Selection

The England selectors have chosen their centrally contracted players for the year ahead.  With loads of ODI cricket coming up, including the world cup there are five incremental contracts awarded to players who specialise in the shorter formats.  Of far more interest are there twelve men selected with Test cricket in mind.  It consists of eleven men who played test match cricket this summer and one who didn’t.  This is Stephen Finn who is looking like finding his form again at last and I’m very pleased to see him back in the squad.  A notable absentee is Sam Robson who did not convince as opener this year.  Robson needs to score big runs on the ‘A team’ tour this winter to have a chance of getting his place back.  Waiting in the wings are Lyth of Yorkshire who will also play for the A team as well as Hales who could force his way in if he does well in ODI cricket.

There are four players who could be classed as all-rounders in Jordan, Stokes, Woakes and Ali, I’d expect two from these to play in a test match.  With no specialist spinner in sight Ali is almost certain to play and I’d go for Stokes if all the others are fit & firing.  If he’s the player he looked like last winter then he has to play.  England do not play test cricket again until next spring when we have a tour to the West Indies before facing New Zealand at home.  England would expect to win both series and any player that does not perform against these teams will find it hard to justify selection for the Ashes series that follows.

Khaled Hosseini wrote “the Kiterunner” which is one of the best books I have ever read (if you haven’t read it, make it the next book you pick up).  He followed this with “A thousand splendid suns” which was another great book.  Both are set in Afghanistan and both are incredibly moving, euphoric in some places but horribly dark in others.  Houssini’s latest novel is “And the mountains echoed” and finds the author in familiar territory, telling a human story amid the historic turbulence of his homeland.  It’s a little different as the narrative jumps around between different characters whose paths connect through the years.  This works well even though there are a couple of sections that could have been left out.   I’ve put off reading this novel for some time as I know just how dark and disturbing Hosseini can be; do I want to go through that?  Will the high point justify it?  “Mountains…”does not take the reader to neither the dark depths nor exultant highs of his previous books.  Consequently it’s an easier, lighter read but ultimately not as fulfilling.  Make no mistake it’s still a damn good book and its unlikely Khaled Hosseini will ever top his first novel.

The ‘Ice bucket challenge’ has been the big craze of late summer.  If people want to be covered in a bucket of ice cold water in the name of charity then good luck to them.  However I’m uncomfortable with the way social media has been used to pressure/coerce/bully people into doing the same.  I regularly donate small amounts of money to charities or causes that are personal to me so opt out of having cold water chucked over me.  I did find myself inspired to invent the ‘Bucket of Michael’s piss challenge’ but so far David Cameron hasn’t answered the call.  Fair enough, I’m sure he gives a little to charity too.

Couple of books & stuff

Moan.  When I watch TV it’s either sport or comedy for most of the time.  I’ve noticed the breaks are loaded with gambling ads whether bookmakers or online casinos.  I have nothing against gambling, not my thing but each to their own.  What bothers me is many of these ads imply its cool to gamble, makes you one of the lads.  This is bollocks, gambling isn’t cool it’s just another way to spend money.  The only thing anyone ever needs to know about gambling is in the long run, the house always wins.  Always.

India won the ODI series because they are world champions and England were pretty awful until the final game when the series had already been lost.  Was this just the wrong team to be able to challenge for a world cup or is it the right squad playing badly?

Finished reading “Norfolk mystery” by Ian Sansom.  An eccentric writer and his upper class assistant are trying to write a book but get side-tracked by a suicide.  Or is it a murder? There’s a bit of melancholy to begin with followed by plenty of head scratching then some chuckling and a couple of full blown laughs.  The story didn’t go far but the characters are great and I look forward to enjoying the madness further as the series unfolds.  Perhaps a future TV series with Colin Firth and Stephen Fry starring?

I followed this with Nasser Hussien’s autobiography “Playing with fire”.  I remember forgetting to read this when it was new on the shelves a decade ago.  Nasser was a cricketer I admired and as England captain he helped build the platform to England’s best decade of test cricket since I’ve followed the game.  I should have read it at the time because the passing years means the book has lost some of the controversy that may have arisen.  I love reading about old matches that I followed and these include Hussein’s entire career so I was a bit disappointed that I can remember the games better than Nasser!  It’s interesting to look at players Hussein picked as potential stars of the future.  Andrew Strauss and Jimmy Anderson proved him right.  Alex Tudor couldn’t stay fit and maybe Rob Key was the right bloke at the wrong time?  Nasser was a very good cricketer, an excellent captain and an honourable man.  His book is a good read a decade on.

