What a wonderful, muddy weekend in the welsh mountains!
Green Man festival is always a pleasure and high light of the year for me. Although I spent the weekend not feeling very well, Green Man and the awesome people around me, cheered me and made me feel better. Work, the rain and not feeling too good kept me from venturing in to the festival as much as I usually would. However I still got to see the site and see the acts that I wanted to see, as well as some that had been highly recommended. Being the 10th anniversary since Green Man moved to Glanusk Park, all effort went in to making this the best year so far. The line up was superb, the site was as stunning as ever and the atmosphere was full of excitement.
I arrived on the Thursday evening, unpacked and rushed straight off to catch Leftfield on the Far Out Stage. They had been recommended to me, and although they weren't really my cup of tea, they put on a great show.
On the Friday I should have taken it easy as I wasn't feeling too good. However after I had finished work I was too excited and just wanted to go out and explore and dance. I managed to caught the Headliners Hot Chip, who were awesome. They performed with so much energy and got the whole crowd going. I managed to catch the beginning Dizraeli and the Small Gods, who I had seen a few years back at Green Man with friends. I can't say much about their performance here as I literally caught the first 30 seconds before I had to rush off. Unfortunately they are on their farewell tour at the moment, so I was pretty gutted to miss the second half. However I did manage to catch their set at the next festival luckily (more about that in my yet to come, Shambala review post). I spent the late evening dancing in The Walled Garden to the Heavenly Jukebox DJ set, which blasts out a mix of disco tunes with dance anthems and keeps you dancing into the early hours of the morning.
I think I may have over cooked it for the friday however, because Saturday hit my like a ton of bricks. I felt awful when I woke up, some sort of stomach bug I assumed. However this wasn't going to stop me having a great time. I finished work and took it easy for a couple of hours, before heading out to catch Charles Bradley. Cool fact, He got his big break when he was spotted as a James Brown Impersonator in 1996. His music is a mix of soul, funk and R&B, so right up my street basically. I hadn't listened to much Charles Bradley before, but after see his fantastic performance at Green Man, I haven't stopped listening to him, and will be recommending him to everyone.
So here is a link to some of his music!
The World (Is Going Up In Flames) is also What's The Set List's Track of the Day!
After Charles Bradley, I went to explore the site a little more, grab something to eat at La Grande Bouffe (The Big Nosh), and check out some of the cool shops, such as Fairy love and Fire Toys. Until at 11pm I went to go and see Super Furry Animals. Having seen them before at Ben and Jerry's festival, I knew they would definitely deliver, and boy did they deliver! What made it especially exciting, was that this was one of the first live shows they have done for 6 years. So their Headline spot on the Mountain Stage was a must! Unfortunately by the time they came on I was shattered from feeling ill all day. Which meant I couldn't enjoy the set to its full potential. My aim was to see Jamie XX on the Far Out Stage after Super Furry Animals, but I barely made it through Super Furry, so I decided to call it a night. I lead a very Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle, can you tell?
On the Sunday, I decided I would power through as best I could, with the help of Paracetamol of course. I powered through work, ate some lovely Falafel for lunch, got loads glitter on my face, finally bought myself a Growler, and went to enjoy The Staves on the Mountain Stage at 7pm. I was a couple rows from the front, which meant the atmosphere was incredible. I have been a fan of The Staves indie-folk sound since I first heard them at Green Man in 2012. The release of their new album was a big deal for me and hearing live was almost too much for me, especially because I was so tired. I did manage to hold myself together and absolutely loved their set. The song choice and order was perfect and their voices, like the paracetamol, made me feel better. For all these reasons, The Staves were my favourite act over the whole weekend.
After The Staves I went to see Courtney Barnett after having several recommendations from my friends to go and see her. Her almost deadpan and witty delivery and her garage rock influenced sound makes her music really interesting and very memorable. I was very glad I saw her and throughly enjoyed it. I didn't manage to catch St. Vincent which was a shame, I have been told she put on an amazing show and was mesmerising. However instead I went on the Ferris Wheel and got a good spot for the burn and fireworks at midnight at 12am. This is always one of the highlights of the festival, when everyone gathers together to watch the Green Man burn and the fireworks. This year was no different and although there were no loud banging fireworks, the show was still spectacular.
