Green Man Festival 2017

[PresentlyTense]

Highlights for me were Kate Tempest, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Michael Kiniwuka, Aldous Harding/Huxley and seeing This is the Kit play in the rough trade tent. Oh, and Julia Jacklin. Almost everything I saw was great, though. 

[SighMo]

Hurray for the Riff Raff were a band I'd not head before; brilliant.  I've seen Julia Jacklin a few times now and felt for her, playing in the worst of the rain. Also didn't like the way she appeared to get rushed off the stage by the guy in the camo jacket; seemed really rude and unprofessional as she was nowhere near running over. 

[PresentlyTense]

Yeah, she was great but that guy was an arse. Gonna go see her in Manchester so hopefully nothing like that will happen there.

[grumpyhack]

On 21/08/2017 at 5:52 PM, SighMo said:

First time at GReen Man for us. Firstly go and see Oh Sees, most dynamic thing you'll ever see; absolutely crazy, took me back to a few punk gigs in my youth, they can play!

First time at Green Man for us too but we'll be back. What a magnificently put together festival.  Ticked every box.  Brilliantly organised, great mix of acts and activities and I caught the Oh Sees who were stunning.  Talk about hard working.

[SighMo]

1 hour ago, grumpyhack said:

First time at Green Man for us too but we'll be back. What a magnificently put together festival.  Ticked every box.  Brilliantly organised, great mix of acts and activities and I caught the Oh Sees who were stunning.  Talk about hard working.

Just listening to Oh Sees' Gelatinous Cube....I need to see these again!

[Amy Lawn]

This is my story, in the style of @bennyhana22;

Wednesday, set off for GM, got stewarding induction at 7. Satnav says the motorway is clogged, do I want another route that'll save me an hour? Ye go on then, I'm on a deadline here. Takes me down all little windy country lanes, bit gnarly for me, I'm not used to this. Big big truck coming the other way, I try to give him a wide berth, drove my fucking car off the road and fucked it. This is 5pm. Big up to the amazingly friendly and helpful locals who give me a hand and are unbelievably nice and hospitable. Middle of nowhere so I got to use a guy's landline to ring the RAC and ring the fest to tell them what's happened. RAC comes at 11, pissing it down with rain, had to sit in the car because a cow started on me. I felt very bad and sad, I love that little car. Towed back home, get in at 3am. Get on National Express and look at coached, all sold out, go to bed feeling very very shit. 

Thursday, phone call from mum telling me about how my brother's go into university, I say I'm not really in a good way right now mum I've fucked my car and going to have to bin off this festival. So she says she's off on holiday and I'm free to use her car as long as I don't fookin crash it like an apoth. Amazing, thanks mam. I'm off, drive careful, only play good wholesome CDs like Mik Artistik and Charli XCX and Ella Fitzgerald. Get to GM, weather is incredible, v happy to be there. Get some little mushroom burgers and a beer, very nice. Stick my head into Chai Wallas, see this fella called Solomon O.B. who says it's his third ever gig, he's fucking great, rapper with a jazzish backing band, finishes his set on a mega cover of Alright by Kendrick, nails it. Head over and watch Anna Meredith, she's always fucking great so that's to be expected, but the crowd is massive but really respectful during the quiet parts and dancing during the bangin parts. Fucking love this festival. Badbadnotgood come on, first time I've seen them, much livelier than I expected, loads of songs I know, had a brilliant time. Put myself to bed afterwards, was pooped and had a 7am shift the next day.

Friday, early shift, having a nice time walking round the campsite and helping folks out, everybody's so friendly here, setting is lovely. Bit shit tho because scruffy bastards had got in over the fence and robbed a lot of tents, fucking sickos doing then when there's so many kids around. Then got put on accessibility gate to Mountain Stage, having a lovely time there, people are friendly and weather is on fleek. After my shift finishes am over at Far Out watching Warm Digits, they're pretty upbeat, a good time. Stick my head into Chai Wallas after that and there was a right old knees up going on, but I couldn't say who that band were. Then I'm back in Far Out for Kikagaku Moyo, started out really interesting and bangin but I have to admit my interest tailed off towards the end. Not entirely sure where I was for the next few hours, in all honesty the trips around Rising and Walled Gardens and Chai Wallas and food outlets across the weekend kind of blend together in my memory, but then I'm in Cinemadrome watching Nordic Giants later on and they're fucking mega. Been wanting to see them for ages and they didn't disappoint, sound was great, all the films were really engaging, only post-rock of the weekend so I savoured it. Back down at the Mountain Stage after that, having a fucking great time to British Sea Power, seen them bloody innumerable times and they don't vary those setlists a lot, but this just seemed to be the time and the place for them, they were so at home up there. Lift To Experience after them were probably the band of the weekend, it was so loud and epic and unique, and again they just really fit in with the setting. It feels like a real event for the band, the crowd, and the festival, really everything I could've hoped out of them. Again a bit of a bimble and I reckon I managed to cram summat else in before Pumarosa, who were a brilliant headliner for me, I laugh at both Kate Tempest and Future Islands, so I'm thankful that Pumarosa saved me from them, but still on their own merit they were really good. I loved them at Glastonbury, but this show seems to be a completely different beast, frontwoman doing a lot of dancing bits through the show, instrumentation seems more mellow this time, I really like it, this band are incredibly versatile and amazingly good performers, they seem really attuned to the audience and know how to deliver what the crowd wants. After that I was fucking knackered and really felt like I needed to put myself to bed because my legs were like jelly, but instead I went and got drunk and I think I got into Chai Wallas and don't remember getting back to the tent.

