Among the glut of British festivals that pitch up come summertime, there are few quite like Green Man. Established with a keen vision to champion local producers, performers and people; support broad charitable endeavours; and advocate for environmental sustainability, Green Man punches well above its weight within the crowded festival market. It also has one of the country’s finest lineups for burgeoning new talent.
Thursday evening’s unveilings were a game of two halves for team So Young. A post-pitch stop off at the stunning Walled Garden where a majority of this weekend’s highlights would be nestled brought us an introduction to Wales’ Tristwch Y Fenywod. Warbling Welsh language avant-folk with a keen nod to early Animal Collective records, the trio are dark, woodsy and unsettling – something the crowd don’t seem quite ready for but a standout for Green Man’s more experimental leanings. The other half was delivered in the form of Kneecap.
Kneecap
‘Are we ready for a fucking mad one?’ The crowd is deafening and swelling as mosh pits swallow punters like sinkholes amidst eye-watering bass, skittering trap beats and a world dominating stage presence from the West Belfast trio. While Kneecap are continuously axed from European festivals, their defiant dedication to republicanism, solidarity and a free Palestine echo across the undulating hills of the Brecon Beacons this Thursday evening. On record, I personally find them a tad campy but here in the flesh, among a sea of Palestine flags, tricolour ballies and shouts of ‘tiocfaidh ár lá’ they are dynamic and poignant in equal measure.
Come Friday morning, yesterday’s mountain mist has dissipated and the valley is now swelling with heat. Despite such conditions an early start is paramount, as Green Man Rising winners, wing! open Friday’s Mountain stage. The London trio’s soaring ambience beneath Crug Hywel is healing and moving in seismic proportions. Jazz-tipped drums and dubby bass morph over stuttering samples while measured post-rock flourishes deliver a powerful yet heartwrenching spectacle of contemporary trip-hop. The band throughout are beaming – gracious to the other bands they competed with and so eternally thankful to have this opportunity. An act in ascension – wing! are without a doubt one of the most exciting prospects playing at the moment.
wing!
Sex Week
A short stop off at the Walled Garden for Robin Kester’s dreamy indie rock is next on the list before heading back to the Far Out tent for Horse Jumper of Love. Intimate, murky slowcore-infused emo, the Boston threepiece match the heat of the tent. Scuzzy and cathartic and built for Big Muff distortion, this set is made for those who love melancholy TikTok edits.
After an attempt at catching Silver Gore’s early afternoon set at the Round the Twist tent is thwarted by technical issues, a short downhill walk for Sex Week is our next goal. The Brooklyn duo are dark and sultry, providing emotive dream pop with chorus-heavy guitar strikes and drum machine accompaniment. Their feline-focused 2023 single ‘Toad Mode’ is a particular highlight, elevating its lo-fi origin into something dense and weighty under the mid-afternoon sun.
oreglo
An accidental detour to the Rising stage had to be done after hearing the sub-weight/noise-rock fusion cacophony of Oreglo coming over the hill. Grimey tuba bass backed up a surprising post-punk core, inducing stank faces and headbangs in equal measure. Stellar musicianship with interesting time bending metres, dubby moments and a rapt audience made this one of the most pleasantly surprising sets of the weekend.
Following the false start for Silver Gore earlier, I was determined to catch their Rising performance but had an ounce of time in my pocket prior. A return to Far Out and the Walled Garden for a back to back masterclass of MIKE’s psychedelic and tumbling hip hop before Naima Bock’s tastefully detailed and touching folk rock was the perfect pairing before the hype of Silver Gore took hold.
Silver Gore
A sizable crowd had made their way to the Rising stage with the excitement around Silver Gore being palpable among indie heads across the country. Few were left wondering of their majesty, as tight, sublimely crafted baroque pop was the course of action. Intricate arrangements and an incredible synergy throughout the band would lead you to assume Silver Gore are a road-worn festival staple, not a fresh and entirely exciting group on the up with just one single released. Without a doubt, a band brimming with potential doing so much with so little.
A sonic morphing was due following our stint by the smaller stages, with Panda Bear emerging as one of the festival’s utterly unmissable moments at the Far Out tent. Minimalist and stripped back psych rock interpretations of older material with a few Animal Collective moments dropped in as well combined effortlessly with the uplifting swells of this year’s ‘Sinister Grift’ tracks. Intense thunderings of synths married with angelic vocal theatrics providing a psych pop masterclass of tectonic proportions.
