'Great things are done when men and mountains
meet. This is not done by jostling in the street' William Blake
A cursory glance at your standard Green Man line-up would do
little to deter the hordes from their annual pilgrimage to Reading,
Leeds and the auto-tune orgy that makes up the
modern V festival gathering. A festival headlined by Mogwai, Feist and professional grumpy sod Van
Morrison is unlikely to bring the youth flocking into the Brecon Beacons, but one imagines that
Green Man's organisers more than like it that way and, if you scratch that
line-up a little deeper than the top of the bill, there were plenty of thrills
to be had at this year's bash, and a feast of new sounds that are unlikely to
have made it onto Fearne Cotton's i-pod.
The persistent rain on Friday saw a larger than expected
crowd gather for Remember Remember's afternoon show in the
Far Out tent, but more than a few converts were made by their dark, long and
quite lovely rumblings, with glorious outbursts of melody compensating for the
sun's stubborn refusal to show itself. Most of those present hung around
afterwards for Toy's set,
which clipped along at a fair lick and pleased those of us who still find
thrills in the sight of young men with hair playing essentially the same song
for 40 minutes. Toy's name has been mentioned in the same breath as The
Horrors since their emergence this year, and comparisons are there to be made,
but at present they lack the elements of light and shade that have made Badwan's mob such serious
big-hitters. They have some potential, however.
Slow Club threatened to part the
clouds on the main stage later in the day, bringing large parts of last year's
breakthrough "Paradise " album to Wales and making this whole
festival playing malarkey just seem like so much fun. The sun, however, finally
raised its head for Dexys, who were by far the
best dressed people in Glanusk Park
over the weekend. The chemistry between Dexys' commander in chief, Kevin Rowland and his female foil, Madeleine Hyland was incredible to watch as they duetted on the two stand out tracks 'I'm
Always Going to Love You' and 'Incapable of Love' from new album One Day I'm Going to Soar.
However, it was the pantomime-esque rendition of 'Come on Eileen' that
brought the crowd to their feet - though I was disappointed not to see anyone
adopting the traditional 'hands clasped behind your back' dance that was
synonymous with this song at school discos up and down the country during the
early eighties.
The day's genuine, pop-star-in-the-making moment came with Cate Le Bon's headline set on the Walled Garden
stage. Le Bon has the look of a pop star,
genuinely otherworldly, and with this year's magnificent "Cyrk", she has
demonstrated the chops to move onto bigger stages than this in the years
ahead. She berated the audience for being there when Mogwai were playing at the same time,
but in truth she must be aware that what was on offer here was more than
enough to divert attention away from the post-rock veterans. A stunning
"Ploughing Out Parts 1 and 2" built to a magnificent climax and
closed the day in exuberant fashion. It can't be long before Florence decides that a
few psych-folk influences will be necessary to see her stay anywhere near the
same ball-park as this wonderful performer.
Why Sweet Baboo is not a household name is an
absolute travesty. Kicking off the Mountain Stage proceedings on Saturday
morning, the hardest working man at this year's Green Man (he also rocked up to
play with Cate le Bon and Slow Club) didn't let a
disappointingly sparse crowd put him off his stride. Van Morrison's early evening headlining slot is
played out in glorious sunshine and doesn't disappoint as the grumpy old git
turns out a greatest hits set to the biggest crowd of the weekend. From Brown Eyed Girl to the garage classic Gloria, Morrison wastes no time
with any banter and after 75 minutes is whisked away in his helicopter over the Brecon Beacons before his band have brought
the set to a triumphant finish.
With
Morrison already tucked up in bed, it was left to Metronomy to close Saturday's proceedings on the
Mountain Stage and they did so with aplomb. The evocatively infectious 'The
Look' and 'Everything Goes My Way' from last year's Mercury
nominated 'The English Riviera' are standouts in a set that showed off the
diversity in Joe Mount's songwriting repertoire. Though an overheard aside that they sounded a little like "Kraftwerk meets Bucks Fizz" did seem a little cruel.While
not the official headliners, Metronomy's set felt like the perfect way to end
the day...until, that is, we stumbled upon Pete Paphides 'Vinyl Revival' disco in the walled garden. For
three hours, Paphides had us shaking a wellington clad foot
to the likes of Dee-Lite, Bob Dylan, ELO and....Hanson. Despite the mud, the
appreciative crowd were throwing shapes as if they were on the sprung dancefloor at Wigan Casino and were sorely disappointed
when he was hauled off at 3am.
Following
a very late night, there was no more perfect antidote for easing ourselves back to
normality than King Creosote
& Jon Hopkins who played
the sublime 'Diamond Mine' in its entirety. The beautifully crafted songs
helped to clear the fug from our heads, while a sublime cover of U2's 'Running
to Standstill' just as three para gliders made their lofty descent into the
festival site was mesmerising. Sunday also
saw the Far Out Tent once more rammed to the gills, but, with the sun blazing
down over Sugar Loaf Mountain, this time it was more than inclement
weather that drew in the masses to catch Alt-J's terrific set. With the songs on 'An
Awesome Wave' now sounding much
more bedded-in than the last time they came onto
our radar (when supporting bedfellows Wild Beasts in March) it quickly became clear how much they have grown as a band, and this show saw them greeted like all-conquering heroes.
With 'Breezeblocks', 'Tessellate' and 'Matilda' being bellowed back at the band, the celebratory feel to show felt as if this band will be further up the bill the next time they visit Glanusk Park.
The surprise hit of the weekend, however, was Merrill Garbus' tUnE yArDs. Through some innovative vocal looping and the cacophounous squalling of saxophonists, Matt Nelson and Noah Bernstien, the band's layered grooves and funky beats had everyone on their feet and lead (unusually for that time of day) to the band returning to the stage for a mid-afternoon encore.
While The Walkmen belting out
a rousing rendition
of 'The Rat' gave us
that extra boost to
see us over the finish line.
Now ten years old, Green Man has carved a successful niche into
the UK's festival landscape and, by navigating a path away
from the Killers/Kasabian/Foo Fighters/Muse treadmill,
it continues to
bring surprises and revelations in equal measure. As a reminder of
the depth that continues to exist within the realms of so called "alternative" music,
it is pretty much without equal. Long may it reign. And rain.
