2016

Big Up to my 2 little ones Rosie (12) and Sam (9), they kept up with me on my GM quest to see at least half of my "must-sees", very little disappointed (there were only a small number of these), but highlights (8+ out of 10 acts) :

• King Gizzard - possibly more energy and insanity than Goat (saw about half at the edge of a very excitable mosh-pit)
• Phil Cook - just sublime, the guy did a great 45 minute set, would have loved a little longer
• Meilyr Jones - new favourite for the kids
• Kamasi Washington - at this point I was starting to realise quite how blessed we are at GM - the diversity of acts this year at the top of their game is just wonderful - not sure if I like "Jazz", but I'm now a proud owner a signed vinyl copy of "The Epic" - the man is a genius.
• White Denim - danced from start to finish, even got my 2 introverted little ones feeling it - if this was the largest crowd they had played to, then good on GM for putting them on the main stage instead of Far Out - they owned Mountain Stage.
• James Blake - put the kids to bed, came back to see this with low expectations - very pleasantly suprised, also that bass probably helped my bowel clearance - better than a colonic?
• Yorkston Thorne Khan - blessed to know I'm seeing them again this weekend
• Ryley Walker - looked like death warmed up, but loved his set and new material - don't know much about drumming, but loved this guy.
• Dungen
• Tindersticks - I need to thank the Forum here.  GM of course signed these guys up, but without some of your recommendations I'd probably not even have given them a listen - just a beautiful hour with a wonderful enraptured audience
• Edward Sharpe - a huge suprise, knew he did the advert, but a great showman and a well crafted set - thanfully we left before the nauseating "Home" to catch the end of....
• Jagwar Ma - only caught last 2 songs, but these guys owned the tent, it was like the Shamen without the shit rapper - took me back to my Uni raving days - awesome
• Battles - fuck! they're good!
• Daniel Norgren
• Songhoy Blues - missed them last year - this was just such a great jump around managed in daylight - yes, life affirming.
• UMO - apart from climbing the scaffolding and not doing a crowd dive from 10m up, I just thought the intros and outros on the whole were just fabulous (and unexpected)
• Ezra Furman - our new favourite must-see act - not sure a performance/show could be better - loved the angst
• B&S - well I'm sure Grandaddy would have been as good, but the kids deserved their choice and it was a real treat to finish the weekend.

Although I saw several other great acts, I know I missed a dozen more - I can't believe this line-up could be bettered, but I've said that 4 years straight now.

Thanks Fiona and the rest of GM team - awesome!

I absolutely loved Settlement, the relaxed atmosphere and freedom to do what we liked for three days was brilliant, as were the evenings down at the bar and stage. Oh, and the weather was great!

Nice to see some regulars and new faces at the forum meet, always a great way to start the weekend. 

Sadly the weather did it for me by Friday evening and by Saturday afternoon I was fed up and ready to come home. After our Devon disaster and then Green Man I am happy to admit I just can't do camping any more, let alone in the constant rain and wind. Thankfully we found a last minute bargain at the Manor Hotel for Sunday and it was the best £67.50 I have ever spent. As is typical, the weather improved loads by Saturday night after I booked the room but it still saved my weekend! Next year we're staying in a hotel for the whole festival and I can't wait. Bit sad I'll miss Settlers though!

Musical highlights for me were Cigarettes After Sex, Palace Winter, Miracle Legion, Tindersticks, Cate Le Bon, Jagwar Ma, Battles, Unknown Mortal Orchestra (for me the band of GM 2016) and Ezra Furman. Went to see Belle & Sebastian last night and enjoyed them but wish I'd gone to watch Grandaddy instead. I like B&S and still love those early records but their best days are long gone.

Caught some good stuff in Babbling Tongues, Rhod Gilbert's quiz was good but Rob Deering did a similar thing in the early hours of Sunday morning which I thought was much better.

