There's something uniquely liberating about the first evening of a festival; inhibitions are cast off and comedowns are yet to set in; respective sites aren't yet sullied by beer cans and half-eaten burgers, and the toilets aren't something you enter at your own risk. It's a rare twelve hour window where people still look and smell their best and there's no-one wandering around pallid and sweaty, bedecked in a sleeping bag whilst trying to shake off last night's Jager haze. Couple this with the rural idyll of Pikehall in the beautiful Peak District, not to mention a couple of quality opening bands, and Thursday's at Y-Not Festival are an absolute winner.

With tent successfully pitched and armed with a bottle of gin and tonic, we decide to explore this year's site, heading roughly in the direction of the Quarry stage for Thursday night headliners, Ash. Though little has changed in terms of the size of the festival, its scope has increased noticeably since last year, with The Octopuses Garden offering more in the way of stalls and small stages. With nothing on offer yet however, we head to The Quarry and arriving to an already heaving tent, decide to watch from the periphery, perched on the side of a giant sea turtle.

Providing us with a 15 song strong set, they play what proves to be one of the longer sets of the weekend, taking in tracks from across their career and most likely turning on host of younger punters on to the joys of their pre-'Burn Baby Burn' material. Folk-punker Beans on Toast meanders past at one point, posing for a photograph with a couple before asking if they had any weed, perfectly epitomising the type of festival Y-Not is - the kind where bands can wander around freely without being swamped with autograph requests, comfortable enough to ask strangers for a smoke. Ash finish up with an excellent double-header of 'Girl From Mars' and the aforementioned 'Burn Baby Burn', closing the first night of the festival in fantastic style. Making our way back to the tent it's clear that people are already in well in to the spirit of things; The Octopuses Garden now throbbing with good vibes and basslines whilst Sgt Peppers Meadow hums with sound of bumper cars and a rollerdisco. We opt for an early night however, knowing full well that a clear head will serve us far better tomorrow than a dry mouth and bleary eyes.

Nostalgia is a funny thing. Remembering the previous 9 years of Latitude, it is easy to bundle all of the significant events in the festival’s history and imagine one super-festival. Arcade Fire, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Kraftwerk, British Sea Power, Hot Chip, Franz Ferdinand, Belle & Sebastian, Bon Iver, Metronomy, Bloc Party and Foals are just some of those who have graced Latitude’s stages over the years and likely figure heavily in the Latitude loyalists’ imagination of the festival. Festival organisers no doubt felt the pressure to live up to these expectations when creating Latitude 2015: The 10^th Birthday. After all, what better way to celebrate than by pulling out all the stops?

However, as many festivalgoers had anticipated on the Thursday night before the festival fully got under-way, it is not immediately clear what was so special about this year’s line-up. Alt-J headlined the Friday night, delivering more-or-less what was expected of a band whose popularity had somewhat faded since their 2012 Mercury prize. Similarly, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds served the purpose of closing-night headliner, drawing in born-again Oasians and finishing the festival well with “Don’t Look Back In Anger”.

Portishead and the Manic Street Preachers proved the best of the higher-billed acts. The former rarely come out of their lair to play, their three albums over twenty-four years underlining their selective disposition. Backed by large imposing images of David Cameron with light rays coming out of his eyes, the (almost) Bristolians delivered every one of their hits with perfection, finishing off with a surprise duet with Thom Yorke. The Manics similarly brought previous form with them, offering a light-hearted and fun moment in the festival on the Sunday evening. For those still in doubt about the billed line-up, the surprise return of Ed Sheeran, Snow Patrol and Thom Yorke in secret gigs should have provided some relief.

Latitude, of course, has always sought to avoid putting its festivalgoers through the ‘stressful’ experience of plotting a course through an epic bill of headliners. More emphasis is placed on allowing those attending the time and space to discover things for themselves – a first world problem resolved if ever there was one. Perhaps the 10^th Birthday took this too far at times; it is hard to remember a Latitude in which the afternoons felt quite so lightweight in terms of acts without much ‘oomph’. The upside of this, in line with the Latitude ethos, was that several smaller, newer acts were given an opportunity to thrive. Songhoy Blues, Leon Bridges and Young Fathers all kicked life back into festival’s daytime billing, drawing large crowds of fans gained largely over the last few months. Warpaint, playing on the Sunday afternoon, delivered a fantastic and tight set with their usual subtlety and light-hearted spirit. The technical talent of these newer artists clearly meant more to the crowd than the length of their discographies – though it was obvious from the energetic performance of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard how they have managed to pump out six albums in five years. Equally, acts that may not have been considered ‘headliners’ to the crowds that turned out to see Kraftwerk in 2013, evidently meant as much to the increasing amounts of under-20s populating the festival, who turned out in droves to catch the tented parties hosted by Django Django and SBTRKT.