For no good reason at all, here's Kiki the wonder rabbit.

Dreams are weird

Last night I dreamed I had a  field of brown cattle and a large shed in my back garden, which had grown from the current tiny patch and become a large rolling field with stone walls and the occasional tree.  Come to think of it there was no sign of my house...
After dark the cows came into the shelter of the shed where I also kept a dinosaur.  A T Rex to be precise.  Now you could expect the Rex to feast on the cattle but this one was a lover not a biter and was only interested in shagging the cows.  A short time later there were several tiny dino-cows running around.
What the fuck was that all about?

Norfolk break

The fifth and final test was all over inside three days with another emphatic England win by an innings and 244 runs.  England played with an unchanged side and this time Jordan and Woakes came to the party to support the main two bowlers but the early damage was done by Broad and Anderson who was named man of the series.  With the bat Root scored another century and there were fifty plus scores for Cook and Ballance along with 40+ from Buttler.  As good as this victory was, it told us nothing as India were simply pathetic showing no fight whatsoever.  A year ago I sat on the beach listening to England clinch the Ashes and here I listened to them clinch another series.

There are now over six months until England’s next test series and a few question marks still hang over the team as they prepare for the Ashes next summer.  We are still no closer to finding an opening partner for Cook as Robson just hasn’t done enough and although Moeen Ali has improved as a spinner he still hasn’t impressed enough with the bat.  I’m still far from convinced we know who our best support bowlers are either.  Jimmy Anderson is just three wickets away from breaking Sir Ian Botham’s record for test wickets but he has a long wait until he gets the chance.

Over the next few months we have loads of ODI cricket and it looks like we’ll get to see more of Alex Hales in this form of the game.  He’s having a great summer in all formats at domestic level and could prove to be a match winner for England.  If he does well in this series against India and also in the world cup early next year he may well find himself opening at test level.  Watch this space.

While the test match was unfolding I spent a lovely weekend camping with the family in north Norfolk.  We pitched our tent at a site just behind the dunes at Waxham, close to the Broads and other attractions.  We spent a day in Norwich where Shelley & I found the castle really interesting.  Madi preferred the shops and Isaac enjoyed Pizza hut.  

 The best thing about camping at Waxham is a five minute walk across the dunes brings you to a lovely sandy beach with fantastic views and always Seals playing in the surf.  Unfortunately the British weather prevented us spending too much time on the beach but evening walks with the sun setting behind us were a must.

 Another good thing about being close to the coast is the opportunity to eat fresh seafood.  We enjoyed fantastic meals at the Hickling Greyhound and also the Lion at Somerton.  Both are friendly, family pubs where we were made to feel very welcome and I’d recommend them both to anyone visiting the area.

 At Great Yarmouth the children had fun at the Pleasure beach and all of us loved the Sealife centre which was fantastic.  It’s been a few years since we last visited and in that time it’s undergone a complete overhaul and is really well laid out.  Sealife is a clever company, they know what kids like to see and have added Penguins to the cast of thousands of fish and other sea creatures.  Kids also love ‘finding Nemo’ and weren’t disappointed but everyone’s favourites are the sharks.  I also couldn’t resist popping into “Pownall’s” tackle shop to have a look at the huge stuffed Pike on display.

A place I won’t recommend is “Buddah’s banquet” in Great Yarmouth.  We entered with the intention of having a meal but were made to feel like the staff couldn’t be bothered with our custom so we left quickly.  The kids always have fun in Yarmouth but this experience sums the place up from my point of view.  Peel away the gaudy seaside veneer and it really is a shit hole.  I don’t need piers, neon and crash bang wallop; just give me nature, sand dunes, a nice beach and the sea.

Elly Griffith’s novels are often set in Norfolk.  I really enjoyed reading ‘The Crossing Places’ a while back and recently picked up a copy of the ‘The outcast dead’.  Although I enjoyed this book it wasn’t as good as the first.  It didn’t seem to flow and seemed more like another chapter in a longer story than a novel in its own right but I suppose that’s exactly what it is.  Some of the less convincing characters from ‘Crossing places’ are still around and they just don’t work for me.  That said I'm sure I'll read another Elly Grtffiths novel in the future.