Thought the new layout worked and the new Walled Garden is brilliant, just a shame the chip van playing techno has been moved only to be replaced by a cheese toastie van playing techno. First time parked in Blue and can now see why passes to this car park are so sought after. Not sure why chairs were banned on the hill as I can't work out what harm they do up there? It didn't seem to be enforced anyway.

A few other minor gripes that are out of GM's control (talkers being the main one) but overall another great festival. See you all next year!

Our 4th Green Man in a row and definitely the best yet, weather didn't bother me too much as I grew up in Wales and the kids are used to it now, plus we spent a lot of our time in Far Out tent anyway.  Our Musical highlights from an excellent weekend (in the order they played):

 
King Gizzard
 
Wow - a life changing experience, for anyone down the front/middle I was the Dad who spent an hour holding back the mosh pit so his son and daughter could enjoy an insanely energetic set.  Not sure it was sensible, but it's something we'll always remember and a massive thank you to the Stage Security guys who were brilliant and told me very early on they would pull the kids out if it all got to much. It didn't - but it was reassuring to know that if I got dragged off into the pit they would keep my kids safe.
 
Jagwar Ma
 
After the enjoyable and slightly scary chaos of the night before, The Far Out tent turned into a massive rave (in the best way) for JM and we danced the hour away to a great band and some fantastic songs - not sure about the 'best set', but it was definitely the most fun we had as me and my daughter had our second 'dance-off' surrounded by hundreds of people of all ages getting their groove on.
 
Fat White Family
 
The kids were nearly asleep but were desperate to see FWF after me telling them all year they were my highlight of last years EOTR, Lias was in fine form as ever and with 2  albums to choose from they played a great mix of their best songs so far.
 
UMO
 
A sort of unexpected highlight, they've grown on me over the years, but wasn't sure what the kids would make of them, however we all hugely enjoyed a real treat, stage climbing was funny but it was the music that really made it a great first band in what we were calling on the way home our best ever 3 set run...
 
Ezra Furman
 
Stayed at the front for Ezra and were treated the the show of the weekend, sensational performance from a unique artist at the very top of his game, with a great supporting band - the new songs were brilliant and it was one of the best memories of all 4 of our Green Mans (Men?)
 
Belle and Sebastian 
 
As much as I would have loved to see Grandaddy again, we are all huge B&S fans and a quick dash to the Mountain Stage was always going to happen.  No regrets, we throughly enjoyed it and great choice for a Sunday night headliner, judging by the singing-along and dancing I saw all around us - we weren't the only ones.
 
Non musical highlights include Rhod Gilbert and Adam Horne in the comedy tent, the new layout, the ever-reliable Einsteins Garden, the stackaCups (didn't get any last year got got a full set this year), the food was mainly excellent and the people we met both public and staff/helpers were all nice, funny, helpful or often all three.

Yet again I find myself struggling to find the words to describe how I feel about the past four days. From the moment I arrived on site early Thursday morning I felt a real physical and emotional sense of well-being that lasted throughout the weekend and will stay with me into the future. It was like a giant reset button being pressed.

I had made a conscious decision to try and not feel annoyed or angry at any time this year, but I actually struggled to reach mildly irritated at any point (which is about my default feeling at all other times).

We had the best camping location ever with great neighbours, and the coffee/snack point down the hill at the bus gate was a great new addition. Food, drink and loos were all wonderful, and I echo Chrissied's endorsement of FFS burgers in the WG - fantastic folk making great food - really hope to see them back.

Meatfaffle kickstarted the music (although I wasn't overly enthused by their live performance). It was lovely to meet friends old and new in the Walled Garden afterwards, and so generous of Fiona to spend so much time with us on what must be a busy and demanding first night of the festival.

And as for that line-up that I wasn't too fussed about, well I seem to have ticked off thirty acts over the main three days, only two of which are noted as slightly disappointing.

