LATITUDE FESTIVAL

Latitude Recap: Duran Duran, Rag’n’Bone Man, The Darkness & more!

words + photography by Nicola O'Connell

With festival season in full swing, Henham Park in Suffolk played host to Latitude Festival once again with a weekend full of music, comedy and arts. The festival that took place over 25th-28th July boasted performances from the likes of Duran Duran, Keane, London Grammar, Kasabian and Rick Astley, just to name a few. For the comedy crowd there were acts such as Judi Love, Sara Pascoe, Seann Walsh and Stewart Lee.

The British weather seemed to remember that oh yes, it’s summer-time, and graced us with sunshine. (which was slightly unbearable when I maayy have over-dressed for such heat.. and put sun-cream on a little too late). That aside it was a stunning time and I’m going to share with you what I got up to on the Sunday, the last day of Latitude 2024.

My first stop of the day was Bradley Simpson at the Sunrise Arena. Known as the singer of British pop band The Vamps, Bradley has taken the solo route. Whilst the band haven’t split, they are currently on hiatus.

As someone who has never listened to The Vamps before it meant Bradley Simpson was completely new to me but I really enjoyed his set. He had some loyal fans in the crowd singing his music right back at him and also sending him birthday wishes as he turned 29 that day.
Some songs in his set were ‘Not Us Anymore’, ‘Getting Clear’, and ‘Carpet Burn’. Bradley also done a cool little cover of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’. Overall a great set that I actually stayed and listened till the end. I need to dive more into his music!

Another name that was new to me was the Lottery Winners. Whilst scoping out the festival I overheard several people saying they’d be heading to the main stage (the Obelisk) for these guys so it seemed only right that I checked them out. This band was bloody brilliant. The singer, Thom Rylance, has fantastic stage presence and was absolutely hilarious chatting between songs. & talking of songs, a few to mention were ‘Worry’, ‘Letter To Myself’, ‘Much Better’ and even a cover of the classic ‘It Must Be Love’ by Madness. The Lottery Winners set was one of the highlights of the day for me. One of the reasons I love festivals is you get to discover some great artists/bands. Nothing worse than being late to the party, but alas. I always am.

Up next is Baby Queen, real name Bella Latham, is a South African singer who now lives in London. The alt/indie artist took to the Obelisk stage with songs such as ‘Quarter Life Crisis’, ‘kid genius’, ‘Dream Girl’ and ‘You Shaped Hole’. Once again, a new artist to me that I only quickly got the chance to speed research the night before Latitude. Bella and band dominated the stage and was super fun to watch. I love the grunge aesthetic and I love love love her music. Baby Queen will be quickly making her way onto my Spotify playlists. Her music is right up my alley. ‘Dream Girl’ is high-key becoming of my favourite songs of the year.

Hailing from Lowestoft, mere miles down the road from where the festival was being held in Suffolk, we have the ever fantastic The Darkness. As someone who absolutely freaking loves this band, you could bet that I wouldn’t be missing out on their appearance. I won’t lie, they actually the reason I wanted to go in general. Starting their set off with ‘Growing On Me’, they played other well known classics ‘Love Is Only a Feeling’ (personal favourite) and ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’. ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’, ‘Givin’ Up’ and ‘Friday Night’ were also amongst the setlist. The Darkness are always entertaining to watch live, you may even find frontman Justin Hawkins propped up against the drum-kit doing a headstand whilst also clapping his legs together (completely wild, also I want to try that..). I love that these guys are still making music and they’re a band I really want to see on tour as a headliner since (I, personally) have only seen them in a festival environment.

Rag’n’Bone man was next on my list to check out and as much as I knew the name, I didn’t realise how many of his songs I actually knew. Despite it not being my type of music that I’d personally listen to, I do find him to be very impressive. Rag’n’Bone man, real name Rory Graham, has an exceptional voice and there’s no denying he’s a brilliant artist and performer. Songs in his set included the likes of ‘Giant’, ‘Human’, ‘Bitter End’, and ‘All You Ever Wanted’. His music clearly sneaks around places since you’ll probably find yourself knowing songs without realising you did, and his soulful voice is quite something.

The final headliner of the weekend taking to the Obelisk stage was Duran Duran. This is one of those occasions where I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to witness them live. Duran Duran are an absolute classic of the 80s and they still put on an amazing show entertaining an enormous crowd of all ages. I really enjoyed the lead up to them coming onstage with the space/futuristic video playing on the screens. Starting off with ‘The Wild Boys’ kicking the crowd into a frenzy, they then followed it up with ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’. Other songs in their set included ‘Friends Of Mine’, ‘Careless Memories’, ‘Girls On Film’ and during an encore their iconic hit ‘Rio’.

Overall Latitude Festival is a fantastic event that caters to all sorts of people. Whether it’s music, comedy or arts you’re coming for, there’s something for all ages. So if you’re a family you can bring the kids with you and know there’s plenty to keep entertained. The sheer amount of food options was amazing, we opted for a hand-made sourdough pizza in the evening which was superb. Earlier in the day we caved and found ourselves at the crumble stand (no regrets whatsoever, 10/10). I was amazed that despite it being such a huge festival, I had no trouble finding, using, and the cleanliness of the toilets.
As we left they had these light up displays in a water feature as we crossed the bridge to leave, it was really cool. I truly appreciate the amount that goes into this festival. Even down to the pink sheep.