Festival Review: Green Man Festival - August 2021
Painfully apart for two long years thanks to the horrors of the pandemic, last weekend we returned to the rolling Welsh mountains for another glorious Green Man Festival.
In its 19th year, Green Man has long established itself as one of the most loved, most welcoming festivals in the UK. Totally independent of any corporate influence year on year, Green Man has managed to maintain the perfect balance between family-friendly relaxation and late-night free-spirited wildness. With a great love for its own heritage, the festival proudly showcases many rising Welsh artists, as well as -usually- an astounding array of international talent, although sadly that access has been limited this year thanks to the big C and the big B. But with a whole other year of new music to catch up on it was no struggle to jam-pack the lineup with amazing artists from a little closer to home. Green Man is a pure music-lover's paradise and this year was no exception.
Thursday nights can be a bit hit-and-miss at a festival, not wanting to pull out the big guns too early, but clearly the organisers had great acts coming out of their ears this year. Starting the celebrations even earlier in the day than usual, Wet Leg pulled in an impressively large crowd as they prove themselves worthy of being one of the most hyped new bands of the year. Still having only released one single, the Isle of Wight group have such an endearing stage presence, beaming at one another in disbelief of the response from the crowd. After a year and a half of sparse live music and no festivals, being back in a field witnessing moments like this again gave me mega goosebumps.
The madness and good times were escalated very quickly by the bonkers creature that is Lynks. Donned head to toe in a sequinned gimpsuit within the glorious setting of the Walled Garden, the alluringly anonymous being and his dancers gave one of the most entertaining and wild punk disco performances of the weekend. Plenty more exciting new bands graced the small stages for Thursday night, such as The Cool Greenhouse, Yard Act, PVA, and the electric techno cool kids Working Men's Club. We were being spoiled already.
On Friday the main stage - the Mountain's Foot - was opened. Dwarfed below the verdant Black Mountains of the Brecon Beacons, any music in that magnificent setting is a glory to behold. Each year the Green Man Trust runs a Rising competition, awarding a budding new artist an opportunity as the first act on the Mountain stage, which this year went to punk-soul goddess Nuha Ruby Ra. The Rising Stage itself, hidden away in the trees, plays host to an innumerable amount of bright new talent, on Friday hosting the likes of Pet Deaths, Lazarus Kane, and Egyptian Blue. Elsewhere others were also getting rowdy, like Bristol-based Home Counties in the intimate Walled Garden, and south Londoners Wu-Lu tearing up the Far Out tent. Firm Cardiff favourites Boy Azooga brought us bopping back to the main stage with their fun-filled pop, before the ever-stunning voice of Nadine Shah made hearts simultaneously stop and throb. Django Django came on fully loaded with dance after dance as the sun went down, before our first main headliner of the weekend, Caribou, shook the mountains to their roots.
Partying on "After Dark" with Kelly Lee Owens in the Far Out, or witnessing the grand return of Charlotte Church's Pop Dungeon was a tough choice, although then there's always the irresistible draw of the Chai Wallahs tent. The Bristol organisation are synonymous with bringing the funk late into the night at Green Man, as well as other festivals like Shambala and Kendall Calling, being the place to be for the best jazz/world vibes to keep you moving right into the morning. If you know you know.
Recovering from the full-on perfection of a busy day like that takes some time, but luckily the Mountain is surrounded by a welcoming hillside to lay back on and just soak up the atmosphere of whoever is on stage. On Saturday Richard Dawson brought some charm with his uniquely humorous story telling, before I was introduced to the jazz beats of Kokoroko. Indie favourites The Orielles were a pleasure as always, before the raucous madness of black midi fully ripped the Far Out a new one in a way it's never seen before. Definitely a highlight for me, the avant-garde South Londoners were a sight to behold, unleashing back-to-back post punk energy and then dropping a cover of Kate Nash's 'Foundations'… because why not?
Mogwai slightly paled in comparison, with their ambient headline set being sedate in comparison to the excitement elsewhere. Giant Swan broke it apart for a late night rave while a Big Beat Boutique set from Diplomats of Sounds was the place to be in Chai Wallahs right up until 4am.
It's a small wonder we had any energy left for Sunday, but after a bit of typical Welsh rain the night before, having the sun beat down was a welcome surprise for the morning (as well as making it impossible to sleep off a hangover in an oven-like tent). More lazing by the Mountain stage was called for, to the soothing sound of Matt Maltese, before dragging myself into the shade for Crack Cloud. The Canadian punk collective set the stage nicely for a continuation of endlessly cool energy from the effortlessly powerful Porridge Radio, and Green Man favourites Snapped Ankles - the enigmatic forest folk "doing it for the trees".
We then got the dream surprise of Squid dropping in for a secret Sunday shindig in the Walled Garden, pleasing many with their wonky punk. Bringing a rare bit of international glamour and smooth funk was Thundercat, before the crashing cacophony of Fontaines DC brought the main stage to a close. The meteoric rise and bravado of the sultry Dublin band left them fully deserving of their place at the top of the bill, and all the attention they got for their performance.
As is tradition a great wooden structure of the Green Man himself, who is resurrected every year at the centre of the festival, is burned at midnight along with a fireworks display, bringing us all back to a grand appreciation for being able to be together in these luscious fields once more.
Assuming there are no more complications or messy pandemics on the horizon, their big 20th birthday will be happening next year, although how they're going to top a lineup like this year's I can't wait to see.
Words by Alice Jenner
Images provided by Inside / Out