I also read “The girl who saved the King of Sweden” by Jonas Johansson which was damn funny and just as mad cap and enjoyable as “The one hundred year old man…” which I read last year.  If you like Tom Sharpe’s type of humour then you’ll like these books.  

My current book is also set in Norfolk; "Norfolk Mystery" by Ian Sansom, more on this to follow...

Were England very good or India very bad?

The fourth test has been and gone, all over inside three days with another emphatic England win, the margin an innings and 54 runs.  In brief, India won the toss and elected to bat in gloomy conditions.  Anderson swung the ball all over the place to take 3-46 and Broad bowled mean for a superb 6-25.  England then batted pretty well with Bell getting 58 but at this point India actually managed to win a session.  When Buttler joined Root the lead was just 18 but a stand of 134 put England in control, both batsmen scored 70+ and the lead was over 200. The only downside was an injury to Broad which meant he couldn’t bowl.  In the end he wasn’t needed.  Anderson and Ali done the damage with the ball then Jordan tidied up.

Once again England played very well but on the other hand India were awful, a truly gutless display.  Yes their best bowler, Sharma is injured but let’s be honest, he isn’t that good anyway!  The bowlers who have played have done OK it’s the batsmen that have let them down and the fielding hasn’t been up to much either.

England are starting to look just a couple of players short of a good side now.  At the top of the order Sam Robson hasn’t taken his chance.  He’ll probably be given one last chance at the Oval but I’d like to see someone else given a go.  After this match there is a six month break for the test team before three tests in the Carribean next spring. I’d like to see Carberry given another chance or failing that Compton was surely discarded too early?  Moeen Ali is taking wickets but still doesn’t look like a top class spinner.  I like him and hope he retains his place but he needs to score runs consistently to do so.  In the last two matches Woakes and Jordan have just not taken enough wickets and have rarely looked like doing so.  Ben Stokes will come back into the side at some point as should Plunkett if fit.  Waiting in the wings is Stephen Finn who will one day become a great bowler.

My XI for the Oval;

Cook, Carberry, Ballance, Bell, Root, Ali, Buttler, Plunkett, Broad, Finn, Anderson + Stokes as cover for Plunkett.

More test cricket

Last time I found a moment to witter away on here I moaned because England’s senior cricketers hadn’t been producing the goods.  Since then the third test has come and gone, Cook & Bell scored big runs and Anderson took a bag of wickets.  There was also big runs from Ballance, six wickets from Ali and contributions from Root, Broad and Buttler on debut.  This led to a comfortable England win, in fact this was the best performance since England won away in India a couple of years ago.  Plunkett and Stokes were left out for this match with Woakes and Jordan coming into the side.  Neither made any headlines but were both unlucky to finish wicket less in the match. 

This leaves the series beautifully poised at 1-1 with two matches to play and the fourth test starts at Old Trafford tomorrow!  This wicket should suit England’s bowlers, Plunkett is unfit so it seems likely England will name an unchanged side.  The four seam bowlers will be expected to take wickets on this surface and after his performance at Southampton the pressure is off Ali for now.  He looks a good cricketer but I’m still not convinced he’s a really top level spinner though I’d love to be proven wrong.  Of England’s side Robson may start to feel pressure if he doesn’t make runs.  It would be good for England if Root could move back to open and free up a space for another bowler.

I expect England to go on and win the series 3-1 from here but I’m still not sure we have a side that can compete with Australia next summer.

Latitude Festival 2014

It’s like Christmas for adults, counting down the weeks and then days, the excitement grows then its finally here. I love Latitude and so does the lil lady.  This is our fourth year so we have a little experience to help us get the most out of the festival experience.  Latitude is friendly and familiar but each time we’ve been, the weekend has been unique; we’ve loved the festival for different reasons. 

We know we’ll have a mile walk from the car so don’t take too much stuff.  We do have a bloody good tent with loads of room and big enough to stand up in.  We also have pillows and an inflatable mattress because rest is important.  Our other comforts are a couple of small folding chairs and a stove + kettle so we can make a brew.  Finally we each have an ‘Ergolife’ roll up seat for back support in the arenas.  After that everything we pack is essential.  Good walking boots for when it’s dry plus comfortable wellies for when it rains.  Clothes that can be layered plus a good pack away waterproof jacket enable us to cope with all the British weather can throw at us.  All our kit is carried on our backs or on the Carp barrow, the only time it gets used each year.

