High above the town of Crickhallow and the adjacent valley in which Green Man Festival unfolds, is a gorgeous green mountain peak. But as festivalgoers arrived it was shrouded in cloud, providing a mystical atmosphere – or at least that’s how the positive vibe made the light but continuous downpour feel.
Thursday
Thanks to the natural buoyancy of knowing what was in store for the weekend, no spirits were dampened. Early arrivers set up camp before bouncing off to explore the variety of entertainment that the Welsh festival – now in its third decade – has become known for. A globetrotting array of cuisines, classic cinema offerings and exploration of the spacious grounds were all being taken advantage of – but the majority headed towards the sheltered Far Out stage where the music programme was getting underway and rain could be forgotten.
In a giant puffy jacket, Liz Lawrence was prepared for both festivities and the cold – though she and her band certainly warmed up the audience with a ripping set. Drawing from her hyped and burgeoning catalogue, Lawrence proved that she is more than comfortable playing to crowds of significant size – and likely winning over a host of new fans with her down to earth lyricism.
Philly rippers Sheer Mag followed and found plenty of fuel left over in the tank from Lawrence’s set – enabling them to rev up the crowd even further with their gasoline fueled jams. Inimitable vocalist Tina Halliday sauntered casually between blasts of her banshee-meets-foghorn voice, comfortably making her melodic moans heard over the substantial purr of the band. She told the crowd of her disappointment that this trip to the UK hadn’t afforded the band a chance to visit Toby Carvery, but even without that carb and protein boost she ejected a serious dose of energy into the tent’s atmosphere.
The only open-air stage running on the Thursday night was The Walled Garden, where Welsh bands had been programmed – all the more used to managing the weather, perhaps. The Tubs were a highlight of the evening, bounding through tracks from their 2023 debut album Dead Meat.
Back in the Far Out, Canadian powerhouse band METZ had just landed off a flight from Toronto but showed no signs of jetlag as they pummeled their way through a set that drew from the depth of their decade-plus back catalogue. Perhaps it was the tiredness that spurred them on, but the trio seemed to be tighter and louder than anyone expected, careening about the stage as their monstrous riffs took hold. Watching Alex Edkins’ shirt gradually – but quite rapidly – darken with sweat as he roared, both verbally and instrumentally, was a good way of tracking just how intense METZ had gotten. It was sodden quite quickly.
The introductory night was capped off by a rousing set from Nottingham duo Sleaford Mods. Packing a mighty 22 songs into their set and touching on pretty much every album from their now extensive back catalogue, the pair accomplished their crowd-pleasing mission with ease. While Jason Williamson contorted and strutted, delivering his riled-up missives, Andrew Fearn raved it up from behind his electronic armoury – but often came gallivanting out from behind it to dance with the crowd, such was the excitement in their air. Fan favourite album Divide and Exit got a good airing with five songs plucked from it, but it was perhaps the single “TCR” that got the biggest singalong of the evening, while their cover of “West End Girls” was a stylish diversion.
Friday
Those descending to the natural amphitheatre of Green Man’s main stage – the Mountain Stage – for its opening on the early Saturday afternoon were in for a treat. Amidst the glorious sun, audio visual duo Mermaid Chunky, adorned all in pink, delighted with sardonically humorous electronic pop songs that eased the crowd into the day. It was easy to zone out with a snicker – but they surprised everyone by bringing out a troupe of outrageously outfitted dancers without so much as a word. All of a sudden the stage was turned into a fantasmagorical cornucopia of sprites and cherubs frolicking along to intertwining flute melodies – it felt like taking a step through the looking glass for a few brief minutes of madness and was undoubtedly one of the most memorable moments of the weekend.
Back over in the darkness of the Far Out tent, Brighton-based risers Lime Garden proved that years of playing and honing your craft pays off big time when you get a chance to play in front of a large festival crowd. Drawing largely from this year’s debut album One More Thing, the quartet confidently kept the baying audience in the palms of their hands, tightly jamming through angst-ridden pop rockers and maintaining a connection with the audience through the personal messages and openness of their playing.
Those seeking something more sedate to pair with the sun were tempted down to the Mountain Stage where whisky-voiced troubadour Johnny Flynn and his band were rustling up a shanty style set. Rousing but not too energetic, Flynn and co’s sweet and melodious country-folk tunes crested on the afternoon’s light breeze and swept in a natural bonhomie for those in attendance.
Flynn’s set flowed perfectly into the dulcet tones of Jess Williamson, who continued the lackadaisical but emotional storytelling over in the Walled Garden. The LA-based songwriter was at home in the radiant sun that was beaming down and, though playing solo, her tales of heartache and self-betterment expanded throughout the arena with ease. With a chatty persona and a light rust in her voice, she will have won the attention of all in attendance – even those sprawled out to enjoy the sun to the max.
As the day turned to evening, another LA-based musician in the form of Julia Holter tempted many out of the sunshine and into the cavernous Far Out for a set of baroque pop beauty. Holter and her band tiptoed and traversed through a set that encompassed songs going all the way back to her breakthrough 2012 album Ekstasis. With her hair now a sterling shade of silver, Holter looks more witch-like than ever, and the way she swayed over her synth like a cauldron while belting out acrobatic vocals – with her bandmates augmenting her spell – was truly incantatory.
