arrival. He actually came on to the stage via a gondola on the lake, which was completely impromptu.

“We’d only decided that about 15 minutes earlier. He adored it and the fans adored it. It was terrific and it was unquestionably my highlight,” Benn said.

The other acts helping Latitude push the boundaries of festival entertainment July 12-15 included Bon Iver, Elbow, Paul Weller, Laura Marling, dEUS, Alabama Shakes, White Lies and Lana Del Rey.