Green Man celebrates its 20th anniversary to deliver the best of the UK festival scene

Oftentimes, the entry into a festival is an experience of tedium before the fun starts, sometimes, it’s a beautiful reminder of the joy to come. Green Man had both, the Brecon Beacons looming gorgeously over the queues of traffic, but once parked, entry was slick and easy.

After getting tents pitched, and acquiring our first bite of food - some overpriced but tasty halloumi fries - we started to meander around the festival site. Somehow, Green Man manages to be both expansive and compact, the stages well positioned to avoid sound bleed, and create distinct areas, with beautiful art, workshops, and well managed pathways 

Honeyglaze were the first band we fully saw of the weekend, and it’s an impressive start. Someone later pointed out that most of their lyrics are actually haikus, and it’s the sort of beautiful feature that once you notice it, adds another dimension to an already impressive performance. We stopped at a few other acts while exploring the site, with Pip Blom delivering a memorable show in the Far Out tent.

Some things can detract from an act’s performances, others can amplify them. Metronomy was the first headliner on the main Mountain Stage, and they took full advantage of the natural amphitheatre that makes it up. They sounded vastly better than at other festivals this summer, with the location, sound engineering, and the audience’s joy clearly contributing to a set filled with energy, getting the crowd hyped up for the rest of the weekend to come.

There was less happening after the headliner on Thursday than on other days, but that’s not to say there was a shortage of entertainment. Chai Wallahs, a gorgeous fire near it, and their whimsical cinema tent were all running past 2am, and the entertainment was definitely less limited than our energy levels.

Our first foray on Friday led us to the Green Man Rising stage for Preen, who brought fairly gentle folk-rock, but the three singer-songwriters played off each other well, trading lead prominence artfully to create a more expansive sound than other similar acts.

Our bimble took us past some gorgeous artwork in the woods behind the Walled Garden stage, and over to the Babbling Tongues stage - which hosts a variety of spoken word, lectures, and conversations through the afternoon, and switches into comedy in the evening. There, Pete Brown was speaking about matching beers to bands, discussing how the different senses interact, with samples offered to the audience to experience the impact upon flavour of different aural stimulation. 

We headed through Einstein’s Garden, enjoying the music on the Solar Stage - which as expected by its name only runs through the afternoon - while nosing at the variety of intriguing displays and workshops about science and energy.

Back over at the main stage, Mdou Moctar impressed with his Tuareg-inspired rock, before Kae Tempest delivered an intense set, their spoken word punctuating powerfully across the audience, with the intermittent musical backdrop accentuating their delivery.

We took a break from music for a first sample of the real ale on offer at the beer tent, and the range is remarkable. There’s been plenty of actual beer festivals with less variety than what’s here, with over a dozen breweries from across Wales bringing an array of beers each, and every return gives a chance to try a different pint.

For a festival with renowned musical diversity, it felt slightly ridiculous to see four consecutive electronic music acts with elaborate visuals, but it also provided a stunning Friday night. But considering the sad news about Low’s Mimi Parker and her cancer treatment, Public Service Broadcasting were a stunning replacement. Despite being the 5th festival I’ve seen them at, they remain remarkably refreshing, their songs soaring as full videos play on a split screen backdrop, with a bright lightshow accompanying the mellow projections.

Onto the main stage headliner, Kraftwerk shows are something unique. Offering 3D glasses to every attendee, this is more akin to musical cinema than a typical live show. Stunning 3D visuals project out from the stage in perfect sequence to the music, whether “Numbers”, “Computer World” images, vehicles on the “Autobahn”, “Radioactivity” symbols, “Tour de France” riders, or giant representations of the band members as “The Robots”. Each song was simultaneously quickly recognisable, and also a distinctly different version from their album tracks. After nearly two hours of cinematic hits, they indulged in their only bit of showmanship, each leaving the stage with a bow and a section of the sound departing with them.

Typically, early-hours performances on smaller stages following the headliners are in a tough position. Trying to follow the biggest names on the line-up with an audience split between a desire for something chilled and relaxing, or a lively party. Scalping did neither, blending fairly minimal techno with a bass and drum sound from doom-metal, their sound was intimidating, tense, and absolutely stunning. Add in some stunning visuals reminiscent of horrific sci-fi, and it felt like they were stealing your soul and beaming its amorphous imprisoned image back at you.

