British Sea Power @ Latitude

Latitude Festival, Henham Park, - 18 Jul 2008

by Dan Worth

Plenty of quality, just needs more power

"During the instrumental ‘The Great Skua’ the big screens play a video of crashing waves, gliding seagulls and schools of fish swimming. It was all very Planet Earth – if Sigur Ros had found out there might well have been trouble."

Before British Sea Power take to the stage on the opening afternoon of the Latitude Festival there is a strange rustling. All around the site, hordes of people begin yanking off branches and leaves and attaching them to themselves.

Why the sudden desire to become a real child of nature? This, you see - to dress yourself in foliage - is the done thing at British Sea Power gigs. The band are well-known for their love of all things natural and as usual they too have decked their stage out in leaves and branches. It all seems a bit incongruous to us, ripping branches from trees to show your love of nature, but perhaps it's just some necessary pruning.

On stage the band begins by cranking up air-raid sirens – a sound that never fails to send shivers down your spine. Songs ‘Atom’ and ‘Carrion’ are followed with crowd favourite, ‘Waving Flags’ which predictably prompts a waving of flags (and branches). During the instrumental ‘The Great Skua’ from recent album ‘Do You Like Rock Music’ the big screens play a video of crashing waves, gliding seagulls and schools of fish swimming. It's all very Planet Earth – if Sigur Ros had found out we could have had trouble.

The band are accompanied by the London Bulgarian Choir, who give the stage another brilliant splash of colour in their traditional outfits, their lilting voices adding another layer to the songs. They also perform a vocal piece of their own that is truly beguiling, their hypnotic Eastern vocals building to a series of counterpoints and melodies that give the set a nice change of direction.

Perhaps the only negative aspect, and it is only minor, is that it is all a bit quiet. The sound seems to get carried off in the wind and even in the middle of the crowd the levels seem a bit weak. It makes the moments when the band goes from quiet to loud lose some of their drama.

Mind you, if any band of the weekend is to have their sound taken up by the wind and scattered into the sky by the forces of nature then for it to happen to British Sea Power couldn’t be more appropriate.
garry said on October 25th 2008 [report abuse]

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