We set off a little after midday on Thursday for what we knew would be a slow drive through the beautiful Suffolk countryside.  Unloaded the car into the fierce heat and set off for a heavy hike.  We took our time but had our tent set up and comfortable by mid-afternoon.  After a couple of hours spent just chilling in the sun we strolled down the familiar “Hollow Tree Way” into the equally homely village then on into the arena for a slow lap finding everything where we expected.  The Latitude vibe doesn’t hit you right away, it creeps up and slowly surrounds you and eases its way into your soul.

There were a few things going on to ease us into the festival.  We caught one song from Miles Hunt (formerly of the Wonderstuff) in the Literary tent before Alex Horne came on for a mad hour of Comedy that featured a replica of the kids game ‘Mousetrap’ made mostly of stuff he’d bought from Wickes.  There was loads of audience participation making a very clever, funny show.  Chilling on the grass by the lake we saw the end of a set by “the Irrepressibles”, not my kind of thing really but quite nice in the setting.  A quick mention for the beautiful sunset that descended upon Henham park, a splash of colours ranging from pink and orange to blue and lilac, a natural light show amongst all the manmade stuff.

There’s usually some kind of mad arty stuff on the lake, last year ballerinas on 20 foot swans, this year it was called “Iltopie” and was bollocks.  As usual for the first night there were many groups of over excited teenagers who haven’t learnt how to pace themselves with the booze.  We had a cruel chuckle knowing how bad they would feel in the morning.  We wandered off again and had a dance at the ‘Disco shed’ and another in ‘the Woods’ where ‘Goldierocks’ was on the decks.  She was good but we were knackered so crashed around 0100.

Once again the weather on Friday was dry and very hot which is great but tents heat up quickly and you can’t enjoy a nice lay in.  So it was up and out for a comfortable crap in the arena toilets, the only place in the world where you can “enjoy” a sauna and a shit at the same place.  Festival toilets are no longer the horror houses of the past but they aren’t always comfortable either.  After that we had a nice bacon roll for breakfast, can’t remember the name of the stall but it had a black & white front and the staff were Scottish.

We treat each day as if we were going hiking in the countryside.  Food is fuel so we eat regularly, drink loads of water and pace ourselves with the beer.  If there’s nothing going on that catches our fancy we’ll go back to the tent and just crash out for an hour.  We may miss out on a few things doing this but we can extend our days well into the early morning.

Our first stop of the morning was the comedy tent where we saw Tom Rosenthal (OK), Roisin Conaty (not bad) and Josh Widdecombe (pretty good).  That was the only time we made it inside the comedy tent all weekend.  We did try on another couple of occasions but it looked too packed and we wandered off elsewhere.

Elsewhere ended up being the main stage AKA Obelisk arena. Here we caught the last few songs of Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbot’s set which consisted of Beautiful South and Housemartins tunes finishing with a cool version of “Caravan of love”.  The band sounded great and we wished we’d been there earlier.  We’d gone to the Obelisk to see Billy Bragg who started with “Sexuality” and finished with “New England” which were great.  Unfortunately in the middle Billy descended into Americana country stuff which really isn’t my thing.  The banter between songs was great however and there were enough good things to make us glad we’d seen the show even if we were a little disappointed.

We hung around to see Kelis who we’d seen on Jools Holland’s show earlier in the year.  The classic R&B sound was great, the crowd swelled and danced and Kelis looked fine and sung well.  The newer soulful stuff was first class and the older hits were given a bluesy revamp, the milkshake really did bring the boys to the yard.  Kelis was class and surpassed expectations.

After a brief stop off at the tent we met with our beloved friends Mr & Mrs Green + kids who were experiencing Latitude for the first time.  No time to catch up as we were straight into the Big tent to see Goat at Mr Green’s recommendation.  I’d only heard a couple of tunes on You tube so didn’t know what to expect but Goat were absolutely brilliant.  What is Goat?  To begin they are a rock band but the rhythm has a hypnotic, drum heavy African feel, the chopping, wailing guitar sounds like Hendrix and the duelling female vocalists chant and scream adding an extra layer of sound as well as much as delivering a set of words.  Visually it’s mad as the band all wear crazy costumes and a dead pan mask looks strange when you’re used to gurning guitarists.  The music is high energy and the performance matches this, especially the vocalists who are nonstop.  I loved Goat and bopped all the way through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdIR5VLEyQU