Adult DVD
From here on, we are uplifted and Friday is for dancing. The close of the day was built around Leeds’ Adult DVD and their cacophonous set to close the Rising stage. Thunderous synth-punk beauty of oscillating nonsense, little more could be asked for and for that we are blessed going into Saturday.
Saturday is almost certainly one of the most stacked festival lineups I have had the pleasure of experiencing. From folk to punk to post-rock to hip-hop, Green Man’s Saturday curation was stuff of legend and energy is to be mustered to ensure we squeeze as much out of the day as possible. With this, a lighter start seems appropriate so we head over to the Mountain stage for Boss Morris’s joyful contemporary Morris dancing ahead of our first visit of the day to the Rising stage for Sarah Meth. On stage she is stirring yet confessional, conveying tender lyrics about forlorn love and loss while intimate guitars provide a warming base. Bromance is Dead is a particular highlight within a deeply affecting and tearjerking set.
A return to the Mountain stage at midday saw a large crowd gathered for the Broadside Hacks tribute to Bob Dylan featuring Spitzer Space Telescope, Clara Mann and Nina Winder-Lind leading a cohort of musicians interpreting the folk titan’s back catalogue. Split into two halves, Spitzer and Clara balance Dylan’s early material while Nina’s band translates his later electric work. The first half of the set is delivered with poise, majesty and range, mightily engaging the audience with a delicate version of ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ and a rousing rendition of ‘With God on our Side’. While the amplified second half has the audience singing and partying aloud, the presentation is somewhat sloppy and awkward despite being full of vim and vigour.
Truthpaste
RIP Magic
Next stop is back to the Rising for a combo of Manchester’s Truthpaste followed by one of the most hyped sets of the weekend, RIP Magic. Truthpaste are a magical lift for the early afternoon offering intricately arranged chamber pop of flowing guitar, light-hearted samples and powerful group vocals. While the similarities to Black Country, New Road are clear, Truthpaste go a tad further, swapping sincerity for playfulness – their music ideal for the soundtrack to a fictional video game about the English countryside. RIP Magic on the other hand are fierce, lumbering and unequivocally massive. Powerful bass is matched with thudding and pulsing electronics sampled from the weirder corners of the internet while an insouciant slacker frontman provides big loose dancing. A joy and a revelation.
The next combo of groups is based in the comfort of the Walled Garden. London’s mark william lewis is a tall and spectral figure on stage providing a pensive, cooling and jam heavy set. Following him though is one of the utter highlights of the festival in the form of New York’s YHWH Nailgun. Straight out the blocks they are animalesque and wild with machine gun samples, groaning beastly guitars and hyperactive drums. To lock into a time signature is a myth and why would you want that when the music coming at you is tribal and guttural like few other things in this life. There is no crowd interaction whatsoever, just percussive mouth noises from Zack Borzone who lurches across the stage, aping the lumbering mosh a few metres in front. The crowd are completely within their hands and YHWH Nailgun are supreme in their domination of Saturday’s lineup. Without question, one of the finest live bands in the world right now and the shape of punk to come.
mark william lewis
YHWH Nailgun
A trip over to see Westside Cowboy at the Rising stage is the next port of call for our team and on arrival we are met with one of the biggest crowds this stage has seen. The hype of their recent festival shows and releases has clearly spread well and the group are energetic and surprisingly poppy. While a lot of contemporary indie-rock is stale, Westside Cowboy are vigorous and sharp, standing high above their generic peers.
Following this is a sublime close to the day at the Walled Garden once more where Daisy Rickman plays before caroline. Daisy has brought a huge band up from the west country, supplying deep and droney psych folk with her dreamy baritone voice resting atop. A more psych rock approach is notable in the arrangements here and with great results, providing the lift of synths and saxophones without being overbearing. To see Daisy Rickman’s development in the past few years is to see an artist at the vanguard of her genre and her performance at Green Man is no exception.
Westside Cowboy
Similar mastery follows with caroline presenting an absolutely spellbinding performance as the sun sets on Saturday. A colossal ensemble of mature and free post-rock, delicate and perfectly arranged despite notable onstage monitoring issues. In this performance, caroline portray a pensive and sensitive take on a genre that has become dominant by the murky crescendoslop of heavier groups. Here they are artistry in motion and triumphant in delivery.
