Friday 25th July, the first full day of Latitude Festival 2025 and there was a massive array of music and comedy to enjoy. We were greeted at the comedy tent by the stylings of Ivo Graham, who served up a brilliantly witty set about his love of Latitude Festival and the colour orange. Graham did an excellent job of holding the crowd’s attention and even managed to part the sea of festival goers to hand deliver a can of Irn Bru to an audience member (expecting that throwing the can across the tent, as he had thrown packets of crisps, would not end well). Although I’m sure his airborne, orange freebies played a role in sweetening up the crowd, the praise and applause Graham received was truly well deserved – with his love of his craft and of Latitude apparent and refreshing.
Rising to the challenge of following Ivo Graham’s set came Olga Koch. Koch was not afraid to punch for shock value, bringing a high energy, unsettling, awkward and hysterical set to the stage. Whilst Koch’s set was undoubtedly odd, I really enjoyed it until her closing song. The disclaimer before the song started that it was written it when they were much younger was, for me, not enough to warrant regurgitating the lyrics ‘I like f***ing boys not men’ over and over. The song left a sour taste in the mouth, a real shame after such a funny set. I fear this song should have been left in the comedian’s past, and especially not brought to a family festival like Latitude where no-one knew whether to laugh or be concerned.
As a main sponsor of Latitude, Klarna was running free workshops throughout the weekend at their very own ‘Camp Klarna’, with staff dressed as Scouts, tables laden with arts and craft supplies, and many freebies to be had. We swung by for an entertaining demonstration of the staff’s very own festival survival kits, which proved good harmless fun for kids and adults alike, and resulted in a free Klarna branded bum-bag and various goodies each.
Scouting for Girls brought the classic hits of their repertoire to the Obelisk Arena (main stage). In terms of stage presence, Scouting for Girls could be described as lacklustre. They got on stage, did what they needed to do, and left. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t bad at all, just predictable. Clearly this is not the way everyone felt, as the crowd was fuelling the band with a great energy that was incredible to witness – shout out to the woman next to me drooling over the front man.
Next, we stopped off at the Trailer Park stage, a quirky set-up in the woods that hosted a group called Sonic Furs as they performed their interpretation of the ‘Stop Making Sense’ concert album by the brilliant, Talking Heads. The place was rammed with Talking Heads fans eager to watch this energetic, dance-heavy homage. Sonic Furs’ performance cultivated a brilliant, bubbling atmosphere in the crowd of head banging, bopping and just generally having a good time. As someone attending with a huge Talking Heads fan, I can confirm that Sonic Furs earned their praise tenfold, managing to present to us a performance with an energy reminiscent of Byrne’s original, but with their own unique spin on the album.
Heading back to the comedy tent, Paul Sinha was in full swing. Personally, I was already aware of Sinha’s career in comedy, however my partner who only knew him from ‘The Chase’ was pleasantly surprised by his hilarious set, very different to how he is portrayed on television. His signature deadpan humour and ‘begrudged intellectual’ demeanour was a hit with not only us, but also the Latitude crowd. Sinha discussed his long running gig as a ‘chaser’ on the ITV quiz show, his Parkinson’s diagnosis, his long journey to finding love, and the resultant homophobic online hate he received. Not exactly easy or funny topics for the most part, but Sinha’s approach to both his comedy and the challenges faced in his life, is surprisingly and inspiringly light-hearted (not to mention, hysterically relayed to an ever grateful Latitude crowd).
A new comic to me, Ayoade Bamgboye, followed Sinha. Bamgboye’s comedy felt like a breath of fresh air, with her uniquely nonchalant stage presence (more like a chat with a friend rather than a comedy set) and jokes that sporadically jumped from disparaging the main Latitude demographic, to personal tragedies. Her set definitely seemed to split opinion, but for me, Bamgboye was a stand out of the comedy tent; her style is fresh and current and was a big hit with the younger adults in the crowd (including myself and my partner), maintaining a good level of uncomfortable laughter from the middle-class, middle-aged, white people who she had no issue with hilariously making the butt of her jokes, without going too far.
Capping off the comedy tent on Friday was the incomparable Greg Davies. Davies had the crowd and himself in hysterics with an extremely personal, offbeat set – mostly about showing his brother-in-law his ‘baggy bum-hole’ on Christmas morning. It was filthy and cringeworthy and brilliant, and Davies had the audience completely captivated and completely disgusted. Davies is a natural performer, clearly very comfortable in front of an audience, and the funny just seemed to effortlessly flow out of him without any forethought or hesitation.
Pivoting back to the music on offer at Latitude, Feeder graced the Second Stage to close off the evening’s offerings prior to Sting’s two hour stint on the main stage. Although familiar with their music, their performance left us feeling alienated – each of the members looked as though they belonged to different bands, and energy wise, they were all over the place. Bassist, Taka Hirose, ran onto the stage fists pumping, arms waving and bass swinging about the place, whilst frontman Grant Nicholas simply ambled out with a meek smile and the occasional half-hearted fist pump to the crowd. Their set felt safe and left nothing to be particularly amazed by but it feels too mean to call it forgettable. I’m more than sure their performance left long-time fans in awe, but to the rest of us it didn’t quite strike a chord.
