Sir Tom Jones Causes Crush at Latitude Festival

The fourth Latitude Festival got off to a shaky start as thousands flocked to see veteran singer Sir Tom Jones perform an intimate midnight gig in the festival's woodland area, causing crushes when security were forced to turn away many who had turned up to for the Welshman.

Local source the East Anglian Daily Times said that "many [fans] had been left disappointed after officials stopped access to the venue after it reached its capacity;" and this confirms various Twitter reports from last night, including NME journalist Luke Lewis who tweeted "the Tom Jones-gig-in-the-woods stunt has caused a massive human crush, hundreds trapped on the bridge, unable to move."

The festival organisers have moved quickly to quell the disappointment of those who missed out, however, by announcing that Jones will perform again on Sunday, July 18, on Latitude's main Obelisk Arena Stage at mid-day.

Those who managed to catch last night's set -- which was also delayed twenty minutes due to technical problems -- were met with cuts from the performer's much-publicised new album 'Praise and Blame.' The war of words between Sir Tom and his record company Island had no bearing on the reception the material received last night, the crowd accepting his decision to leave out long time favourites such as 'Delilah' and 'It's Not Unusual' with fervour.

Latitude opens fully today with headlining performances from Florence and the Machine and the National, whilst other acts scheduled to appear over the coming weekend include Vampire Weekend, the Xx and Crystal Castles.