Its importance is debatable (and quality is clearly more important), but several people have noted the lack of potential British Obelisk headliners.

Here are some possibles taken from the top of my swede:

PJ harvey
Bloc Party
Elbow
Primal Scream
Belle & Sebastian
Morrissey
Manic Street Preachers
Basement Jaxx
Amy Winehouse (one for Sigmunfreudlover and Calhudson, I don't doubt)

Not that many great possibilities there, and certainly few young and up-coming types.

What are the other possibilities?

Can we throw in My Bloody Valentine as Irish is near enough. I'm sure the nationality of the bands doesn't really figure too much when it comes to booking for the festival, I think travelling costs etc probably plays a larger part in it hence last year having two international acts who are actually based in the UK in Nick Cave and Grace Jones. I doubt it would be too much trouble for My Bloody Valentine to hop over from Ireland so therefore I think they count - they may even be UK based now actually, I'm not sure.
 
I begin to struggle after that though, there's plenty of British acts who could be potential Uncut headliners but a real lack of prospects for headlining the main stage. I don't want to start going on about reformations as we could be here all day, but as they never actually officially split up in the first place and there has been a resurgence of rumours around again lately perhaps Pulp would be a small possibility as Jarvis does seem to be a fan of Latitude.
 
Arctic Monkeys I guess are another possibility, a bit too big for Latitude I guess but seem to have enjoyed their time there in 08, same with Radiohead, they would obviously push Latitude into the next level in terms of size but weirder things have happened, Thom seemed to enjoy himself this year. I'm really scraping the barrel now but perhaps even someone like Paul McCartney or David Bowie should he tour again?
 
An even lesser appealing option but perhaps slightly more realistic would be Paul Weller. He could be a shout for the special guest slot actually. Obviously he's pretty terrible these days but still seems to be a popular live draw. I don't want to come off too critical of him though I do like The Jam a lot and quite enjoy some Style Council too.

Another idea, though I'm not sure how well it would fit in with Latitude would be The Prodigy. It's a shame that the large majority of potential British headliners have all been around so long though and in the most part aren't particularly thrilling prospects.

Probably not a forum friendly choice but I could see Lily Allen doing it. I'm not a massive fan tbh but she seems a possible choice, playing a decent way up at most festivals and not a crass 'sexy' pop act I guess (though some would disagree). Same goes for Kate Nash if her next records a biggun, I guess.

In a few years I could definitely see Wild Beasts doing it, maybe not until like 2012 though. I have a feeling their third LP will launch them into the mainstream proper, kinda like The Bends -> Ok Computer did for the 'head.

I'd suggest Portishead but I suspect they'd be more likely to headline the Uncut

Oooh, what about Gorillaz? I seem to recall they've got a new album out next year and remember reports of the few gigs they did a couple of years back were highly rated. Not sure how the holograms and stuff would work in the broad daylight at the start of their set.

Surely a possibility?

Of course, nationality isn't really an issue - though it is a bit sad to think that we're struggling to turn out decent artists here. Each year, at least one of the headliners have been British, so one may assume that this tradition will continue.

Prodigy did some good songs in the 90s, but Flint et al just swear and head-bang on stage these days. They are a possibility though.

Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead (in particular) probably are too big, but could do acoustic sets somehere perhaps.

Anybody but Weller or McCartney!

Any other suggestions?

Gorillaz is a decent shout actually. I'm not a huge fan but it would be pretty fun.
 
I saw Lily Allen at Vfestival 06 the year Vfest really outshone itself with Radiohead, Beck, Morrissey et al playing. She must have been pretty unknown when the booking took place as she was like 3rd on their 3rd stage which is tented, but by the time the festival came around Smile had been a big hit so it was crammed in there. She was actually really enjoyable and I'm glad I saw her in those relatively small surroundings. I've never listened to her albums but I enjoy her singles when I hear them and wouldn't oppose to her appearing at Latitude, I also quite like her as a person as well.
 