To end off the night, we went to see ‘Séayoncé: She Must Be Hung’ at The Listening Post. This drag show/séance/witch hunt was my personal highlight of the entire festival. The bizarre performance was utterly hysterical, the way the performers rallied with the crowd and ad-libbed with the audience participation was a true show of their talent – in comedy and in theatre. For a performance with only two actors on stage for the majority, Séayoncé definitely packed a punch and had people of all ages cramped up in hysterics and even wrapped itself up in a fable-like bow, with a beautiful and current message. It was very clear to see how ‘She Must Be Hung’ has made it to Edinburgh Fringe and beyond.
We started Saturday off very chilled with a token making workshop at The Big Oak Shrine. There were volunteers who handed us lumps of clay and information about ancient practices of leaving offerings to the forest. My partner expertly sculpted (as you would hope for someone going to study sculpture at Saint Martin’s College) their two cats and I clumsily put together the vague shape of an orangutan. Regardless, the process was very calming, and the volunteers were lovely and helpful. We both put our tokens on the shrine for courage and hope and left them for the forest (or more likely the clay reclaim after the festival ended). The workshop was a lovely way to relax after spending the night sleeping on the ground in a tent and set us up for a busy day with some time for mindfulness.
On our way out from The Big Oak Shrine, we stumbled upon a brilliant musician called Ayanna Witter-Johnson, performing on the Faber Alt. & BBC Introducing Stage. Her musical talent was undeniable as she expertly played cello and sung in sultry tones, captivating the audience of the (unfortunately) reasonably small space. Her particular genre is hard to pinpoint but lingers somewhere around classical, jazz and R&B. Witter-Johnson is truly a unique talent and offered a welcome alternative to the more pop/electronic music available at the festival and she easily deserved a spot on one of the festival’s larger stages.
As you may have noticed, we spent a lot of time in the comedy tent at Latitude, as there was simply just such a brilliantly talented line-up. The next comic we saw perform was Marcus Brigstocke, a well-established icon in British comedy. Brigstocke managed to cover a wide span of topics without his set feeling at all rushed, as he so effortlessly tied each joke to the next. Brigstocke offers self-aware, down-to-earth humour with a brilliant charisma and stage presence. It is easy to see why he is a staple of the British comedy scene and is another comedian who just oozes funny.
Following Brigstocke came Jordan Gray, a very physical and energetic performer who had a natural charisma and stage presence. She paced the stage delivering a dynamic set of personal anecdotal set-ups and witty punch lines. Much of Gray’s comedy comes from her experiences as a transgender woman in the public eye, the good, the bad, and the ugly. She is brilliantly funny and brings a light-hearted take to any hate she receives and makes sure to let anyone transphobic know that her life is a thousand times better than theirs. After all, who has more BAFTAs? Not only is Jordan Gray incredibly funny and multi-talented (as a comedian, actor and screenwriter), but she is also such an important voice in the British comedy scene. She brought a different perspective to the straight, cis-male dominated comedy tent. Gray is living proof that transgender individuals are not to be demonised, but to be celebrated for their talent, their intelligence, and their successes.
Angela Barnes was the next comedian to grace the stage of the comedy tent, bringing her loud, foul mouthed humour to Latitude. Another well-established name in British comedy, Barnes’ set was a little predictable in content, with a reoccurring theme of her comedy being rooted in her conscious decision to not have children. Saying this, her jokes landed, she performed well and engaged the crowd. Her performance was a good fit for Latitude and Barnes is another comedian who just seems to be naturally funny, however in her case on this occasion I feel it translated more as low effort rather than effortless.
Sophie Duker was the last performer we saw at the comedy tent on Saturday, a comedian I was definitely aware of before the festival but didn’t know much about. Their set was fun and easy going, Duker was a pleasure to see perform and I would definitely want to watch them again.
Back at the Second Stage, genre-bending Sorry ripped through an hour-long set of their discography. Including everything from new trip-hop tracks ‘Jive’ and ‘Jetplane’, through to their breakthrough, guitar heavy, 2018 hit ‘Starstruck’. The band took risks with their performance, offering their raw selves to the crowd, and frontwoman Asha Lorenz even dared to spark up a joint during their more heavily dance-based ‘Cigarette Packet’. It was a performance to be proud of and there’s no doubt that if Sorry had been kicking about through the late 80s and 90s they’d be listed up there with the alternative greats such as Massive Attack, Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine.
The infamous comedy troupe ‘The Comedy Store Players’ performed at The Listening Post on Saturday evening and blew us away with their incredibly well improvised “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?’. Ruth Bratt and Marcus Brigstocke were stand-outs for me, with such a natural chemistry and comedic styles that just meshed so well. The whole performance was such a pleasure to witness, and all of the performers were so obviously masters of their craft, getting laugh after laugh from the audience with completely improvised comedy.
