Nestled in the dramatic peaks of the Brecon Beacons, Green Man has become not only one of the UK’s best music festivals, but a rare success story in a year that has seen more than 50 of these events cancelled. One of only a few large independent music festivals in the UK, last year’s edition sold its 25,000 tickets in just four hours – this year’s instalment sold out in two.
Specialising in the weirder ends of folk, punk, indie and electronica, huge names like Big Thief, Sampha and Jon Hopkins are joined by a vast cast of international artists and emerging UK talent: the stages close enough to enable darting between clashing sets. The Babbling Tongues area hosts Q&As and stand-up by talent ranging from Stewart Lee to up-and-comers like Mikey Bligh-Smith (who once collaborated with main stage act Lynks on early track ‘Arts & London’). Family attractions include Einstein’s Garden, where children can learn about science with hands-on activities. Everything feels warm, unpretentious and well-executed: the harshest critics in this game are performers, and several I bump into claim to adore this festival as punters. The scenery is also stunning, with the rolling hills creating a series of natural amphitheatres – the largest of which affords a dramatic mountain view beyond the main stage.
Aptly titled the ‘Mountain Stage’, this is headlined on Friday by Jon Hopkins. Unfortunately, the delayed start – he goes on over half an hour late – tests the patience of the crowd and hurts his set. His career-spanning setlist, including tracks from 2013’s Immunity, 2018’s Singularity and recent track ‘Ritual (Palace)’, means shifting between his softer, more ethereal work and heavier beat-driven tracks – the awkward start leads the pacing to feel a bit stilted. Eventually it finds its way, with the crowd responding well to heavier moments and a dazzling light show.
Climbing the hill towards the huge tent over the Far Out stage, those punters are primed for a blistering DJ set by Sherelle. Moving at her signature breakneck speed, the mix of jungle, drum & bass and footwork lands well, including releases by artists like Tim Reaper from her Hooversound label. Technically bewildering as her sets are, she also feels attentive to the crowd: she grabs the mic during Luke Vibert’s ‘Bad Boy Acid’ to pay tribute to Adrian Sherwood, “the person that got me into DJing,” who is also in the audience.
On Saturday, the Mountain Stage is opened by Lynks: a fast-rising avant-pop artist permanently disguised by a series of Leigh Bowery-esque masked costumes. Joking about the set being “completely inappropriate for this time of day – there’s so many children here”, they plough on with debut album Abomination’s funny, gritty portrayals of anonymous sex. A brilliant entertainer, Lynks is a hit with the multi-generational audience. The big laughs won by older lines, including the description of straight clubs in early single ‘Str8 Acting’ as “a lot like a pub but with slightly less chairs,” indicate this is largely a crowd of newcomers. At the signing tent, Lynks is kept long after their slot by (according to staff) one of the weekend’s biggest queues.
For Lonnie Holley’s mid-afternoon set on that stage, the crowd is largely in deck chairs or sprawled directly on the grass in the sun, but the atmosphere is warm and appreciative. The 74-year-old’s soulful growl leads his band through a heavily improvised set, with shades of jazz, soul and experimental blues. His reflections on race, violence and environmentalism are stirringly hopeful, backed by euphoric instrumental swells, and take him to wild ideas. “Take all your plastic and melt it down into big old pieces of plastic, and blow them into big balloons – put them into the air and float somewhere,” he sings, chuckling with the audience. “I’ll create you a self-guided spaceship.”
Green Man admirably positions the emerging-talent-focused Rising Stage next to the Mountain Stage, so huge numbers wander over to that smaller stage the moment Holley is done. The act playing is Brighton experimental folk/punk group The New Eves, whose eery and urgent performance – built around group vocal harmonies and motorik drumming – is exceptional.
Back at the Far Out stage, Ibibio Sound Machine’s performance draws one of the tent’s biggest daytime crowds. Songs from latest album Pull The Rope sit well alongside fan-favourites like ‘Electricity’ and ‘Protection From Evil’. After an rendition of recent track ‘Fire’, Eno Williams is moved to tears by a clear minute of rolling applause.
The secret set at The Walled Garden comes from Porridge Radio, who have just announced new album Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me. Vocalist Dana Margolin’s performance is passionate and committed, with a slightly pained quality that is at times eerily reminiscent of Robert Smith. Their grit and character as a live band breathes new life into more sedate studio tracks like 2020’s ‘Good For You.’
Nadine Shah’s evening set at Far Out centres on recent career-best album Filthy Underneath, but opens with a rarely heard-cut from her 2013 debut Love Your Dum And Mad: the creeping, industrial-tinged ‘Aching Bones’. Bathed in red light, her performance is noirish, bold, but vulnerable: paying tribute to her “fucking class” mother, who had died that day in 2020, she is met by a huge, supportive applause. “I know some of you will have lost a loved one who was given an undignified death in that year,” she says calmly, “and I’m just sending you my love.”
Despite the enormous crowd for Mountain Stage headliners Big Thief, which guitarist Buck Meek calls the biggest they’ve played to, the focus on new material and simple lighting engenders an intimate, small-venue feeling. A new track following fan-favourite ‘Vampire Empire’ is a highlight, despite vocalist/guitarist Adrianne Lenker having to briefly cover for Meek during a technical issue. “It’s a little scary,” Lenker says of testing the new material on festival stages with limited soundcheck time. The crowd is on board though – silently attentive through the new material, and deafening in their applause between songs.
Sunday opens at the Far Out Stage with sax and drums duo O.. The physicality of their sound is astonishing, with Joe Henwood running his saxophone through both a guitar and bass amp. It lands well – suprising, given the early start – and they even get a clap going during ‘Green Shirt’.
Back on the Mountain Stage, Omar Souleyman’s set draws an enormous crowd, dancing joyously under the late-afternoon sun. Souleyman is difficult to read as usual, pacing the stage in his dark glasses and mechanically clapping his hands, but suddenly breaks character: his astonishingly dextrous synth player Hasan Jamo Alo slips him a phone which he uses to film the gigantic crowd, smiling contentedly.
As the sun sets on the Mountain Stage, Black Country, New Road’s set is marked by characteristically dazzling levels of musicianship. There is a fantastic rendition of ‘The Boy’ sung by keyboardist May Kershaw. Perhaps helped by Big Thief’s set, the crowd seem especially engaged in the band’s (extremely promising) previews of new material: hinting towards what may be their first proper studio album following the departure of founding vocalist Isaac Wood in 2022. A new song sung by bassist Tyler Cryde is filled with animated, complex melodicism and eccentric charm: “All I know and all I love,” she sings, “could fit into a little tiny box.” The grateful response to this material, once again, marks out the atmosphere at Green Man as special. When drummer Charlie Wayne declares this is “the best festival in the world,” the cheers of agreement are thunderous.
