Photo: Michael Lee Jamison
The National brought Latitude Festival day two to a close last night, with an expansive, atmospheric set, and a dramatic stage dive that ended with Matt Berninger’s trademark glasses being lost to the packed crowd.
Earlier in the day, John Grant – dressed as casually as ever, with basketball shorts and a t-shirt – played a stunning set on the main stage, his rich vibrato and off-kilter ‘80s synth-pop drawing in an impressive crowd.
Later, Chvrches played the same stage to an even bigger crowd, bringing a relentlessly upbeat tone to proceedings. Lauren Mayberry may be small, but she is a mighty presence, hurling herself around the stage, arms aloft, before standing triumphantly atop a speaker stack. The only lull in the band’s set – which drew from their 2015 second album, Every Open Eye, as well as their 2013 debut – was Martin Doherty’s two-song moment front of stage. Though he threw every ounce of energy into his temporary lead vocals, he lacks the natural spark of his bandmate.
Mayberry returned to the main stage a few hours later during The National’s triumphant headline set. The pair duetted on a poignant rendition of ‘I Need My Girl’, though Mayberry clearly didn’t want to outstay her welcome, as she skitted away before the final note had even rung out.
Later in their set, Matt Berninger told the crowd, “This festival saved our career”, recalling a turbulent time in the group’s history when few large festivals were willing to take the risk of booking them. It was an even more moving moment, then, when Berninger launched himself into the crowd to sing amongst fans in the first few rows. So swept up was he, in fact, that he barely noticed his glasses toppling from his face onto the ground.
Latitude Festival comes to an end tonight with a headline set from New Order, as well as sets from Aurora, Pixx, MO and more.