The ‘light’ billing of Latitude 2015’s afternoons also provided room for non-musical acts to flourish. As usual, the Comedy and Cabaret tents regularly overflowed, and together provided an unrivalled festival stand-up environment in which up-and-comers like Alex Edelman, Sarah Kendall, Phil Wang (MC) and Aisling Bea could thrive. Tim Key graced Latitude again, spending half his time delivering poetry and half his time nicking drinks off the audience. Murray Lachlan Young similarly brought comedic verse to the Literature Tent, highlights including poems about curries and a folk tribute to dogging. 

Elsewhere, Stuart Bowden’s dreamlike one hour operetta ‘Before Us’ did for live comedy what Dan Deacon does for live music, and would have perhaps been the comedy performance of the festival, had it not have been for The Boomtown Rats equally surreal and unhinged performance.

While Latitude 2015: The 10^th Birthday was not a celebration studded with the biggest names in the festival’s history, who says it needed to be? Latitude has always used big names sparingly; a hook to get festivalgoers into an environment in which they can discover other, new things. If the lures have changed over time, the ethos has remained the same. Latitude 2015 never seemed a ‘go out with a bang’ farewell, rather another instalment of a festival determined to stay.

Cult Called Man launched their second EP, Mr. Wednesdae, in Whelan’s last Thursday. The six piece from Meath have been gigging around Dublin for a few years now and the practice they have put in is really starting to show.

They hit the headlines earlier this year by writing an open letter to Modest Mouse asking for a support slot. Their bid was unsuccessful but they did gain plenty of exposure in their attempt. Also, given the general reaction to Modest Mouse’s Helix appearance and the appalling sound quality, it might be for the best that they didn’t get the slot.

They kick off on the main stage at 2200 and the kinetic energy is abundant from the first beat, with all six of them constantly in motion and dancing frenetically. The set is diverse in influence and in execution, drawing from ‘70s glam rock and ‘80s new wave dance music. Like an old pop band, each song has a different feel and rhythm to the last. The diverse selection of tunes is delivered flawlessly and with great enthusiasm.

And no one is more enthused than lead singer Luke Razmo. Razmo has the look of Neil Hannon about him but, rather than The Divine Comedy’s louche baritone, his vocal style is reminiscent of Kevin Rowland, with a bit of David Byrne thrown in for good measure. While the rest of the band lay down harmonies that are tighter than a gnat’s chuff, Razmo yelps, croons, and howls over them with a degree of vocal control and finesse that is rare. He comfortably mixes smooth pop singing with expressive performance, even while singing through a megaphone.

The rest of the band are no slouches either, delivering those harmonies with verve and panache, and looking damn pleased to be doing so. If Razmo is Kevin Rowland then Cult Called Man make a fine Dexy’s Midnight Runners, though thankfully without the dungarees. Like Dexy’s, the style is open and they refuse to stick to a single genre or approach from one song to the next. They are tight and accomplished without feeling the need to show off, and possessed of an unapologetic pop sensibility. Every note and beat serves the delivery of the song.

Cult Called Man are a genuinely talented band and an uplifting live experience. Word seems to be spreading about them and they are doing well to get a couple of hundred people into Whelan’s on a Thursday night. They’ve come a long way in the past few years and it will be very interesting to see where they are a year from now.

Despite the soaring temperatures outside we find ourselves, in what feels like a sauna as Frankie & The Heartstrings are about to take to the stage on the day that their third album Decency is released. They’re in typically high spirits as Frankie Francis and the rest of the guys take to the stage, it’s been a remarkable two years for these guys with awards for being the hardest working in band in music. As well as running the wonderfully successful Pop Recs in Sunderland, and despite the small glitch in the life of Pop Recs we hope it will find a new home very soon.

They waste very little time in getting stuck into the new tracks with title track Decency being the first out of the blocks, as ever Frankie rules the stage as he shimmies about the stage crooning over this adoring crowd. As the older tracks provide epic sing alongs Photograph being the first of the evening but its followed by a plethora of others including That Girl That Scene.

Their jaunty prowess is never in doubt, yet these classic tracks provide the perfect reminder before they delve into the bowels of their new release. Balconette is perhaps the closest to the older tracks and subsequently garners a similar reaction to the aforementioned tracks. However, the other tracks from Decency go down incredibly well to, they’re more mature in their sound and outlook but still contain that Frankie & The Heartstrings magic.

Hate Me Like You Used To being the perfect exponent of this, its harsh undertone and heartfelt lyrics go down well despite the jovial atmosphere. As does the equally deep Someday Anna, their set moves along at a phenomenal pace as Frankie welcomes a horn section to the stage. As they take to the stage the set transcends its previous pace and moves everything up a gear, Money easily becomes the highlight of the night.

Its upbeat party atmosphere that’s cut with Frankie’s trademark deep lyrics, providing a moment to savour. Frankie & The Heartstrings are in insurmountable form this evening, an undoubtedly jubilant celebration to mark the release of their incredible new album. As the band close out the night with a quick costume change into their striking blue suits, rousing versions of both Think Yourself Lucky and Hunger capping off an incredible evening of fantastic music.