Goat finished and we all legged it back to the Obelisk to see Rudimental who were the surprise guests.  They were pretty good in the tent last year and played a bouncing set today which was made even better because we’ve become so familiar with the tunes over the last twelve months.  The crowd sang and danced along and it was impossible not to join in.  Next up were The Editors who sounded to me like typical coldplay clone safe rock music, if a little better than some.  I recognised a couple of tunes and they weren’t bad but not my thing.  We did at last get the chance to catch up with Mr & Mrs Green while they played.  We all went our separate ways for food, chicken noodles for me which was OK.  Bondax were playing nearby on the Lake stage and I liked what I heard.   There was another fantastic sunset which looks all the better in a beautiful setting like this.  We all managed to meet up again to see Lily Allen who was a last minute replacement as headliner.  The plan was to watch a few songs then slide off and check out the other arenas but Lily was actually pretty good.  She might not have the strongest voice around but she can carry a tune, her lyrics are clever and the songs catchy.  We ended up watching the whole show, say no more.

The show closed and we wandered off.  The lil lady and I had lost our dancing feet, not so surprising as we’d seen eight bands during the day and half of these had been really good shows.  What a start to the festival!  However we were thoroughly knackered so decided to go back to the tent.  A good night’s sleep would charge up our batteries for the following day…Or so we thought.

We got to sleep alright but it didn’t last.  Some of our newer neighbours returned and made sure of that.  I suppose we were about due for a noisy festival night because this was the first and only time we’ve ever had a really disturbed night.  That’s the rough and the smooth of a festival I suppose, not worth getting wound up about and we’ll never let anyone or anything spoil our festival.  However one thing niggled me, this group were old enough to know better, had they have been kids I could understand it more.  By morning every tent in the vicinity knew these peoples sexual preferences and how good the ching was.  There was a storm and showers during the night and it was actually easier to get to sleep when the rain on the tent drowned out all other sound.

Back to the arena area around midday and after breakfast and the bog run we tried to get into a too busy comedy tent but ended up at the obelisk where we saw the African rhythms of Tinariwen who were nice enough but didn’t really move us.  Booker T Jones followed and he started well and got better and better.  Authentic rhythm & blues; the “Stax sound” including a many familiar tunes from Booker’s career but the highlight was the cover of “Hey Joe”.  Can’t remember who the guitarist was but he absolutely nailed it.  Superb! We hung around the main stage to see James but as there was a bit of a break decided to lie down and rest our eyes for a while.  Upon rousing we saw the notice on the screen telling us that James were stranded somewhere and had been rescheduled for the following day.  Disappointing but what can you do?  After that we wandered off for food and seeing as there was no events that took our fancy we went back to the tent to crash for a while.

After a couple of hours rest we felt refreshed so wandered off again.  We made it to the main stage in time to see Bombay Bicycle Club.  We’d enjoyed them in the tent a couple of years back but tonight they couldn’t hold our attention so after half or dozen or so songs we took a slow stroll around the arena in the direction of the big tent.  One of the acts we’d looked forward too was the Royksopp & Robyn ‘Do it again’ collaboration.  We saw Royksopp playing some chilled dance beats, followed by Robyn doing a bit of electro dance/pop then finally Royksopp and Robyn blasting it out together.  The setting was hot and stuffy but the show worked.  The music was hypnotic and we didn’t stop dancing, apparently the lightshow was great but I hardly noticed.  We got our money’s worth too as the show was over two hours long and we danced for every minute of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiInV6F60Ts

As the tent began to clear it became apparent that not only was it raining, it was absolutely pissing it down.  A huge electrical storm had engulfed the area and wasn’t going anywhere fast.  We donned our waterproofs and headed out into the storm, unsure of what to do next.  Fired up by the Royksopp show we definitely didn’t want to go to bed.  The donut stand called us, as it tends to do at this time of night, for some sweet sugar fuelled energy.  Then the DJ on the Lake stage played Fat boy’s “Praise you” and called us back to dance. 