Saturday wake up sore as shit, took me ages to pull myself out of the tent and off for breakfast. Pictish Trail on the Mountain Stage was an odd sort, but I enjoyed him a lot, and I liked standing out there admiring the sight of the Black Mountains and taking in the vibe of the place. Luckily for me I could watch his entire set before just going straight to the steps at the side of the stage for my 1pm shift. Checking wristbands on various gates for this one, most other stewards seem to hate that gig, but everybody is so nice that I don't mind it, especially not when the sun's out. After I'm done I catch half each of Allah-Las and Lambchop, Allah-Las don't really stick out in my mind, but I was having a nice enough time at Lambchop, but I did abandon because he seemed to have lost the crowd, I could just hear loads of noise and talking from the back of the field, which is really down to the set being quiet and he probably should be on Walled Garden instead. After that I get straight into Cinemadrome and watch Prevenge which was really great, only an hour and a half so perfect festival length, and a good opportunity for me to sit down for the first time since I got out of bed. A bat got into the tent! I love bats. After that was done I got down and was able to see pretty much all of Yorkston Thorne Khan, who are obviously incredibly competent musicians who know how to put on a show, had a lovely time watching them, and got a big kick out of being able to look up and see a starry sky. Jogged back to the tent and switched shorts for trousers because I was fucking freezing, got back in time to enjoy Melt Yourself Down. I can't say I wasn't a little bit disappointed at the poor sound for this one, I couldn't discern any bass guitar at all, the saxes and drums just lacked bite, and it all seemed quiet. Can't deny those tunes are great though, and they're a really fun and energetic band to watch, so I liked it, good headliner. Got up to John Hopkins DJ set after this, and despite it not being my usual thing I found myself enjoying it with the help of libation from the rum bar, stuck out the whole thing and I'm glad I did. Not sure where, but I remember dancing to Kendrick somewhere before getting to bed, so it wasn't straight home after John.

Sunday again a bit difficult to wake up, but I reckon some of this is down to the tent not being long enough for me, so I'm sleeping in an awkward contortion. Green Man house band Deep Throat Choir to start off, I love this band, it's not Green Man without them, I hope they keep coming back every year. Then I reckon it was a bit of Chai Wallas with breakfast before I got into the Far Out for Wolf People. Not my usual thing, kind of heavy 70sish psychedelic tinged stuff, but I did really enjoy it. They stuck out for me because they weren't really like the rest of the stuff I watched, and they were very good at what they were doing, would watch these again. Had to cut out of them a little bit early so I could get into Rough Trade for This Is The Kit. Was really gutted I missed her main sage set for my shift the day before so I was really happy to catch this. Only a handful of songs, but it really took me by surprise, I was amazed by it, felt like the floor was going to give way beneath me. I do like the record, but seeing these guys live was something else entirely, really wonderful. The playing and the harmonies were so incredible, I can't say enough good things about the show, if it'd been longer it would easily have been my favourite of the weekend. Bagged a few records, including This Is The Kit's, signed, took them and a lot of my stuff back to the car to make getting out the next day easier. Back in time to see Michael Chapman; what a fucking pro, I could watch him pick that guitar all day, I'll definitely make an effort to see him again. Julie Byrne on next and she was brilliant too, kept things interesting by switching between just her and the full band, so she had my full attention all the way through. The crowd were in hushed rapture for the whole thing, so I gather from that she's kind of a big deal. Managed to get in about 30 mins of Conor Oberst in the drizzle before going back on shift. Not remarkable but he was pretty entertaining to watch. Got stationed on a restricted area, checking everybody had the right credentials to be going in, there wasn't much traffic through, but there was music playing, and a lot of punters seemed to like the sight of me dancing in my hi-viz and rain gear while it peed it down. I'm then shifted to actually in the crowd for most of Peej's set, so I get to watch that, she's not what I expected, really epic and powerful performance from what I saw of it, great headliner. Then I'm up at the Green Man himself, so I get to watch the bonfire and fireworks show. After that's done I guide some crowds and that's me done for the night, cram in a few last beers + food before getting to bed at a sensible time.

