Green Man 2024

[Mambonumberfive]

9 minutes ago, bexj said:

Incredible weekend, no issues getting in or leaving, new rising stage was just fabulous, new matting in far out was better, food was fab, I didn't go in Wishbone but friends said it was fab.  Great people, great campsite. 

 

Music-wise, I saw around 30 bands, stand outs were Das Koolies, Beak>, Loose Articles, Bdrmm, The Nightingales, Mermaid Chunky.  And best of all was OSees who blew my mind and broke my feet from dancing so hard, absolutely superb! 

 

Negatives, toilets never used to be this bad at Green Man, not emptied frequently enough, the steep steps are horrible and they are so dark inside. I don't mind composters but this supplier is not good. 

Unpopular opinion maybe, but I think I'm done with the fireworks and burning.  Far too many folk crammed into a small space, ruins Far Out on Sunday, and an environmental nightmare.  

 

We'll be back though, hopefully next year! 

 

 

 

Totally agree on toilets - horrible in the day and dangerous at night. They were pretty good at keeping stacked with loo roll though. Although, was it me or were some the rolls huge! I’m not particularly large but I was having to duck and lean to avoid getting knocked off me perch!

[Long Season]

Fat whites were best for me by far, proper impressive live and a sick setlist.

 

Omar Souleyman, Devendra Banhart, Mary Wallopers and Ibibio Sound Machine set were some other highlights for me. Unreal festival, will be back for sure. Really friendly crowd & beautiful place :~)

 

Getting a few QOTSA tunes from Jjuujjuu was a nice treat, Byrnes night was a bit too quiet but PVA's set sorted us right out afterwards, and Beak were amazing as always and nice to meet Geoff and Billy on the Saturday. 

[Cherrytree13]

2 hours ago, Mambonumberfive said:

Not long back, showered and most stuff away

First thoughts: 

Great time. Probably not my top GM experience ever but I think I’ve been looking forward to it for so long, nothing would live up to expectations.

 

On Thursday, met with old friends I hadn’t seen for several years, so that was a good start.

 

Personal highlights:

This is the kit, Big Thief, Shelf Lives, Fat White Family, Liz Lawrence, Rachel Lavelle and Black Country New Road, Fabiana Palladino up on Round the Twist and John Francis Flynn with probably one of my favourite sets of all time. 

 

General festival bits. Wow it seemed busy this year. I’ve been going for ten years now and maybe I’ve been lucky, but this year was the first year I’ve had to queue for more than ten minutes to get through wristbands and 30 mins to get off site this morning. The general camping is getting uncomfortable and queues for food particularly Saturday and Sunday were a real pain. Saturday I just gave up in the end and got chips from the Chippy. 

 

On the positive: Love what they have done with Rising Stage and the Wishbone stage is ace. I thought the beer selection was even better than ever, and sounds like they listened to the minor gripes about security as they were really low key (again) this year. And the stewards as ever were fabulous, happy and helpful, as were all staff.

 

Oh yes final gripe to the b@#t@ds who stole my fold-up chair on Sunday, when I was getting a drink. I hope wherever you picnic this year it pisses on you. I did ask if they would put an announcement out for it but they wouldn’t. Chairs don’t seem to matter as much as lost children apparently. 

I actually found the opposite regarding crowdedness, but think we were lucky. I guess doing settlers skewed my perspective as we arrived on the Tuesday. Loads of space there even arriving a day later than most and of course queues non existent. Didn’t queue for food for long at all and the stages didn’t seem particularly packed this year… both far out and main stage crowds seemed pretty thin for the final acts last night?
 

Had a great time. Hard with a toddler in tow but still very much worth it. Will surely be back again next year. 

[OddRon]

Anyone else notice really bad noise bleed during bcnr? Think it was coming from Far Out tent but it was very distracting during quieter songs. 
 