Closing moments for the day are once more of contrast. Black Fondu’s Rising finale is sparkly, glitchy and manic with a drilling low end and perpetual screaming – just a shame the set was so short. For something completely different, to see the intimate wailing of Richard Dawson headline the Walled Garden was to witness one of the country’s most underrated and progressive artists dance across his entire catalogue. A perfect day.
The final run of Green Man is upon us come Sunday morning and after Saturday’s onslaught of floating from stage to stage, a restrained approach is welcome. Natalie Wildgoose and Aga Ujma are certainly ones to provide such solace on the Rising stage, with Wildgoose sharing delicately melancholy and timelessly crafted piano music before Ujma’s mystical and puckish dancing harpwork and whistle register voice. Imagine if you crossed Björk with Joanna Newsom – one of the finest vocal talents currently performing.
Upchuck
Folk Bitch Trio
While it is inviting to luxuriate in the beauty of the Rising stage, further quality is to be sought out. Upchuck are tearing up the Far Out tent as I arrive, full of hardcore spit and vinegar but with a notable almost stoner-metal bass tone which was very welcome. Succeeding them came the idiosyncratic songcraft of Mica Levi’s Good Sad Happy Bad, jumping from contemplative slowcore and indie rock to mystical shoegaze and wholesome pop. Very distinct, perpetually on the move and a great mindbender for the final hours of the weekend.
While the weekend pressed on, so did the sun and liberal amounts of suncream were consumed across the festival, especially so by Melbourne’s Folk Bitch Trio who drew the weekend’s biggest crowd to the Walled Garden. As stewards prevented revellers from entering, the trio shared how they were surprised their hottest ever gig is taking place in the Welsh countryside, referencing Australia’s public health call for suncream: ‘slip, slop, slap’. Post lathering, the girls are lush and healing, opening with an a cappella rendition of Talking Heads’ ‘This Must Be the Place’ before dancing through a set of moving harmonies and homely love songs.
The clock is soon to run out at this point and it’s imperative to make it to the burning of the Green Man at midnight. Getdown Services have completely destroyed the Round the Twist tent in a secret set and the sun is beginning to dip as Been Stellar emerge with their soaring take on emo-inflected indie rock. As the mood is starting to cool, Ireland’s Cruel Sister arrives in a bluster of vintage GAA jerseys and teeth-grinding noise to utter joy. An incredibly cleansing and loud set with energy and power, somewhat let down by over-excited drums.
Been Stellar
Cruel Sister
At this point the sun is over the mountain and we are down to our final few acts of the weekend. Beth Gibbons dominates the Mountain stage with a mesmerising, bleak and cinematic showcase of her solo work with Portishead faves ‘Roads’ and ‘Glory Box’ peppered in for good measure, before hyped post-trip-hop trio Pearl2 bestow their fresh take on the baggy and groove laden electronics of the late 80s. The final highlight though comes in the form of local post-punkers MORN who close the Rising stage.
‘I think this is the best day of my life’ shares vocalist Robert Riba as they tear into one of the most snappy performances of the weekend with a blinding energy so bright they could light up the entirety of the Brecon Beacons. Sharp as a tack and jolty, there is not a boring moment here. Incredibly cathartic guitar writing is paired with interesting metre switches and an absolute battery of a drummer. The set is as pained and angsty as it is blistering, with heartbreak and loss at the core of the group’s electricity which rips open the biggest pit of the festival outside of Kneecap’s opening moments.
MORN
As the set draws to an end and the dust floats across the stage, Oliver Riba approaches the mic and asks if we have placed our wishes into the Green Man. Across the weekend it is customary for revellers to approach the Green Man and write down their wishes which will burn within the colossal figure to signify the close of the festival. Riba holsters his guitar before revealing that the previous year MORN collectively wished they would be able to play this festival, placing that desire into the Green Man. From this set and the majesty of this entire weekend, it’s clear that wishes can come true. My only wish is that this festival never ceases to falter in its authentic approach to championing the best in new musical talent. Green Man is without a doubt, one of the finest festivals in the world.
All photos by Anna Delf
Issue Fifty-Seven of So Young is out now. Purchase a copy in print here. Subscribe (and get our April issue free) here. Read the digital edition below.