Dancing in a soggy field in a thunderstorm at midnight may not be anyone’s first choice activity but for us, at that time and place it was the only choice.  An hour later we were still dancing in the rain with beers in hands, smiles on faces being wowed by the music and the awesome natural lightshow provided by the storm.  We were wet but loving it.  However there comes a time when wet and warm gives way to cold and shivering, we were sober enough to be aware of this so decided to head back to the tent while we were still enjoying ourselves.  Ironically by the time we were cosy and dry in our kip bags the rain had just about stopped but at least the camp site was quiet.

Before I move on to the next day it has to be said that the food at Latitude was piss poor this year.  Every previous festival we’ve managed to find decent food that is enjoyable to eat.  This year our breakfast rolls or burgers from the Scottish stall were okay as were the chunky chips from next door.  We had a reasonable chicken noodle meal and a curry that was adequate despite the naan bread being cardboard.  The chicken shack looked like a really good deal but in actual fact it was barely edible crap and a rip off.  These will be avoided at all costs in future.

Before we knew it Sunday had arrived. We had a decent night sleep but once again the heat in the tent had us up and about earlyish.  The heavy rain had muddied the ground up in places so it was a welly day today, luckily my Muck boots are as comfortable as any other footwear I own so no hardship there. After a brew we set off for our morning routine, down to the arena for a bog stop and breakfast. Afterwards we went off to the big tent to meet the Greens and see a band I’ve loved for over twenty years but had never managed to see live, James.  They started with a few songs from the latest album, the first was a mellow tune, this was Sunday lunchtime after all.  After this the songs got more up tempo, despite being unfamiliar they sounded great.  As the set went on a few older tunes were thrown in which lifted the atmosphere of the packed tent.  The hour passed too quickly and with a rousing version of “Sometimes” with the crowd singing along the set finished on a high.  I’d waited years to see James, it could have been an anti-climax but it was great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV2al4ampVI

No time for reflection as we all hot footed over to the main stage to see the Atomic bomb band.  Really good synth dance music (featuring members of Hot Chip and LCD sound system) had the crowd dancing in the sun and a good time was had by all.  We all chilled out at the Obelisk arena while Phosphorescent and the Jayhawks went through their paces.  Neither managed to rouse me into a standing position, in fact had we not been enjoying the company of my friends I’m sure we would have wandered off to check out what was going on elsewhere.  Chrissie Hynde was next up playing a pretty good set including many familiar hits from the Pretenders.  I’ve never been a fan but quite enjoyed it anyway, maybe Gran rock is the thing of the future?

After that the lil lady and I made arrangements to meet Mr & Mrs Green back at the Obelisk then went off for food followed by a lie down in the tent to recoup some energy.  A group of morons wrecking their own campsite did not deter us.  After a couple hours of much needed rest we set off in fading light and made it down to the Obelisk to meet the Greens and get in position for the final headliner of the weekend, The Black Keys.  To begin with the sound didn’t seem right to me but they either got it nailed or I stopped noticing.  It didn’t matter, the crowd was up for it, and the atmosphere was great, the Black Keys were bloody good and we boogied right through the rousing set.  Highlights were ‘Gold on the ceiling’, ‘Fever’ and ‘lonely boy’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOU2DfWG8e0

We said goodbye to Mr & Mrs Green + kids who were going back to the tents but we weren’t done yet.  This was the last night at Latitude so we were determined to make the most of it.  We ended up down at the Lake stage dancing with the kids, mostly old soul funk tunes which kept us bopping till our old legs couldn’t take it anymore.  After that we sat on a bench, watched, listened and tried to absorb as much of the Latitude vibe as we could.  Around 0300 the security began to clear the arena so we slowly took a last walk around the lake and up the hill towards our campsite.  We sat outside our tent for a while watching the sky in the east grow lighter, we had planned to wait for the sun to come up but we didn’t last, sleep called.

Latitude 2014 was a fantastic year for music with great performances every day.  Goat were a massive musical surprise, Royksopp & Robin was the performance of the weekend, James turned back the years and the Black keys were polished, professional and excellent.  Kelis, Booker T Jones, Rudimental and even Lily Allen deserve a mention too.

Monday morning saw us slowly tidy our camp site before the yomp back to the car.  There is something special about the Latitude festival that goes beyond the music, dancing, comedy, arts etc.  After five days and four nights we leave the campsite in dire need of a long hot shower but there is a special magical vibe that relaxes the mind and soothes the soul. Our fourth Latitude festival was over and once again it had been a brilliant weekend.   We would now begin to count the weeks till next year.