As darkness drew in, Mount Kimbie powered up the main stage with their singular brand of motorik art rock. The now-quintet sounded grand and enormous as they co-steered their spaceship of sound through songs from recent album The Sunset Violent, then brought it stylishly into land when playing their dreamy classic “Marilyn”.
This perfectly set the stage for Jon Hopkins to take over for the headline slot – though he was 40 minutes late. Perhaps he wanted to push his set time deeper into the night as, when he did arrive, he almost entirely eschewed the more serene, ambient-leaning productions he’s put out of late and went straight for the jugular with 90 minutes of hard techno. While there was still plenty of beauty to be found in his set – not least in the lighting and visuals that paired with it – Hopkins’ approach was that of a DJ in a Berlin club at peak hour, delivering unrelenting high-BPM beats with no moment for anyone to breathe. It was an undeniable spectacle.
Those who either got fed up of waiting for Hopkins to arrive, or perhaps fancied something a bit different, would not have been disappointed if they headed to the Walled Garden to see Moonchild Sanelly’s set. Riding high off recent singles “Scrambled Eggs” and the Self Esteem duet “Big Man”, the South African artist was effervescent on Saturday night. A naturally bubbly and energetic person, she channelled it into her raps and dances, proving herself a multi-faceted performer and a damn loveable character. While she may not have had her dancers with her (due to visa issues), she still had her DJ, whose sass was palpable from behind his decks – and became even more pungent when he suddenly emerged from behind them to show off his thong while strutting and dancing enthusiastically in sync with Sanelly. Anyone in attendance can be in no doubt as to the singer’s star potential.
Saturday
It was a hard wake up on Saturday morning but Lynks was there on the main stage to ensure that eyes were wide and bodies were limber. On the surface songs about lust, longing and objectification don’t mix with a midday slot, but try telling that to the sizeable crowd who pinged around to the caffeinated productions, laughed along to the oversexualized lyrics and marvelled at the energetically entertaining choreographed dances. Judging by the length of the queue at their signing event a couple of hours later, the drag pop performer left an enormous mark on lots of young people.
At the complete opposite end of the scale was Lonnie Holley, who brought a calm and soothing stoicness to proceedings in the mid-afternoon set on the Mountain stage. The arena’s natural amphitheatre shape came into its own here as hordes made themselves comfortable on the grass banks to listen to the legend’s soulful storytime, which was full of grave love and wonder, mixing delightfully with the grey-yet-beautiful atmosphere.
In what was a ping-ponging day for music on the Mountain, North Carolina rockers Wednesday followed with a rip-roaring set of countrified alt-punk jams. Singer Karly Hartzman revealed that the next Wednesday album is already complete so this is the final hurrah to properly celebrate Rat Saw God, so the quintet stormed through modern classics “Chosen To Deserve” and “Bath County”, but also gave the audience a preview of their upcoming new music, which sounds as vital and involving as ever.
The question of who would be filling the ‘TBA’ slot on Saturday afternoon on the Walled Garden stage had been causing conversation throughout the festival, but snoops on the Green Man forum thought they had cracked it a week earlier: Porridge Radio. Turns out, they were dead right. With a new album Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me just over the horizon (out in October) this was an opportunity for the quartet to give some of the songs an early live airing before taking them on the road. The sizeable audience that had shown up (evidently word had gotten out) were treated to what sounds like it might be the most wrought and dynamic record from the Brighton band yet.
With a highly anticipated set from Stewart Lee happening on the Babbling Tongues comedy stage, people started gathering there two hours ahead of time. They were treated to viciously funny sets from Kate McGann and Kiri Pritchard-McLean before the comedy legend took to the stage amidst an absolutely stuffed tent. While he described his set as something of a scrambled “greatest hits”, the crowd still loved hearing his classic “These days if you say you’re English you get arrested and thrown in prison” and “comin’ over ‘ere” bits stretched to their maximum – and they sounded as potent as ever with the backdrop of the racist riots seen across the country earlier this month.
Those who decided to stick to music were treated to a powerful one-two punch in the Far Out tent. Firstly John Maus jumped, thumped and screamed his way through an hour of his goth-power-pop jams. His energy was as though he had a massive backing band behind him, when in fact he was just cavorting around to a (very loud) backing track – not hiding the fact that he was clicking on tracks on his laptop to cue them up.
Nadine Shah, however, did have her usual mighty band behind her in one of the most powerful sets of the weekend. With the majority of songs coming from this year’s sensational Filthy Underneath, as well as a few old classics, she fronted the mighty force with her all-conquering voice. She was also absolutely fearsome in her decrying of the situation in Gaza; while numerous artists over the weekend delivered “Free Palestine” messages, none were as hair-raising or genuinely tear-jerking in their appeal for peace as Shah. To do it in combination with some of the most electrifying music of the weekend was something to behold.
