The Lake Stage

I'd like to share a Facebook status update from our BBC intern (and my new pal) Samaira- 'I would now swap a shower, a 12 hour sleep and a large capri sun to be back at Latitude with swollen feet and dreaded hair with the best people ever'.....pretty much sums it up.

We got back on Monday and a constant stream of text messages, phone calls, and Facebook-ing show everyone is still buzzing from our amazing week and the new friends we've made. We worked mega hard, learnt more in a week than we have in a year, networked with some industry bigwigs (and lovely ones at that), didn't wash much (or ever), wore out our branded hoodies and pink tshirts, ate the culinary delights of the staff canteen and made like Bear Grylls with our campfires and outdoor survival techniques (tip- never, ever pitch a tent on an ants nest). Above all, everyone worked as a team and as friends- helping each other out, helping each other learn, and bonding over cider and dancing after a hard days work.
Team Latitude should be proud!

Supervising the stage team was a pleasure. I spent a long 3 days on our Lake Stage- the festival's new music stage, curated by Huw Stephens and hosting carefully programmed talent from the Friday morning mellow British- country of New York Fund to a crowd- surfing, belter of a headline set from Bombay Bicycle Club. We worked with the dry- humoured but massive legend that is Kevin Sutherland: industry- respected stage manager whos briefcase was covered with Production passes from staging gigs from Foo Fighters to Enter Shikari. He'll be stage managing the Festival Republic stage at Leeds Fest this year....respect, Kev! The lovely Sam and Claudia were working with our artist liason, Harry and Lucy, but pretty much left them to it after the first few hours.

Emma, Mark and Joe worked as the stage team trio and I couldn't have been happier with the way they got stuck in and made Kev (and me) very proud. With the usual swaggering, windbag tour managers that insist on 'one more song- this is their new one' and new- timer Electro-pop getups that nervously run for a wee 20 seconds before their set, their hardest challenge was to make the stage run on time. After a few nervous moments, most notably swifty building a drum riser to stage the unexpected arrival of the extraordinary, stomping 23- piece female choir 'Gaggle', the team sailed through to a prompt 9.15pm finish of Slow Club's jolly set on Sunday, followed by much high- fiveing. Emma, Mark, Joe- you know you're ace!

Harry and Lucy were our high- energy and forever witty artist liason pair who stormed our row of dressing rooms with a constant supply of fruit baskets and mini mars bars to keep the stream of hungover bands and their flawlessly dressed girlfriends (heels at a festival? why?) quiet and happy. Successfully blagging through calling 'Colorama', 'Calamari' (yes, like squid) and 'Django Django', 'Diabilio Diabilio' for hours, the pair worked like genuine professionals and I'm sure will be getting paid with the Big Dogs before too long.

Highlights of the week:
- Shaking hands first time with the huggable Huw Stephens who, despite me knowing full well who he was, said 'Hello Isla, I'm Huw' in a tone reminiscent of the Trumpton opening titles. He really is very nice. Then passing his thanks to the whole team as I unashemadly grabbed a photo at the end and saying he hopes to work with us in the future. Yes please!
- Nicking the skipping rope and admiring the handmade guitar of our new pal Newton Faulker who hung out all weekend and was bashful, mega friendly and who I caught singing 'Teardrop' under his breath during a lull in conversation. Guilty pleasure.
- Kev having a full- on and explitive yell at the tour manager of 'The Cheek' who pretended not to have done his Maths GCSE, therefore rendering him unable to understand that when the big hand got to the little hand on the clock hung on stage that his band had to kindly....get off.

Finally, I want to thank the whole stage team for knuckling down to a hugely challenging job and holding your own with experienced professionals. Brilliant!
I also want to thank the film crew for being so friendly and fun to work with whilst filming the stage. Working like true professionals they created some pretty special footage...look out for it soon.
I'm off for a nap...
Isla