Loved how they doubled down on the offerings of the “secret” drag bar this year, we spent Thursday and Friday there and had a blast. It was the sort of thing that I felt was missing at Green Man’s post-headline options. 

[Mambonumberfive]

40 minutes ago, Cherrytree13 said:

I actually found the opposite regarding crowdedness, but think we were lucky. I guess doing settlers skewed my perspective as we arrived on the Tuesday. Loads of space there even arriving a day later than most and of course queues non existent. Didn’t queue for food for long at all and the stages didn’t seem particularly packed this year… both far out and main stage crowds seemed pretty thin for the final acts last night?
 

Had a great time. Hard with a toddler in tow but still very much worth it. Will surely be back again next year. 

Yes totally agree about the stages, particularly Sunday. I guess with the food I must just make poor decisions. Timing is everything etc. on a plus my favourite food place, the deli behind the walled garden hardly ever had a queue, great place with lovely volunteer staff.
 

Make the most of taking your toddler to festivals etc. You’ll have great memories. I still rate the festivals I did with my kids way above the ones I’ve done since they’ve grown and flown and the arguments over suncream and dodgy food choices are now topics I regularly embarrass them about in front of friends! 

[Mambonumberfive]

31 minutes ago, OddRon said:

Anyone else notice really bad noise bleed during bcnr? Think it was coming from Far Out tent but it was very distracting during quieter songs. 
 

Loved how they doubled down on the offerings of the “secret” drag bar this year, we spent Thursday and Friday there and had a blast. It was the sort of thing that I felt was missing at Green Man’s post-headline options. 

Not so much BCNR, although the one or two d*ck heads in the crowd shouting got on my nerves a bit. There was the usual bleed in the walled garden, annoying but more tolerable than the talkers. 

[Salopian]

Second time at Green Man (went in 2022) with a toddler and a pregnant other half (I did tell her to wait until after the festival 😂).

 

Had a great time again. Highlights for me were Ibibio Sound Machine and Ezra Collective - but also loved a few of the things we found in Chai Wallahs - the folk ensemble last night were fantastic. On Ibibio Sound Machine, I've seen them the last three summers now (twice as a support act and now at Green Man) and I really can't understand how they are not a much bigger band in the mainstream. Although they were brilliant - was gutted that they overdid their soundcheck by 15 minutes and ended up having to cut at least 2 songs - especially as it was such a good atmosphere. Whilst trying to get a toddler asleep I also listened to most of Big Special's set and they sounded great so will be looking into them a bit more. Loads of other highlights.

 

Frustratingly, I'm desperate to get some friends with kids to come one year so I can fully indulge in the late night options by splitting some childcare  - but I did venture out for Byrne's night for a while and when I was there it was absolutely rammed and great fun. Would have loved to have checked out Wishbone as well as everyone I spoke to said it was great.

 

Only downside for me was the food - particularly the price of it. Fully aware that the prices at Green Man will be comparable to other festivals - but even since 2022 the price of a festival meal seems to have rocketed. I took quite a bit of food with me anyway, but next time I'll probably try to make sure I've got the whole weekend covered 😂.

 

Great vibe and other than the toilets, such a well run festival. Drove straight in at 9.30 on Thurs and out very quickly today at lunchtime. We camped in quiet camping which I assumed would be rammed given its closer to car park but plenty of space. Despite having a pushchair on both my visits to Green Man (so perhaps a hypocrite) I didn't find the trolleys anywhere near as annoying as 2022 - felt like there well loads more in the kids area this year, but people seemed much more considerate with them this year!

 

Might take a year off again with a baby and a toddler but will be back again for sure. (Although the line up didn't really suit us this year so we're convinced next will be epic if we decide not to go 🤦‍♂️😂)

 

 

Edited August 19 by Salopian

[theciderviking]

First time at GM, and I think I’ve found a new favourite festival! 🥰

 

Incredible vibe, such a beautiful setting, discovered so much new music and just genuinely felt at home and at peace throughout. ❤️

 

[Stillill42]

12 hours ago, theciderviking said:

First time at GM, and I think I’ve found a new favourite festival! 🥰

 

Incredible vibe, such a beautiful setting, discovered so much new music and just genuinely felt at home and at peace throughout. ❤️

 

Ah brilliant pics buddy!!