Green Man 'moments' are awarded to Phil Cook, Meilyr Jones (personally proud to have made it to the second WG set on Friday night), Kamasi Washington, Jason Isbell, Loose Meat, Charlotte Church, Fews, Ryley Walker, Tindersticks, Joan Shelley, Pictish Trail, Moonlandingz, Black Peaches, Besnard Lakes, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Well, for me that's a lot more 'moments' than I've ever had before so please ignore my opinion on any future line-up announcement.

I don't know what ranks above a Green Man 'moment' because I've never experienced such a thing before, and have now had two.

At least with Ezra I knew such a thing was possible if not certain, but Grandaddy WTF? I barely know any of their stuff so why did I have tears streaming down my face listening to that performance? I can only assume that the other blubbering eejits all around me were dedicated fans and I got caught up in the emotion of the whole thing.

After fourteen years it would be romantic to think that there's some form of sorcery at work to make each year better than the one before, but I know it's just absolute dedication and sheer hard graft from the wonderful team of people who create this magical gift for us.

Thank you all so much :)

Thanks to Fiona, Ben and the team for the best week of our year.

Highlights -

The whole of the Settlers - weather, atmosphere, folk and music - completely faultless.

Phil Cook, Meilyr Jones, Kamasi, Floating Points,YTK, Ryley Walker, Joan Shelley and Nathan Salsburg, Daniel Norgren, Cowbois, John Shuttleworth and Grandaddy.

My GM moments this year were - 

Floating Points performing 'Kuiper', as predicted my head did explode.

Ryley Walker's extraordinary solo performance in the Rough Trade tent.

Phil Cook's joyful set.

John Shuttleworth performing 'Y Reg'

Grandaddy - oh my goodness! I was blubbering too Peridot, I was lucky enough to be right at the front, centre stage for this and I'm pretty sure they were enjoying it as much as us. An excellent set formed of wonderful past and exciting new music. When they finished with 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot' I was sobbing like a child. What a way to finish an incredible festival.

That moment is up there with Steve Mason and Patti for me.

Yeah, I though the "voice of an angel" doing NIN was probably the most surreal moment of the weekend.

I think the Ezra song was Body Was Made - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkEkjxX_YrM

OK, here goes.

Settlers was an absolute blast, helped by gorgeous weather. A lovely day in Crick with Elizabeth and her family, kids swimming in the river. lovely peaceful vibe in the camp, decent music including an unexpected Gentle Good set. Definitely do Settlers again but it might have been a bit different had the weather not been so good.

As for the festival itself.

By GM standards pretty good weather (by 2007, 2008 standards this was was dry). Heard on Thursday at the forum meet-up that the capacity was 25,000. If right it didn't feeel like it, perhaps the weather helped in that respect with people hanging around their tents.

Lovely to meet up with everyone on Thursday - shame I didn't bump into cyfarthfa after that but he is a busy man don't you know. Also nice of Fiona to spend some time chatting with us.

The music. My 10th and best ever GM music-wise, maybe because now the kids are older and more independent I get to see more stuff. Slightly odd start on Thursday. Meatraffle were a crock of shit. I'm a child of the punk era and admire the DIY ethos but you still need to be able to play. Every time he parped his tuneless trumpet another 20 people headed for the exits. King Gizzard - in retrospect probably not good parenting to allow my 10 year-old son to go down the front with his mate but without me. He survived though.

Joan Shelley probably just edges it as my favourite set of the festival. Here I will forever be indebted to Slugger's eldest (who I feel sure we'll see before long performing at GM) for advising me of the switch, I'd have been broken-hearted to have missed her. A voice to melt your heart.

Close runners-up: Meilyr Jones, Phil Cook and Kevin Morby. Meilyr sat on the barrier right in front of me and I got some great pics. Once I've got sorted out I'll set up a flicker page and give the link here. Phil Cook was brilliant and we had a quick chat afterwards, lovely bloke. Meilyr was down by the stage after his set for over half an hour chatting, signing stuff and being generally lovely too. Elizabeth and I both wanted to take him home with us and feed him and buy him a pair of long enough trousers.

