What attitude?

I have come to the conclusion that Latitude, the Suffolk coast's answer to Glastonbury, but with the family-friendly, and of course inherently middle class air that the nearby seaside resort of Southwold resides in, is, well, doomed. On my first visit, in 2008, the perhaps six or seven largest acts all could take their place as hugely popular, yet somehow more respectable choices than the mainstream festivals. Sigur Ros, Franz Ferdinand and Interpol did not attract the lager-thirsty hoards of teenagers away from home that Reading/Leeds does, nor the even more lager-thirsty hoards of twenty somethings with worse music taste that V Festival does. The crowd were not seasoned festival goers like those residing at Glastonbury, but they did not have the taste for narcotics found at Bestival nor the tolerance for sun and late hours that Benicassim requires.

It was middle of the road, but not in capitals. 'MOR' makes us think of Snow Patrol, Keane, and a plethora of Father's Day compilations endorsed by Top Gear. On the contrary, it was the type of event where things could be a bit edgier (2008 saw Grinderman, The Mars Volta and Frankie Boyle grace the stage), yet still remain on the right side of enjoyable, and ultimately, unique and obscure. However in 2009, perhaps organisers Festival Republic realised things could not go on this way. Obviously Latitude spread by word of mouth, 2008 was the festival's 3rd year after all. So 2009's headliners were, well, strange. The Pet Shop Boys kept the middle aged masses firmly in tow, however Grace Jones surely didn't pull in the punters, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, although being a terrific act, were perhaps not as big as 2008's incarnation, and ultimately would attract a crowd not often seen at an ideallic East Anglian festival that boasts both Poetry, and Pimm's, tents. But the transition was not quite made towards obscurity, it seemed as if they couldn't make their mind up, with Doves and Editors appealing to if not quite the Radio 1, then definitely the Radio 2 crowd.

However when this year's line up was announced on the 9th March, it was made clear that the organisers had definitely decided. Yes, I'm afraid that Latitude has gone commercial. What we see in the lineup of Latitude '09 is a very badly disguised attempt to push towards not just the mainstream, but mainstream obscurity. Florence and the Machine top the bill on the opening night, an unarguably immensely popular band, but, remember, one who have one album (45 mins of stage time?) and whose most famous song is a cover. Closing the festival are New York afropopstars Vampire Weekend, who again, whilst hardly nobodies, have only just released their sophomore album, and from a personal point of view, a poor one at that. Settling nicely in the middle are twee-pop stalwarts Belle and Sebastian. The sort of band Latitude was born to have headline it must be said, however, what's that? The Radio 1 crowd won't care to listen to a band in their late 30s who are due to bring out their 7th studio album next year? Well we'll just have to have The XX headlining the second stage (The Word Arena) that night, you know, the incredibly dull band du jour currently gracing our airwaves.

The magic hasn't quite been totally lost, though, and there are some gems in the 2010 line up, enough so that I've already parted with my money in exchange for a weekend ticket. However, acts such as The National, Grizzly Bear and Rodrigo y Gabriela must feel cheated that a festival that could once claim to be a genuine alternative to the mainstream has overlooked their deserved larger slots on the bill for fodder such as Empire of The Sun and The Maccabees. Thankfully, such strategy has been formed by the curators that these two extremes often clash on the bill.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh. I mean if the whole music scene is taken as a whole, Florence and the Machine and The XX are bigger than the majority of acts playing the festival. But that's what used to set Latitude apart from other festivals, there would have been some radio-friendly popular indie, but it would have been at Latitude a year before it made Capital Radio's playlist. If it carries on this way, the organisers might aswell relocate over the county border to Essex, rent a plot in Chelmsford and unite in cultural anonymity with the thoroughly insipid V Festival.