[Chazwozza]

I loved the entire package that is Green Man!  One thing though - it may be advancing age but I get frustrated with the wayt that the sound desk people crank up the bass to such a level that it pretty much swamps out the vocals and melody.  Is it just me, or is this actually a thing for others?

 

Listening to the GM24 playlist at home right now and most of the acts sound so much better with the bass at normal levels....

[dpfp]

5 minutes ago, Chazwozza said:

I loved the entire package that is Green Man!  One thing though - it may be advancing age but I get frustrated with the wayt that the sound desk people crank up the bass to such a level that it pretty much swamps out the vocals and melody.  Is it just me, or is this actually a thing for others?

 

Listening to the GM24 playlist at home right now and most of the acts sound so much better with the bass at normal levels....

I didn't overly notice it for some bands,  but  I definitely did for Fabiana Palladino (who was otherwise brilliant), in the Walled Garden. The bass was very low end and just didn't sound right.  Admittedly the bass for the album was recorded by Pino Palladino so was always going to be hard for another player to replicate,  but turning it down in the mix would have helped a ton. Also I was at the front so maybe it makes a difference where you are? Perhaps it sounds better from beside or behind the sound desk

Edited August 20 by dpfp
Typo correction

[Mambonumberfive]

1 minute ago, dpfp said:

I didn't overly notice it for some bands,  but  I definitely did for Fabiana Palladino (who was otherwise brilliant). The bass was very low end and didn't sound right.  Admittedly the bass for the album was recorded by Pino Palladino so was always going to be hard for another player to replicate,  but turning it down in the mix would have helped a ton. Also I was at the front so maybe it makes a difference where you are? Perhaps it sounds better from beside or behind the sound desk

I saw Fabiana do her session at round the twist as I knew I was doing something else for her walled garden set. I thought she and the band sounded excellent. I’m definitely getting the album.
 

The walled garden is my favourite stage but sound has always been a bit hit or miss depending on where I’ve stood. Personally I thought they nailed it this year - I saw Tubs on Thursday and Hot Wax on Friday from the front rails and although the latter were louder and faster than their stuff on Spotify I was impressed with the sound and equally I watched Rachel Lavelle and then John Francis Flynn from near the sound deck on Sunday with a total different sound to HW and again thought the quality was pretty spot on. 

[AtomsForPizza]

Had high hopes going into my first Green Man but it managed to exceed them. Beautiful setting, nice crowd, well organised, really easy to get around and good late night options. Hard to compare retrospectively but it felt louder than a lot of other festivals too – especially in Far Out.

 

Liz Lawrence was a great start to proceedings on Thurs (though I couldn’t see her anywhere?!). Ezra Collective, Getdown Services and Royel Otis really fun/good vibes. Bdrmm and Hotline TNT really good. Big Thief, BC,NR, Blondshell and Mount Kimbie all great too – really enjoyed King Krule coming out with MK.

 

Only minor gripes I would have are the sound bleed into Babbling Tongues from Walled Garden/Babbling Tongues in general being too quiet. Also as others have noted compost loos being full on Monday morning.

 

Getting the National Express coach was pretty seamless. Did only get us to Leeds at 20:00 last night (having left at 13:00) – but that was mainly to do with traffic that I guess we would have been in if we’d driven.

 

Pretty sure I saw Katy J Pearson chilling at the Mountain Stage one day. Also saw one of W.H. Lung wandering around. Can imagine both of those being booked next year seeing as they both have new albums coming.

 

Didn’t realise diabolos were back in with the kids. Also – to steal from one of the comedians – bit rude of all the toddlers to listen to their own music on headphones all day!

