A first trip round the site this morning. There's a huge queue waiting to see Hanif Kureishi. Someone is performing a play under a tree to a audience of four sleeping men. And, apparently, one of the most powerful men in Britain is here at Latitude. Um, it's Geoff Hoon. Or so Marcus Brigstocke and Phil Jupitus claimed, while they were reviewing the Sunday papers and casting slanderous aspersions on the character of Seasick Steve. They've suggested that if we spot Hoon, we should crouch down behind his back and start following him round, until a thousand or so people are clandestinely trailing the great man. Not sure if this is actually going to happen, but we'll see. Oh, and apparently there were some zombies out and about last night. Not connected.

So it's official, then. The song of choice for nocturnal dancing shenanigans is Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now", which I've heard something like six times at various locations over the last two nights. Last night, it was at the Lake Stage, courtesy of My Ex Boyfriends' Records, and then in the Sunrise Arena, being played by the chaps at Feeling Gloomy. I assume Sean Rowley also played it, over at Guilty Pleasures, but to be honest I didn't make it that far out into the site last night. And anyway, there was a Bugsy Malone theme at Guilty Pleasures, and I clean forgot to bring my spats with me. 5 records played by My Ex Boyfriend's Records DJs between midnight and 1 am: * Blur, "Girls And Boys" * R Dean Taylor, "There's A Ghost In My House" * Ray Parker Jnr, "The Theme From Ghostbusters" * The Bangles, "Walk Like An Egyptian" * The Cure, "Lovecats" It was, you can perhaps conclude from the above list, a li'l bit indie, a li'l bit Eighties' chart pop. In fact, these two strands seem to have provided the predominant musical agenda of the night. Everywhere I go, it's like an Eighties' indie school disco, the New York mix of The Smiths' "This Charming Man" blaring out from speakers at all points between lake and woods, DJs from nights like Feeling Gloomy and Club Fromage (no, really) seeming to have entirely interchangeable sets. The biggest surprise is that no one plays The Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary", which I thought'd be a shoe-in at this kind of thing. I guess it's interesting that the demographic for Guilty Pleasures is mid-late thirties, while here in the woods it's a distinctly younger crowd. Nostalgia for the kind of Seventies music Guilty Pleasures play conspicuously doesn't resonate with an early-mid twenties audience. Anyway, I think it's time to clear my head with a stroll down to the Comedy Arena, for Phill Jupitus And Friends -- who last year included Stoke Newington's favourite irate Liberal, Marcus Brigstocke. Wonder who the guests will be this year...

Once again, it falls to me to provide the first list of the day, folks. A trememndous day here yesterday, which involved Nicholas Parsons, a brass band and a really interesting millipede. Oh, and some groups. Here we go. . . 1. Elbow. "Newborn". Lots of pink clouds at dusk. A classic, epic, soppy festival moment. 2. "Just A Minute" in the Radio 4 tent. Nicholas Parsons said a rude word! 3. Sigur Ros beginning their son et lumiere extravaganza with their immortal debut single, "Svefn-G-Englar". "ITCHEE-EE-OO!" 4. The wind. Ensured we only got soaked three times, but very briefly. 5. The Arctic Monkeys turning up on site and providing a great festival rumour. Are they playing a secret gig? Er, not that we found. 6. The Arctic Monkeys' labelmates Wild Beasts nearly stealing the whole show with a dangerous combination of waistcoats, '80s romance, falsettos and shorts. 7. The Fairey Band playing the hits of Acid House on euphoniums and tubas. The funkiest drummer at Latitude, too. 8. The Mars Volta being too prog even for Bill Bailey, who abandoned ship after ten minutes. He should've stuck around for their Sonics cover. 9. The House Of Love, eerily unchanged from their late '80s heyday; a reunion that deserves almost as much attention as the My Bloody Valentine one. 10. The insect nature trail in the woods. I found a millipede with a brown stripe that even the bloke from Suffolk Wildlife Trust failed to identify. . .

