Late Junction - broadcasts from Latitude
Post categories: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 3,ÌýLate Junction
| 15:23 UK Time, Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Lyle Lovett (l), Max Reinhardt and that red hat
I walked into Broadcasting House yesterday afternoon with my production team, the fresh mud of Suffolk spattered on our jeans, just back from the Latitude Festival.Ìý The Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn had invited us to curate a small music stage in the woods, called Lavish Lounge, and we put on three bands a night for three nights, with our presenter Max Reinhardt DJ-ing between sets. As well as taking the performances from the stage, we recorded interviews and some songs with other artists appearing at Latitude, using a portable studio parked next to our recording truck.
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We had a diverse range of musicians onstage, reflecting the eclectic music policy of Late Junction, ranging from Spiers and Boden’s traditional English folk songs and dances, to Leafcutter John’s laptop electronica. Max Reinhardt hosted the stage, introducing the bands while sporting a red top hat that clashed interestingly with the blue patterned wallpaper of the Lavish Lounge. But country-rock star Lyle Lovett was so taken by Max’s headgear when we interviewed him in his tour-bus (see above) that he did an impromptu photo session to capture the red hat against the bus’s red curtains.
The weather was inevitably a challenge. After a fine sunny Friday, it rained overnight and continued during Saturday. We were carrying musicians’ gear and instruments by hand across very muddy ground to get to the stage in the woods.
Have you ever carried a concert harp? It’s a four-man job. By amazing good luck, the skies cleared on Saturday and Sunday evening, so by gig time we had a dry stage and audiences could gather without putting up umbrellas. The only major technical hitch was in fact nothing to do with rain – we lost power on Sunday between two sets (plunging the whole place into darkness) because the generator for our area had run out of diesel! Fuel was brought and the show carried on after a delay, with kora-player Diabel Cissokho and guitarist Ramon Goose delivering a high-octane set to round off the weekend.
We are making three Late Junction programmes from the weekend’s recordings, for broadcast this week – today, Wednesday and Thursday – and available for a week after via our website or on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã iPlayer. Also check out the festival pictures on the Late Junction webpages.
Philip Tagney is a producer with Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 3
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