 

Also didn’t realise until reading this thread that some bands play Round the Twist during the day – will have to look out for that if/when I hopefully return!

[Stillill42]

One thing folks, and I don't want to annoy long term attendees here. The Walled Garden is a gorgeous spot and I loved sitting in the sun there for early morning loveliness with Marta del Grandi and Ellie O Neill. However, when it starts to get busy and there's a constant stream of people from both side doorways, it becomes a nightmare to negotiate with people sitting everywhere. I'd have some sort of designated pathway running through it.

[Mambonumberfive]

30 minutes ago, Stillill42 said:

One thing folks, and I don't want to annoy long term attendees here. The Walled Garden is a gorgeous spot and I loved sitting in the sun there for early morning loveliness with Marta del Grandi and Ellie O Neill. However, when it starts to get busy and there's a constant stream of people from both side doorways, it becomes a nightmare to negotiate with people sitting everywhere. I'd have some sort of designated pathway running through it.

I totally agree, love Walled Garden especially for those first of the day sets. Not sure how they can resolve the path through issue though unless they have the sides as exits only. At least they have removed the food outlet from near the front of stage on the left, that was a mad idea! 

[Stillill42]

It was one of the joys of the festival for me, the huge amount of beautiful spaces to sit your arse down and relax. It's a problem though if people feel it's cool to lay out a picnic rug ANYWHERE. I nearly died when I all but tripped over a little girl on a rug in the blackness of Far Way towards the front before the Jesus and Mary Chain. I mean that's dangerous sh*t. And it can be a nightmare manoeuvring you way into Far Away on the Sunday in the sun through the army of picnickers parked around the, and up to, the entrance. No offence obviously to anyone who likes a sit down, just a bit of an issue when it's crowded.

[modefan]

57 minutes ago, Stillill42 said:

One thing folks, and I don't want to annoy long term attendees here. The Walled Garden is a gorgeous spot and I loved sitting in the sun there for early morning loveliness with Marta del Grandi and Ellie O Neill. However, when it starts to get busy and there's a constant stream of people from both side doorways, it becomes a nightmare to negotiate with people sitting everywhere. I'd have some sort of designated pathway running through it.

 

Didn't find Walled Garden too bad. I would ban people sitting by Far Out on Sunday. They crowd into a small area and there just isn't enough space due to the massive closed area. Makes getting in and out tricky and I'd go as far to say its a safety risk when Far Out is quite full.

[Stillill42]

It was one of the joys of the festival for me, the huge amount of beautiful spaces to sit your arse down and relax. It's a problem though if people feel it's cool to lay out a picnic rug ANYWHERE. I nearly died when I all but tripped over a little girl on a rug in the blackness of Far Way towards the front before the Jesus and Mary Chain. I mean that's dangerous sh*t. And it can be a nightmare manoeuvring you way into Far Away on the Sunday in the sun through the army of picnickers parked around the, and up to, the entrance. No offence obviously to anyone who likes a sit down, just a bit of an issue when it's crowded.

[Stillill42]

2 hours ago, Stillill42 said:

It was one of the joys of the festival for me, the huge amount of beautiful spaces to sit your arse down and relax. It's a problem though if people feel it's cool to lay out a picnic rug ANYWHERE. I nearly died when I all but tripped over a little girl on a rug in the blackness of Far Way towards the front before the Jesus and Mary Chain. I mean that's dangerous sh*t. And it can be a nightmare manoeuvring you way into Far Away on the Sunday in the sun through the army of picnickers parked around the, and up to, the entrance. No offence obviously to anyone who likes a sit down, just a bit of an issue when it's crowded.

Sorry folks, not sure what happened there. Can't delete OR edit it seems.

[rseamer]

A brilliant festival - pretty much agree with what everyone has posted here. My only slight negative was that the toilets could have been improved as others have said.