Another potential one I thought of, though he is a mega oldie is Ray Davies. Probably more suited to the special guest slot but some of the Kinks classics would go down a treat I reckon.

The Prodigy are an absolute stinker of a group and would probably make it into my bottom 10 acts of all time. It's also important to note they're putting on their own all-dayer at Milton Keynes Bowl next summer, so I doubt they'll be doing any festivals.

I know several people who count The Prodigy as the best live performance they have ever seen actually. I've never bothered with them myself despite being at festivals they were at on 3 occassions, I always decided to see someone else.
 
I do own Music for the Jilted Generation and The Fat of the Land though and both are pretty good albums.

Although Moochoo had them down as 2nd from top on one of his perspective lineups I reckon Massive Attack are still big enough to headline, they're another British possibility.

Another one, if their new album does as well as the last could be Hot Chip. Obviously they'd need to be flanked by two more established headliners but I could see it working.

I was gonna mention Hot Chip but it seems pretty crazy to think they'll headline both the UEA and Latitude in the same year.

That said they are doing 2 nights at Brixton so who knows.

I also don't think it's ridiculous to suggest someone like Kaiser Chiefs etc would headline.

Yeah true unfortunately. Also I guess you can't rule out an appearance from either Gallagher brother,now Oasis has finished it probably makes it more likely as they're not as big without the Oasis name. Liam is putting together a new band and touring in 2010 apparently and Noel will no doubt be doing his solo thing. All possibilities.

Gorillaz are a good suggestion. "Demon Days" is a very strong record (nice and eclectic with a fine supporting cast, including MF DOOM). Yeah, they'd be great.

Also, Grouchland's suggestion of Portishead is great too, though they certainly shouldn't be in The Uncut: their debut is often placed in the top ten of the 90s (and sold bucket loads), whilst "Third" had chart success on both sides of the Atlantic and was one of the highest-rated (appearing in almost every critic's list) records of 2008. Definitely Obelisk-headliner material if they have a new record out.

We've spoken about them on another thread, but Klaxons (with their second record due in the new year) could be possible: debut won the Mercury Prize, and Latitude like to elevate bands to headliner status - could they be the ones?

The more I think about it, Amy Winehouse (featuring in the recent records-of-the-decade lists) is a strong contender. She featured second-from-top (supporting Jay Z) at Glastonbury last year, but seems to have fallen out of populist reckoning following Duffy the Olive-Oil-voiced usurper's rise. I've never bothered with Winehouse personally, but she merges critical acclaim, record sales and unpredictability. What do we reckon?

Let's start a petition against Kaiser Chiefs and the Gallaghers. They would be bad moves for the festival: I truly believe that its long-term survival hinges upon it retaining a distinctive identity from most other festivals. Kaiser Chiefs, in particular, would destroy that.

ORIGINAL: grouchland

Oooh, what about Gorillaz?... Not sure how the holograms and stuff would work in the broad daylight at the start of their set.

 
It's twilight at 9.30 at that time of year (black as coal before 10pm): if you remember, the Pet Shop Boys kicked off their set with the light show - the wall of boxes, or whatever they were, glowing and flashing like an epilectic rainbow. It shouldn't be a problem.     
 
 

Hhmmm??? this thread seems a bit what...i dunno, whats the word...provincial....maybe parochial...who knows?...somewhat lame anyway...bring on international artist anyway

Yeah very lame thread, do you guys REALLY think the kaiser chiefs, Amy Winehouse or Lily Allen would headline? This is Latitude and we had Nick cave and Grace Jones this year. Be serious.

You're always looking to rain on our speculating parade hoppo!
 
I don't think there's too much wrong with this thread at all, it had arisen as an issue in our speculating that the large majority of the acts we were touting as potential headliners were international. It's realistic when you look at past Latitude lineups that at least one of the headliners will be British based, therefore a thread speculating on who that might be seems fine to me, nothing funny going on at all.
 
I'm all for these guessing games, they're interesting and pretty fun.