Taking the Saturday headline slot was Big Thief, who probably had an equal split in the crowd between die hard fans and those wanting to be won over. Well, there can surely have been no doubters left after this performance. After recently losing founding bassist Max Oleartchik, they have been bolstered with a new bassist and additional drummer – and this new formation sounds more forceful and nimble than ever before. Although, we were made to wait to hear it in all its glory as the set started with a couple of solo performances from Adrianne Lenker, the stunning “Orange” and a new track “All Night All Day”, which hushed that crowd with anticipation. The quintet’s roar was then heard in “Simulation Swarm”, “Shoulders”, “Masterpiece” and “Vampire Empire” played back to back. However, the real treat of the night was hearing where the band will go next, with a significant proportion of the set dedicated to new tracks. From a 70s-style extended jam rocker to a full-on shoegaze stormer and concluding with the heartbreaking singalong “Incomprehensible”, it’s apparent that Big Thief are more diverse and inspired than ever.
While Big Thief might not have left a ‘party’ atmosphere, the mood was certainly approaching euphoric as Saturday night stretched into Sunday morning. It was therefore the perfect time for Byrne’s Night – a mash up of the classic Scottish celebration with a Talking Heads tribute (with the emphasis a lot more on the Talking Heads part on this occasion, as the usual novelty Scotland visuals were not available). Things kicked off with Porridge Radio vocalist Dana Margolin taking the lead on “Psycho Killer” and the excitement only grew from there. Via “Girlfriend is Better” to Lynks’ excellent version of “Lazy” (the X-Press 2 song featuring David Byrne) and culminating in an absolutely hammered Nadine Shah arriving to belt out “Once In A Lifetime”, it was a heck of an end to the night.
Sunday
Sunday was always going to be something of a slow start – thankfully instrumental krautrockers Dog Unit were on hand in the mid-afternoon on the scenic Rising Stage to ease us into the music. Their motoric grooves were equally as accessible for those still full of beans and ready to bounce as they were for those who simply wanted to lie down and stare at the sky.
While hyped up-and-comers Blondshell and Gia Ford played, many descended upon the Cinedrome to have a bash at the Green Man Film Quiz to tackle the tricky questions set by Observer film reviewer Wendy Ide. I can only blame it on being a long weekend for our team fairing so poorly in the Spielberg round and last minute switches to the wrong answers that cropped up throughout. Needless to say, we didn’t win the year’s subscription to Mubi.
Bar italia proved to be a soothing balm to the disappointment, though. From outside the Far Out tent in the beautiful weather, their brand of jangle pop sounded absolutely sweet, despite the sighing, borderline depressive, vocals.
This led perfectly into a much anticipated set from Black Country, New Road on the Mountain Stage. The troupe has been in the lab cooking up their first proper post-Isaac Wood album and the songs certainly sound intriguing. The band’s trio of women now pass the mantle of vocal duty around, giving them a multi-faceted approach – though all the songs are a marked step away from roaring guitars and towards something more baroque. While Tyler Hyde and May Kershaw have already established themselves as singers on last year’s live album, it’s nice to finally see and hear Georgia Ellery transferring her songwriting talent from Jockstrap into these different climes. Switching her trademark violin for a mandolin, Ellery’s magical and poetic sounds seemed on first listen among the most intriguing of Black Country, New Road 2.0.
Where the previous band soothed, much-hyped jazz ensemble Ezra Collective took the energy in a much different direction. The London posse were sublime and utterly emphatic across their 75 minute set, not allowing anyone to stay still as they strutted and bopped through tracks from their Mercury Prize winning record Where I’m Meant To Be alongside previews of their upcoming album Dance, No One’s Watching. With a little bit of UK garage thrown in and a lot of character and love delivered between songs, Ezra Collective lit up the evening just as the light and the cold was closing in.
Following this was not going to be an easy task, but Sunday night headliner Sampha took it all in his stride with a truly classy and soulful performance. With a truly dynamic and ultra tight band behind him, the singer oozed confidence and radiated joy as he launched his powerful voice right to the back of the field on songs like “Spirit 2.0” and “Suspended”. Perhaps most impressive was the way he held the entire audience in the palm of his hand as he delivered the truly heartrending “No One Knows Me (Like the Piano)” – with thousands reduced to hushed admiration and silent heart swelling.
Those not wanting to finish their weekend with style and grace headed to the Walled Garden for a different kind of heart and soul being delivered by New York-based noiseniks Model/Actriz. The band started their set with a rampaging run through the slammers from their incendiary 2023 debut album Dogsbody before diverting into a string of older songs. At this point vocalist Cole Haden got into the crowd to get familiar with them as the band jammed through the slightly more post-rock esque and highly strung (in a good way) tracks. They saved one slammer for last, though, delivering “Pure Mode” to a sea of flailing limbs and impacting bodies. “We’re going to see some bitch burn,” Haden announced as the band headed offstage.
With that, those remaining at the festival gathered for the midnight burning of the Green Man statue, which people had adorned with their hopes, dreams and wishes in the preceding three days. A truly heartwarming spectacle – combined with a battery of fireworks – that signalled the effective end of the overwhelmingly action-packed weekend.
Within 24 hours, the valleys were returned to their usual sedate greenery, the action of the preceding days nothing more than an echo fading in the distance.
