After a long awaited shower and a nap on the sofa I should be feeling great to be back at home. Instead, I'm mourning the passing of an amazing weekend at the Green Man festival in Glanusk, up within the rolling hills of the Brecon Beacons. I'd become accustomed to the assumption that festivals are held in plain flat fields but Green Man is something else. The scenery itself is worth the money - it's situated within mountains and forestry that I imagine children would draw in large bold wavy lines with their greenest crayons.
I mentioned value for money. Unlike other festivals, at Green Man there is nearly always something to do until the early (or late) hours, even before the main events beginning on the Friday. On Thursday after a rather stressful and rainy pitch of our £14.99 B&M Bargains tent, it might have been worth going for an explore. Indeed, my brother had itinerised (?) our entire trip to include even lunches and "chill" time so "explore" might be a bit far fetched. Acts had been arranged at the Far Out stage and Doves' Jimi Goodwin turning out to be a favourite of the night. Don't listen to anyone who says he's "tired". Late night entertainment was provided at CHAAAIII WALLAHHZZZ (that's how you say it) where By The Rivers treated me to some bearable pseudo-reggae, followed by DJ sets of the "boom boom boom, let me here you say EH OH, EH OH!" calibre.
The magic began on Friday. We got up early to look around and at about 10am, caught the Daughter soundcheck. Just GAWJUS. What a treat we had instore. Many of our who-to-see decisions came from reading the Green Man programme, who we should have guessed bigged up all the bands regardless of whether or not they were a bit shit. First up at the Mountain Stage were Green Man Rising winners Wildest Dreams, followed by Scandi synth pop band Highasakite who definitely deserved their main stage spot. An early evening highlight was Californian Sun Kil Moon, to whom rather strangely and regrettably I'd never listened before. Imagine Johnny Cash (is that blasphemy?) but slightly less southern and you have Mark Kozelek. I was drawn in by his sad lyrics and dry humour; he drew attention to the fact that Green Man was FULL of white people. (Green Man is the champagne socialist DREAM so he wasn't wrong). My Friday highlight certainly was Daughter. I remember hearing their first EP, rather timid and quaint - but their set was certainly nothing of the sort. Sometimes dark and bassy, others highly strung, dramatic and climactic, Daughter certainly delivered my favourite kind of set; just a huge crescendo waiting to crash, where the audience sort of loses themselves. Thanks, guys. We caught about half an hour of headliners Beirut, to whom I always sort of bob up and down like a buoy in the sea, before heading to Far Out to see the Canadian electronic revolution that is Caribou. Acts like these are perfect for the Far Out tent which at times felt like one big nightclub. A classy(ish) one though.
Saturday was fun. It came with switching between the Mountain Stage changeovers for the smaller acts at the Green Man Rising stage. Mutual Benefit certainly were memorable. Frontman Jordan Lee is unintentionally hilarious. Between each song came some sort of crazy analogy - a favourite of mine was 'Did you guys just hear the wind? It was like God saying "shhhhh"'. Profound. Analogies aside, they were actually alright. At Green Man rising we got to see Memory Clinic and Sen Segur, bands comprising some of the same members, the latter being a sort of funkier Welsh language version. Both had this sort of northern charm, even with Sen Segur's 60s psychadelic vibe. Angel Olsen followed on the Mountain Stage, who I'd been waiting to see for some time. With an aura as blunt as her lyrics, I expect big things to come. Imagine Waxahatchee and Tancred tinged with rock & roll. After probably the best burger of my life, northerners Woman's Hour dazzled the Far Out tent with ethereal numbers from their debut album, Conversations. The ladies continued to hit the high notes as Sharon Van Etten rocked the Mountain Stage, preceding the incredible The War On Drugs. I hate the fact that I constantly dismiss bands before hearing them; this was certainly what I'd done here. The War on Drugs is the perfect combination of Bob Dylan-esque vocals and Springsteen guitars. My spine tingled a little bit. We ended the evening at the Walled Garden, perfectly set for East India Youth, who singlehandedly rather weirdly tore the place apart. I say ended the evening, yet more was to come at Far Out, now named "After Dark" for acts The Field and Luke Abbott. The former brought a mature bass sound rippling through the tent for his duration, a drop nearing closer to the edge with no stop until an emphatic climax towards the end.
I felt a little bit fragile by the Sunday, I will admit. Even after brushing my teeth with bottled water and aching legs from the two mile walk to the nearest village for a discount brand Twister lolly and cheap vodka, I needed some waking up. Who better then than Australian upcomers Vancouver Sleep Clinic? I recommend dearly that you give them a listen, just so you can believe me when I say they're the junior version of Bon Iver. Maybe it's the falsetto and crashing chords. VSC were so grateful to be there - so much so that they agreed to fill in for Joanna Gruesome when it was announced they had cancelled due to illness. Get well soon. A certain Sunday highlight were Samaris, Icelandic beauties making use of a Macbook, synths, dreamy vocals and none other than a clarinet. It works, trust me.
Green Man, like many other festivals, is great because you can walk from one stage to another and discover something completely new and completely different. At the Walled Garden I came across RY X, who had filled the entire space with sitting listeners. I was making a mental note to "LISTEN WHEN HOME!!!".
Starting off the evening was Smog's brilliantly cynical Bill Callahan, boring my brother and exciting me with songs well and truly deserved of his MOJO win. If you'd like to know what I mean by cynical then listen to this song. Following his set and on a much lighter note was the act I'd been waiting for - First Aid Kit. A gold backdrop adorned the stage and the girls were dressed in spangly gold dresses, gently nodding at their latest album. Performing tunes from Stay Gold as well as classics from their previous releases, Johanna and Klara knew how to please the crowd as well as introduce them to their future hits. They covered Simon & Garfunkel's gorgeous "America" and a rendition of Jack White's "Love Interruption", proving they can rock any song to female vocals, pedal steel and mandolin. When I heard the intro to "Emmylou", I thought 'I'm done'. It's quite an amazing feeling to hear your favourite songs live. "Emmylou" was one of the best singalongs I've ever been a part of, hands down. After recovering, a quick sprint had to be made up to Far Out to catch the last half hour of Real Estate as a result of a horrible clash with First Aid Kit. I was lucky enough to catch my favourite "Talking Backwards", with its gorgeously sunny maj7 chords echoing through the tent. *smiley face*
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| First Aid Kit |
We decided, since it was the last night, that it be best we actually go and see Neutral Milk Hotel to see what the fuss was about. April from Parks & Rec and every late 20s white man in a bakerboy hat loves them but I don't reeeeally get it. Respect is to be paid to the fact that they certainly got the crowd going and there was a nice little array of instruments... like a garden saw. After about half an hour we left to explore some of the other stages before heading back due to a very early start this morning. It was only when I was tucked up (as well as one can in a sleeping bag) that I could hear Kurt Vile finishing up at Far Out and I wanted to kick myself (one cannot in a sleeping bag). It always happens - there's always one act I always end up missing!
But yes - Green Man was incredible and even the day after, I feel nostalgic reliving it all again as I write this post. It's almost certain that I'll be attending next year, even if it's for the atmosphere (and nice food). Here's a bacon sandwich selfie. See you again.*
* This time next week. I'm going to Reading this weekend. I'll be posting from a coffin.