Overall, even though I felt ill, I still had a great time. Seeing music I love, finding new music to love, spending time with people I love, and playing in the mud, which I love. Another awesome year for Green Man!
I arrived on the Thursday evening, unpacked and rushed straight off to catch Leftfield on the Far Out Stage. They had been recommended to me, and although they weren't really my cup of tea, they put on a great show.
On the Friday I should have taken it easy as I wasn't feeling too good. However after I had finished work I was too excited and just wanted to go out and explore and dance. I managed to caught the Headliners Hot Chip, who were awesome. They performed with so much energy and got the whole crowd going. I managed to catch the beginning Dizraeli and the Small Gods, who I had seen a few years back at Green Man with friends. I can't say much about their performance here as I literally caught the first 30 seconds before I had to rush off. Unfortunately they are on their farewell tour at the moment, so I was pretty gutted to miss the second half. However I did manage to catch their set at the next festival luckily (more about that in my yet to come, Shambala review post). I spent the late evening dancing in The Walled Garden to the Heavenly Jukebox DJ set, which blasts out a mix of disco tunes with dance anthems and keeps you dancing into the early hours of the morning.
I think I may have over cooked it for the friday however, because Saturday hit my like a ton of bricks. I felt awful when I woke up, some sort of stomach bug I assumed. However this wasn't going to stop me having a great time. I finished work and took it easy for a couple of hours, before heading out to catch Charles Bradley. Cool fact, He got his big break when he was spotted as a James Brown Impersonator in 1996. His music is a mix of soul, funk and R&B, so right up my street basically. I hadn't listened to much Charles Bradley before, but after see his fantastic performance at Green Man, I haven't stopped listening to him, and will be recommending him to everyone.
So here is a link to some of his music!
After Charles Bradley, I went to explore the site a little more, grab something to eat at La Grande Bouffe (The Big Nosh), and check out some of the cool shops, such as Fairy love and Fire Toys. Until at 11pm I went to go and see Super Furry Animals. Having seen them before at Ben and Jerry's festival, I knew they would definitely deliver, and boy did they deliver! What made it especially exciting, was that this was one of the first live shows they have done for 6 years. So their Headline spot on the Mountain Stage was a must! Unfortunately by the time they came on I was shattered from feeling ill all day. Which meant I couldn't enjoy the set to its full potential. My aim was to see Jamie XX on the Far Out Stage after Super Furry Animals, but I barely made it through Super Furry, so I decided to call it a night. I lead a very Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle, can you tell?
On the Sunday, I decided I would power through as best I could, with the help of Paracetamol of course. I powered through work, ate some lovely Falafel for lunch, got loads glitter on my face, finally bought myself a Growler, and went to enjoy The Staves on the Mountain Stage at 7pm. I was a couple rows from the front, which meant the atmosphere was incredible. I have been a fan of The Staves indie-folk sound since I first heard them at Green Man in 2012. The release of their new album was a big deal for me and hearing live was almost too much for me, especially because I was so tired. I did manage to hold myself together and absolutely loved their set. The song choice and order was perfect and their voices, like the paracetamol, made me feel better. For all these reasons, The Staves were my favourite act over the whole weekend.
After The Staves I went to see Courtney Barnett after having several recommendations from my friends to go and see her. Her almost deadpan and witty delivery and her garage rock influenced sound makes her music really interesting and very memorable. I was very glad I saw her and throughly enjoyed it. I didn't manage to catch St. Vincent which was a shame, I have been told she put on an amazing show and was mesmerising. However instead I went on the Ferris Wheel and got a good spot for the burn and fireworks at midnight at 12am. This is always one of the highlights of the festival, when everyone gathers together to watch the Green Man burn and the fireworks. This year was no different and although there were no loud banging fireworks, the show was still spectacular.
Overall, even though I felt ill, I still had a great time. Seeing music I love, finding new music to love, spending time with people I love, and playing in the mud, which I love. Another awesome year for Green Man!
