Latitude 2010 (Sunday) @ Henham Park, Southwold

Sunday begins, as all Sundays ought to, with a manly baritone floating brassily across the fields. But special guest Tom Jones (back for a second time this weekend) doesn’t sully our fragile brains with ‘Sex Bomb’ and its irksome like: he sticks to his “controversial” new album and promptly out-blueses John Lee Hooker on an impressive cover of ‘Burning Hell’. On the Sunrise Stage The Liberty Vessels make a grand show of telling us how young they all are (16) but at least singer Oscar has authoritative pipes and their deceptively chipper demeanours fail to hide a promising impression of intensity.

The Antlers beckon us to the Word Arena (actually a big tent) next, and the first of several Brooklynites here to wow us today leave us fair convinced they’ve hidden a few extra members offstage, such is their hair-blasting psych-rock clamour. Sadly The Big Pink’s set is interrupted first by a loss of power and then by the band’s own off-putting nonchalance, meaning even ‘Dominos’ can’t redeem them. Kristin Hersh will rescue us with a magical, career-spanning, Throwing Muses-sprinkled set, won’t she? Why, yes she will.

A welcome slice of experimental vigour comes courtesy of Dirty Projectors (more Brooklyn residents) at the Obelisk, but they are a mere apéritif. Sunday undoubtedly belongs to Yeasayer (from… you get the idea), their valiant straddling of timeless art-rock, Middle Eastern, African and 21st-century r’n’b disciplines resulting in an indisputably joyous encounter. The future-pop brilliance of ‘O.N.E.’ and ‘Madder Red’ sets minds whizzing and even tired feet a-shuffling in the tent – where the sonically fearless trio will take us to next is a fool’s guess.

After Yeasayer have knocked us sideways, the cheerfully shallow Jack Wills-attired Afro-pop of Obelisk headliners Vampire Weekend (yes, Brooklyn again) just won’t cut the Colman’s. It’s left to Jónsi and Grizzly Bear – go on, guess where the latter are from – to play us out back in the tent. Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi offers a far poppier, immediately pleasing take on his usual band’s high-concept blissrock, and Grizzy Bear turn in a disappointingly impenetrable fug (for the less well versed, at any rate) with little of their more recent focused folk fare on display. A for-fans-only headline act, perhaps? Well, it’s brave.

With much post-festival talk zooming in on the two suspected onsite rapes this year, what you’re hearing now is sadly not hyperbole about musicians, however: it’s the sound of Latitude’s family-friendly, Guardian readers and ciabatta, your-teenage-daughter-will-be-safe illusion shattering. Whoever is at fault for inadvertently creating the opportunity for sexual assaults to happen – and for sure, the festival’s “tranquil”, secluded wooded areas will never seem so attractive again – there’s no doubt a full strategic rethink of Latitude’s security provisions is essential now it’s grown to more than three times its 2006 capacity.

Decent lighting absolutely everywhere at night, real police – not just council-appeasing but dubiously effective private security staff – on site at all times, and trained, knowledgeable stewards with more incentive to work (and less to bunk off with their mates) than a free ticket would be a start. Whatever the calibre of the artists playing – and Latitude’s “more than just a music festival” tag must be ringing pretty hollow for some in the wake of the weekend’s alleged more devastating events – the festival will have much ground to regain in 2011.

Charlie Ivens

Originally published on the-fly.co.uk