All in all, fucking loved it. I counted this is my 20th weekend camping festival overall, and I might have enjoyed this one more than any other. Stewarding gave me the chance to meet a lot of different people, which was really nice. Having had that peak behind the scenes, I've got a real appreciation with what it takes to put a festival on, and how much the people behind the scenes care about giving the audience the best possible time, it's an attitude absolutely everybody seemed to have. Green Man definitely has the best setting and the best atmosphere of any festival I know, it's all so pleasant. It all feels like there's been so much attention to detail, every aspect of it is deliberate and in service of the overall vibe of the place. The meticulousness of it really pays off, and that's what really struck me this year, that when I felt like the line-up was quite weak on paper, I barely stopped watching bands when I was free, and had a consistently great time at pretty much all of them. Food was absolutely amazing as per, the Vegan Junk Food stall in Walled Garden was giving me life, I'll dream about those tofu buffalo wings until next year. Big up to the many kids of Green Man, who are all adorable and routinely brightened up my shift with their smol banter, also that curious small mammal I found ambling around the campsite (seriously tho what the hell was it? oddly shaped little bugger with no tail, sort of like a hedgehog with no spines). Best festival in the UK, I'm 100% back there for round 4 next year.

[dentalplan]

Great read neffew. Glad you saw a bat and came round to the ways of Polly Jean.

[Chawk]

Yeah great review Lawn. So good you managed to get there!

49 minutes ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

also that curious small mammal I found ambling around the campsite (seriously tho what the hell was it? oddly shaped little bugger with no tail, sort of like a hedgehog with no spines). Best festival in the UK, I'm 100% back there for round 4 next year.

A Shrew or Vole? They both have tails though. 

1 hour ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

Had to cut out of them a little bit early so I could get into Rough Trade for This Is The Kit. Was really gutted I missed her main sage set for my shift the day before so I was really happy to catch this. Only a handful of songs, but it really took me by surprise, I was amazed by it, felt like the floor was going to give way beneath me. I do like the record, but seeing these guys live was something else entirely, really wonderful. The playing and the harmonies were so incredible, I can't say enough good things about the show, if it'd been longer it would easily have been my favourite of the weekend. 

Be sure to check out Rozi Plain, she's the guitarist/backing singer when This Is The Kit plays with a band , and Kate is also in Rozi's most of the time as well.  Her latest 2 albums are great (need to finally go back to the first) and she has such an amazing vibe live! here they are from 2013

 

53 minutes ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

Best festival in the UK, I'm 100% back there for round 4 next year.

Yes! Same here. Getting early birds this year.

 

 

[Justiceforcedave]

First time.....I LOVED IT!

So many highlights but Lift To Experience, Aldous Harding, Ryan Adams and The Shins were some of the big ones. As a huge Ryan Adams fan I have to say it actually wasn't one of his best sets. His usually hilarious banter was missing and the actual set list was missing a lot of his more intimate material (which is where he really shines) ....that said it was my birthday, I was pissed and was with another super fan singing every single word to every single song at each other.

Lift to Experience were just incredible. Hadn't even heard of them before this thread so super happy to have seen them. What an incredible wall of sound created by three dudes.

I also ate SO much good food. Back next year without a doubt.

[Chawk]

Yeah, I left Lift to Experience early to look into watching Angel Olsen, and probably shouldn't have, I ended up watching the Norwegian guy on at Walled Garden. But Lift are the kind of band I love GM getting- they basically came over just for that gig and play a sub slot that they wouldn't get at almost any other festival, but then they really fill it and it seems meant to be!

[tjamest]

Did anyone see Laura Gibson?

 Heard her for the first time on Marc Riley last night and she sounded wonderful

[PresentlyTense]

1 hour ago, tjamest said:

Did anyone see Laura Gibson?

 Heard her for the first time on Marc Riley last night and she sounded wonderful

I missed her at Green Man because of the rain, but saw her in Manchester last night. She was superb.

[artbrut_architecture]

Top 6 for me were:

1. PJ Harvey.

Then in no particular order Kate Tempest, Sleaford Mods, DD Dumbo, Sunflower Bean and WH Lung who were brilliant and hopefully will transmit their live shows to a great debut record.