Since you were asking, here's some competitive prices from various food retailers: £6.50 -- homemade burger, caramelised onions, homemade tomato chutney, mustard mayo and mixed leaves in a white bap £5.50 -- veggie Thai green curry; "a medium veggie green curry on rice" £4.75 -- lamb pie with mint and new potatoes (vegetarians take comfort: it's the same price for butterbean, cheddar and mixed veg -- hurrah, etc) Crepes -- no price on display (boo...) And beyond, John and I had a bit of a stroll out, to see how Latitude was shaping up post-Sigur Ros. We caught some of Stewart Lee in the Literary Arena, as part of Robin Ince's Book Club. He told a very funny story than included reference to the Jesus Lizard -- prompting much fond reminiscing from various members of the crowd about the glory days of Amphetamine Reptile. We then mooched in the direction of Mark Lamarr, who's hosting his God's Jukebox session in the Film And Music Arena. It was, as they say, rammed to the gils, as Lamarr flexed his considerable musical muscles introducing a selection of Ska and R&B acts (certainly, when we were there.) There's more raving in the woods to come -- I can hear Feeling Gloomy failing quite spectacularly to live up to their name by playing Kylie's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" and The Killers' "Mr Brightside" -- much in the way of mass singing along on the latter. We also caught snatches of Iain Banks in the Literary Arena and Mr Gee, from Radio 4's Bespoken World in the Poetry Arena as we cruised back here -- lo, just 20 minutes ago -- past the lake, where there was some tent-based ballet happening. Might have been a bit too much for us right now. Anyway, there's the woods. And a rave. Sail on, sailor. See you tomorrow...

To the Music And Film Arena, for The Fairey Band, a traditional brass band who appear to have been sucked into a conceptual art project by Jeremy Deller. The gist is that the band play acid house tunes, with euphoniums and tubas filling in the bass frequencies. The possibility of pastiche looms large, not least when someone plays Paul Anka’s schlocky version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as a warm-up. But my worries are unfounded because 1) Brass bands are actually a marvellous and underheard sound, I reckon; and 2) the songs they play aren’t recognisable enough to qualify as pastiche (I spot 808 State’s “Pacific State” in there). I guess Deller is making a point about the affinities between seemingly incongruous, often devalued working class musics. But that isn’t so important when the sound is as rich and pulsating as this. And when the Fairey Band are blessed with a drummer who can sustain a breakbeat with the rigour of Clyde Stubblefield. Deller is a rare artist who can draw on British folk traditions without seeming patronising or jingoistic, and this just sounds terrific. Maybe I’d recognise more of the Fairey Band’s tunes if I’d spent the late ‘80s listening to more acid house, and less House Of Love. But here are the latter, improbably reanimated, and playing a stirringly nostalgic set in the Uncut Arena just after the Fairey Band’s gig. The mix is a bit wobbly, and Guy Chadwick’s thin voice and ropey lyrics are way too high, at the expense of Terry Bickers – who has aged better, incidentally – and his scything, mildly psychedelic guitar playing. But the quality of the songs – and this is an unashamedly backward-thinking set, with “Christine”, “Destroy The Heart”, “Shine On”, “I Don’t Know Why I Love You” and much of the debut album – are still potent. It strikes me how underrated HOL are these days, how the likes of “Christine” were such a major influence on all those shoegazers we mentioned disparagingly in the wake of the My Bloody Valentine reunion. The House Of Love have musically much better than most of those groups, and they’ve also weathered well in comparison with many of the indie bands with orthodox rock ambitions that they inadvertently ushered in. If I ranted about Wild Beasts earlier, I may have to rethink my highlight of the day after Elbow’s set. When they play “Newborn”, with Guy Garvey strumming intensely on a stool and his band mapping out Floydian vapour trails around him, the clouds start turning pink and it is one of those rare festival moments where all the corny and sentimental ideas about the epic lock into place. Garvey is a revelation, owning the stage like a proud, humane crooner. There are strings, mimed trumpet voluntaries from the band, a heartstopping version of “Puncture Repair” and a finale of “On A Day Like This” which made me rethink my feelings about it as a lowpoint in Elbow’s catalogue. As I type, I can hear the galactic whale noises of Sigur Ros on the wind. They’re going to have to pull out all the stops to top Elbow; I’m sure Tom will be along here later to file a report John Mulvey

Once again, we've been ear-wigging for words of wisdom from Latitude's great unwashed... 1. "I'm not paying that much for cod. It's hardly an endangered species." 2. "Yeah, everyone's happy now, but sooner or later it's going to go all Lord Of The Flies. Mark my words." 3. "I'm less pissed than I was last night, because I can remember this." 4. Heard over a security walkie-talkie: "Child Control to the Poetry Arena!" 5. "Don't squeeze that, it's my mother's." 6. "How many times do I have to tell you? Starsky was the other one." 7. "Asylum seekers are an important part of the local eco-system." 8. "Check my mouth. Do I still look like I've been eating poo?" 9. "What kind of parent takes a toddler to a Marcus Garvey reading?" 10. Man walking away from the cabaret tent: "I'd rather be at a Michael Barrymore pool party." TERRY STAUNTON

Crazy Suffolk weather here at Latitude today (July 19): Fiercely hot sun, followed swiftly by fast paced mini 'storms' of rain, plus a rainbow! Plenty of running back and forth to tent to switch from wellies to flip-flops! The festival is being swayed by the sounds of Sigur Ros, Elbow and The Coral, but here are a few snapshots to give you a taste of what it's been like...