Next, at The Alcove, we went to see Nxdia. I might be biased as they were already one of my favourite new music artists coming into the festival, but their set was a great mix of meaningful lyrics and upbeat pop/rock music performed excellently by only three band members (including Nxdia themself). Whilst I really enjoyed Nxdia’s set, I must admit that the demographic of young teenagers that attended the performance made me feel old and made it quite apparent that Nxdia rose to fame mostly through TikTok (not that there’s any shame in that).
We ended Saturday on a brilliantly high note with Public Service Broadcasting. We were both fans of PSB before Latitude and they really did not disappoint. The atmosphere in the tent was incomparable and the group was truly feeding off of the energy of the crowd. The one disappointment was that if you weren’t front and centre in the crowd, you couldn’t see much of the group on stage. Their graphics that accompanied their iconic tracks were no doubt brilliantly done; however, they were shown on the screens that would normally show the performers, and so I didn’t see much of the performers themselves. I do understand though that the performance on stage is not the main focus of the group, and they were still a joy to listen to.
Sunday was bittersweet, being the final day of Latitude 2025. We briefly went to The Listening Post for ‘Danny Does the Crossword’, thinking it would be up our street, but it fell flat a bit. After all, how much can you really zhuzh up a crossword? And so, we headed to the comedy tent for the final time, where three comedians were performing as part of The Comedy Store. First came Kiri Pritchard-McLean, who delivered a set heavy on audience participation, and that captured the tent’s attention. Her material was quiet and relatable and down-to-earth and clearly struck a chord with the parents in the tent as she spoke about her experience as a new foster parent. Following Pritchard-McLean came the up-and-coming comic, Jin Hao Li. Once the crowd realised his spaced-out demeanour was part of the act, he was soon receiving the laughter and praise that his somewhat strange humour deserved. His set was truly a pleasure to watch and was such a nice change of pace, and definitely got us giggling like small kids at his frankly corny jokes. He was a delight and a fresh breath of air compared to most of the other comedians twice his age.
Finishing off The Comedy Store section was Markus Birdman. We had actually bumped into him earlier in the day with his partner, and fellow comic, Malinda Mukuma. He was lovely to chat to and really fun to watch perform. His humour wasn’t particularly to my taste, though it was undeniably funny, but my partner was a big fan beforehand and Birdman’s set did not disappoint.
After the comedy tent, we tried to watch the synchronised swimming group, aptly named Almost Synchro, performing in the lake next to the Waterfront Stage. The area around the lake was rammed, with people spilling out from the stage, around the nearby paths, the sprawling bridge and around to the opposite side of the lake where we were stood. There definitely wasn’t enough accommodation for their set, with most audience members crowding onto the bridge unable to see past those immediately near the waters edge.
Infinity Song, a group of four siblings based in New York, USA, performed in the Obelisk Arena on Sunday. Although their description alluded to a dream-pop adjacent genre, it became quickly clear that they were a Christian rock band. Their songs are clearly based in religious stories and ideology, which I suppose shouldn’t have come as a surprise because of their names (one member quite literally called ‘Angel’) but caught me quite off guard and wasn’t especially to my taste. Nevertheless, their music was easy to listen to and well performed.
Heading over to the Second Stage, we had the pleasure of seeing Pale Waves perform. Whilst my partner was a long-time fan of the band going into Latitude, I didn’t know much about them or their music at all. Despite this, I really enjoyed their set – the chemistry between all the members was so apparent and all of them really seemed to be enjoying every minute. Front woman, Heather Baron-Gracie, captivated the audience and played to both us and the cameras with her sultry stares and sudden sharp moves. It was a pleasure to see their performance and I will definitely be listening to more of their discography after the festival.
MIKA was so very MIKA. I don’t think there was a single person in the crowd without a smile on their face. His performance started off with an entrance wearing huge blue angel wings, and the set only became more camp from there. MIKA was full of energy and really gave the crowd their money’s worth, jumping down from the stage and making his way through the sea of festival goers (and worrying the Specialised Event Security). He was truly a joy to watch and brought a much-needed sense of fun to a cloudy Sunday afternoon.
Our final experience at Latitude 2025 was the brilliant and incomparable Air. Their music has always been boundary pushing and extremely popular, so I was surprised they were on Second Stage rather than the Obelisk Arena. Whilst I believe they could have easily played the main stage, their performance with its intricate lighting worked perfectly in the Second Stage tent, creating an immersive atmosphere, transporting the audience to space and back again. Everyone was having a great time, people were dancing, bubbles were being blown, and everyone wanted to get closer to the front (my partner especially as a long-time fan). Air was fabulous and clearly fed off of this brilliant energy, carrying out a stunning performance that perfectly rounded off our Latitude experience.
All in all Latitude 2025 was a brilliant installment before their 20th anniversary next year. We look forward to seeing who will grace the various stages of Henham Park next year, and what special surprises may be in store for such a monumental occasion.