Lone were much more typical, but still impressive, delivering lively, bouncy electro that felt like the perfect reignition into a party after the almost gruelling intensity of Scalping. 

Late nights lead to leisurely mornings, languishing lunches, and sometimes, a relatively early prioritising of booze. Saturday at Green Man certainly proved this for us, and it wasn’t until early afternoon that we went to check out our first act of the day, but it was worth the wait. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets were brilliant, applauding the audience as they arrived, and delivering a bombastic performance filled with epic psych riffs and ridiculous rock ‘n’ roll poses that went past exaggeration into raw entertainment.

Having read some of my colleagues’ reviews from earlier this summer, I was intrigued to check out Minyo Crusaders. They didn’t disappoint, showcasing a well-worked blend of Japanese folk music, reggae, and Western rock performances, leading the crowd into sing-a-longs and delight

We interspersed visits to the Far Out stage with some time exploring the shops, art, and just chilling watching kids climb trees, play with diablos and other toys on sale. It’s a festival that manages to feel full, wholesome, and absolutely delightful, with always another thing to pause at and enjoy, whether for a few seconds or hours.

Later in the day, Black Country New Road gave another stunning performance, the gentle vocals contrasting with intense, almost intimidating post-punk and soundscaping. Following them, Arab Strap had a similar dichotomy in their style, but in a very different way, Middleton’s wry, sometimes dark or sexual lyrics almost crooned over instruments shifting between mellow indie guitars and dreary post-rock.

The night’s headliner, Beach House brought their dreamy electro-pop (or is it electronic dream-pop?) to the main stage, and it was yet another stunning performance. 90 minutes of beauty and elegance, sending me into an ethereal daze as the music floated through the crowd.

Far Out’s headliners generally play after the main stage act, and are often big electronic artists, with barguably as big a pull as many of the mainstage headlines, and like most of the earlier acts, they smashed it, a completely rammed tent, and hundreds more outside bouncing to the incredible beats and mixes provided.

Sundays at festivals can be bizarre, some people start packing up ready to leave that night, there can be a slight melancholy at everything coming to an end, and a wariness that it might be anti-climactic. Still, there’s one more day to meander around a place of beauty, eat and drink delicious offerings, and check out some hopefully excellent music. 

After The Long Blondes withdrew due to serious allegations against their lead singer, The Wedding Present came in as late deputies, and didn’t disappoint, with a mix of jangling pop songs from across the last 5 decades.

Over in the Walled Garden, Sugar Candy Mountain started imperiously, with a distinctive style of psych rock that somehow managed to be both mellow and lively, before a stunning cover of Air’s "Playground Love". Unfortunately, they seemed to have peaked, with a run of several instrumental songs that lacked the same edge of their earlier songs. For a band with four albums, it was a disappointingly inconsistent set, even with the energy reignited for their final song.

Contrastingly Jenny Hval was continuously compelling, vocalising dark spoken word lyrics about death and vampires against a gorgeous backdrop of artsy electronic music infused with the occasional folk or metal riffs. Unfortunately, the performance by Joe & the Shitboys over at Green Man Rising was distinctly disappointing, just generic guitar riffs interspersed with angry shouting about nothing in particular. Given that the stage is usually a really well-curated selection of upcoming artists, many of whom end up further up festival line-ups in future years, it was a shame that one of the last acts there this weekend was such a letdown.

Through the festival, there’s been a mix of new and returning artists, and to close out the 20th anniversary, Michael Kiwanuka headlined after playing several times across the previous 11 years. As they were setting up, extra mounts and light rigs were being added, and like the previous headliners’ effects, it was worth it. As his soulful voice cascaded across the hills of the Mountain Stage, it felt simultaneously refreshing and nostalgic, beautifully artful, and a fitting finale to the festival’s music before everyone departed to the fireworks.

The closing ceremony at Green Man is always a treat, this year they had an acrobat spinning and performing below a balloon, guiding it as it floated across the site, before they started the ritual burning of the Green Man, with attendees’ wishes lighting up with it as he burned, along with the bow and arrow that formed a part of his annually changing decor amidst an elegant fireworks display. 

We lingered with some comedy after, seeing performances by William Stone, Bella Humphries, and Mark Olver that all brought laughs, before heading to bed.

We packed up, and as we reluctantly headed back into the real world, it felt like Green Man had given us one of the purest and best examples of everything the UK festival scene has to offer. Here’s to another 20 years.

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