 

Musical highlights

 

Ezra Collective

MRCY

Getdown Services (hilarious)

Ibibio Sound Machine 

 

Did Settlers for the first time - a very nice way to ease into the festival.

 

Interesting to note that for years bands standard political line at festivals has been “F*ck the Tories” and now they aren’t in government.its become ‘Free Palestine’. Also on a politics note  was a bit confused by Lambrinni Girls who I’m sure I heard saying our government was ‘far right’?

 

Really liked the new Riding Stage (pictured below). A big improvement on the old one. 

 

Jon Hopkins starting late and not having his full visuals was a shame. I saw them testing the big screen that was meant to be behind him the night before and it looked amazing - I wonder what happened on the night that they were unable to use it?

 

 

 

 

[modefan]

2 hours ago, rseamer said:

Interesting to note that for years bands standard political line at festivals has been “F*ck the Tories” and now they aren’t in government.its become ‘Free Palestine’. Also on a politics note  was a bit confused by Lambrinni Girls who I’m sure I heard saying our government was ‘far right’?

You heard correctly. They are big Corbyn supporters and hate Starmer. A pre-election version in Ipswich said Labour and the Tories are all the same and “f**k Keir Starmer”. 
 

It’s a shame we didn’t get the extended “Prince Andrew is a sweaty nonce” chant.

[Mambonumberfive]

1 hour ago, modefan said:

You heard correctly. They are big Corbyn supporters and hate Starmer. A pre-election version in Ipswich said Labour and the Tories are all the same and “f**k Keir Starmer”. 
 

It’s a shame we didn’t get the extended “Prince Andrew is a sweaty nonce” chant.

I thought the LG were very entertaining but wonder how their views as stated above stacks with the the theory that the more left wing your aspirations are the more right wing you become. With regards the tolerance of the views of others of course, not sweaty nonces.
 

On a slightly less contentious note did anyone have any good food finds this year? I came away feeling pretty underwhelmed with the choices I’d made and a vow to ‘must do better’ next year. Anyone have really good meals (or really bad ones)?

[_Tommy_]

My big review:

Thursday: I came away from the opening Liz Lawrence gig actually angry. Angry that she isn't a superstar (she had the rock'n'roll coat though) because she was fantastic. Thought Sheer Mag were then good fun and nipped down to Tubs which probably had the funniest moment of the festival when the Scottish drummer seemingly tried to 'offer someone out' in the crowd stating he was "cuckoo mate". Brilliant. Finished with Sleaford Mods which as ever were a whirlwind of anger and class distain both things I do enjoy in my acts. Weather held off the worst, A+ day for me.

Friday: Started my day with Humane the Moon on rising which really surprised me (I only went based on one song), and thought they were fantastic. Front man had particular Grian Chatten vibes and was lovely to happen to be standing very close to his Dad when he pointed him out, visibly proud as punch (and apparently an attendee since 2009). Moved on to Lime Garden and having seen them previously on Rising, was glad to see them moving up, but came away angry again (see previous Liz Lawrence comment), they have tunes. Got to my first session in Round the Twist to catch Personal Trainer due to a clash later and had the most fun anyone can pack into three songs - such a good idea to get that out the vinyl tent to somewhere a bit more accessible. Saw Arlo Parks which wasn't my first choice but she was outstanding, thought I was getting a very low-fi set but she has gears for festivals. Ended the day up at Chai Wallahs which wasn't intended but Jon Hopkins lost out as Michael Sebastian & Friends were hosting a dance party we couldn't leave and then Kaptain Barrat (DJ) just kept the tunes spinning. Did nip into Sherelle for 10 mins to see how "hardcore DnB" would move me, it didn't but the energy in the crowd was great. A++ day for me.