[tjamest]

17 minutes ago, PresentlyTense said:

I missed her at Green Man because of the rain, but saw her in Manchester last night. She was superb.

You lucky man. I'd never heard of her until yesterday, but will definitely seek her out next time she is over here. It was also interesting hearing a little bit about her backstory when she chatted to Marc on the radio.

[Taff83]

First time at green man and it did not disappoint! The best festival I've had the pleasure of attending. Everyone seemed to be genuinely having a great time. I thought the line up this year was a slow grower with the initial headliners being a bit of a disappointment. The following announcements and the great Spotify playlist helping us find some more bands to fill in those daytime gaps.

 Really impressed with British sea power and Michael Kiwanuka who I've heen a fan of for some time but never seen, the latter really stepped up to the plate to beef up his sound. Thee Oh Sees were out of this world amazing! Never took to them on record but oh my good god they are a great live band. Managed to catch a fair bit of the action on the smaller stages with Girl Ray and Gintis particularly impressing. Can't remember seeing a band have such a great fun as Gintis on stage and really have a great Gorkys vibe going on. They even had a trombone player, which is a plus in my book . Speaking of Gorky's vibes, Same could be said of Girl Ray who I was particularly looking forward to after release of their album. The singers joke about the stage being nice and warm compared to how we looked didn't go down too well but they soon won us back over. 

Great weekend all In with the weather holding out until Sunday over Conor oberst. Like someone else has mentioned...if The National/war on drugs/kurt vile play next year I'll be back 

 

Edited August 24, 2017 by Taff83

[beatlemania]

what a wonderful festival. my highlights were: shame, aldous harding, stevie parker and sleaford mods. kiwanuka was brilliant as well. 

[warriormonk]

Another first timer here.  Overall a fantastic festival and greatly enjoyed myself.  Loved it. Such a beautiful place. My mate had only been to Phoenix, T in the Park and Leeds before and was quite bewildered at first by how civilised and ...well...grown up it all was.   Plenty of space for everyone, but large enough crowd to create a good vibe.  Glad to hear there are no plans to ram more people in as I feel they've got the formula right here.    

The line-up was fantastic from the main stage to the smallest venue.  Some serendipitous discoveries were made and I came back with plenty of new stuff to listen to, which is a good thing as my Spotify playlist was getting rather stale. The site is nice and compact and it's easy to flit from stage to stage and get more bands in.  Food all good quality with some Glasto regulars like Grande Bouffe, Roaming Rotisserie. making an appearance.  No do-nuts though??  

Warning  - Churros in chocolate dip attracts Wasps in great numbers! I ended up running round that field like effin' Usain Bolt.  

Beer was good quality and I like the beer festival model. But pretty pricey by my parsimonious standards.  4.50 - 5.50 pint is thinning my wallet in super quick time.

Stand out acts for me this year  - PJ, Richard Dawson, Trembling Bells, Warm Digits, Liars and Nordic Giants for the animations.

Already planning my return next year and rounding up more of a posse!!  

[The60ftOctopus]

7 hours ago, warriormonk said:

Beer was good quality and I like the beer festival model. But pretty pricey by my parsimonious standards.  4.50 - 5.50 pint is thinning my wallet in super quick time.

My first time too and loved every second. Maybe someone can confirm but I believe the beer prices were increased by 50p this year?

[SteveFarsley]

I particularly enjoyed some talented shouty youngsters, Shame and The Dead Pretties. 

There were a couple of half-decent Krautrock bands, WH Lung & Warm Digits - not bad, but they're no Follakzoid.

Then there was the folk-infused Psych of Trembling Bells, Wolf People & Circulus. Trembling Bells were excellent, Wolf People okay and then there was Circulus who sounded like medieval folk with some added Moog. The Circulus ladies wore medieval costumes. It was frankly peculiar. It's a (hey-nonny-)no from me !

I saw a shedload of young ladies with guitars singing miserable, heartbreakingly sad songs: Jessica Pratt, Julie Byrne, Nadia Reid, Siobhan Wilson - fortunately I like that sort of thing. 

Saw PJ Harvey for old time's sake, but much prefer the stuff she did in the previous millennium.

Also enjoyed Oh Sees. Did anyone see what happened with security? Some lad who appeared to be clutching a large,wrapped-up painting pushed his way to the front and talked to the security. All of a sudden he jumped the barrier and the security jumped on him. Don't know if it was just some random wackjob or maybe just a big fan trying to get to the stage...?

Would have liked to check out Aldous Harding and maybe Liars. I avoided Kate Tempest & Future Islands like the plague. 

I actually enjoyed the fireworks. Usually I reckon if you've seen one lot of fireworks you've seen them all, but these were quite spectacular!