Saturday: Lynks. I'm late-ish 30s, went down near the front as nothing else to do and bought the average of the crowd up - the kids loved them, great energy down there! Enjoyed the charisma, fun, jokes, and the beats to be fair given not my usual cup of tea. Ibibio Sound Machine were late (boo) but made up for it with just the best atmosphere being created and non-stop dancing, they seemed truly touched by the reaction which was great to see. Had a bit of Friendly Fire Band in Chai Wallahs (it's a tradition, they are there every year seemingly) who were again very fun, then had a comedy night. Kiri Pritchard-McClean and Stewart Lee back to back, never seen the tent so full, spent most of it sitting on floor despite being early but Stewart Lee is a genius, pure genius (Kiri is very good too, hilariously vulgar). Floated around after, caught a bit of Nabihah Iqbal (very sweet and nice vibes) and ended up with Max Cooper, ending with Prodigy ringing in my head for the walk back to the tent. A+ day. 

Sunday: Well, well, well, what do you need to squeeze out the last bit of energy a few days in? A run of Lambrini Girls (what energy, loved it), The Mysterines and Royel Otis was top tier. I would say I thought the Mysterines while good were the only act *all weekend* that let me down on the 'it's just another gig for them' -ometer. They didn't offer much but sonically were fine if you like you middle of the road indie (which I'm partial to) but lacked energy somewhat. Royel Otis on the other hand, they have two monsters (Sofa King and Oysters in my pocket) which when blended with two massive sing alongs (Murder on the DanceFloor and Linger) was irresistible. They know how to work the crowd and the vocals were outstanding. Finished up with Ezra Collective who just gave a masterclass in musicianship and crowd-control. Everyone was jiving away and then the super-blood moon appearing over the mountain bar just made the atmosphere special...which brings me on to my festival closer: Big Special. That was something, that's a band going places and it was an honour to catch them on the way up. Blew me away. A++++++ day

 

Musically the best festival I've ever been to. Hands down. 

 

Otherwise some general observations:

The Far Out tent was the loudest place on earth, the bass during Lambrini Girls literally made my hat almost lift off my head. Saw more people than ever wearing ear plugs in there and think I might be joining in future. Ears still don't feel right today, however overall sound was so much better than previous years, especially the new rising stage which is an upgrade for the ages. 

The bars were notably quieter than previous years from what I saw. More people than ever taking advantage of the somewhat lax alcohol policy (not surprising at £7 a pint). It's a sweet spot for the festival currently but I bet it hurt economically this year, I foresee some tightening up on that front. Beware. 

Food choices seemed down, I actually ate at the same place twice which has never happened there before. Was all great food though. 

On food, cost of living was tough to take. £11 for four tiny dumplings from the Tibetan place was a low point (as lovely as they were) but something has got to give on that front. I suspect the festival/trader carnage isn't over yet. 

 

 

[Mambonumberfive]

3 minutes ago, _Tommy_ said:

Thursday: I came away from the opening Liz Lawrence gig actually angry. Angry that she isn't a superstar (she had the rock'n'roll coat though) because she was fantastic

Totally agree on both points - great performance and wot a coat! She looked like the love child of Orinoco Womble and Laurie Anderson (who would be great at GM)

[sscrybaby]

48 minutes ago, Mambonumberfive said:

I thought the LG were very entertaining but wonder how their views as stated above stacks with the the theory that the more left wing your aspirations are the more right wing you become. With regards the tolerance of the views of others of course, not sweaty nonces.
 

On a slightly less contentious note did anyone have any good food finds this year? I came away feeling pretty underwhelmed with the choices I’d made and a vow to ‘must do better’ next year. Anyone have really good meals (or really bad ones)?

 

Masala Dosa with onion bhaji was the best meal I had (for both taste and value). Falafel pitta (by mountain stage entrance) was underwhelming- had a nice mozzarella wrap from a nearby mozzarella place. 

 

Music- loved Michael Head, Sheer Mag, Lonnie Holley, Personal Trainer and Ezra Collective! Would have liked to have seen more but my two pre-schoolers got in the way of that! We all had a brilliant time though- still buzzing!