Other great stuff: Miracle Legion, YTK (thought Mr Khan rather stole the show), Ryley Walker (though preferred his set last year - much better band obviously), the Unthanks (great end to their set with us all singing harmonies!), UMO and Ezra (though watched most of both from just outside the tent as it was just too hot in there and my poor old plates of meat were aching by that point). Whitney were excellent and packed out the Walled Garden. Next time they'll be on the Mountain Stage, possibly headlining. Cowbois were lovely as always.

Slightly unexpected stuff I stumbled on: Plu made for a great start to Friday in the Walled Garden (again, thanks to Slugger jnr for the suggestion), the Oh Hellos were great fun (and had a banjo, cyfarthfa!), I See Rivers were a delight (they looked so happy just to be there and sang so sweetly), Daniel Norgren was far better than I'd imagined (thanks Elizabeth), Bill Baird was pretty good. Probably wouldn't have bothered with John Shuttleworth but went along with family McEvoy and grinned all the way through (despite being jabbed repeatedly in the neck with a camping chair by a grumpy fucker - how can one be grumpy at a JS gig?), kids loved it too and are still singing Eggs and Gammon.

Regrets - not many, missed Michael Rother somehow, son too tired to stay up for White Denim and B&S (the latter sounded great back at the tent).

Gripes - just the usual, bloody chatters at the front! Actually told someone to keep quiet at Joan Shelley (two guys behind me at the front comparing functions on their mobiles!) but the guys who kept up a continous conversation (shouting above the music at times) at Kevin Morby looked too tasty to tell off. The bizarre thing was they also seemed familiar with the songs - so why not fucking listen?

There was an officious security woman in the MS beer tent who pissed a few people off but that was negated by one of her colleagues handing out Pringles down at the front for Daniel Norgren.

Realy shocked to hear about the thefts - not something you expect at GM.

The vast majority of the people were, as always, a joy to be with. Had loads of chats with random people over the weekend.

Christ, even the Harriers won on Saturday!

Overall bloody brilliant, as I said our 10th and for me, the best ever Green Man. Massive congratulations to Fiona and the team for all their effort and imagination.

i'll write more later (work piled high here...  reality check...)

but just a quick one to say that we had a fab time

easily my least interesting GM music-wise

but the vibe outweighs it all, as ever

the biggest downer for me was how insanely fast it went

never had a GM that seemed to be over so soon

didn't see enough of everyone over the weekend either

peridot only once (obviously having far too good a time, frankly)

and kras and elizabeth a couple of times

everyone a delight, as ever, though

anyway - more boring post match analysis from me later

(plus a few aural reminders eventually - though not many this year)

What a blast! This was our tenth. The children have grown up with GM and are no longer children. This year we were joined for the second year by my American girlfriend, who flew in specially from Philadelphia. I was less excited than normal about the line-up but as predicted this didn't matter one bit and a total hoot was had. My 18 year old daughter had a friend with her so we basically didn't see them all weekend, meaning my poor son was stuck with us acting like loons throughout. The excellent Agbeko (Chai Wallahs) kicked the party off for us, followed by the also very good By The Riversl. Saturday's highlight was Kamasi Washington straight into Jason Isbell. Washington was so worth the wait caused by whatever the technical problems were that they were having. Caught many other things that day amongst which Meilyr Jones stood out as particularly delightful. We kicked off Saturday with the beautiful and very poignant Clare Maguire and then fell in love with YTK. But nothing could cap Tindersticks then Edward Sharpe. We swooned and then we celebrated! I believe there was some more Chai Wallah action after that (by this point the Rum Bar had been well and truly discovered). From Songhoy Blues onwards Sunday was non-stop dancing as we dashed from that to Ezra Furman to B&S.

Highlights. First and foremost, after years of taking the children alone, being able to share GM with my loved one. It added so much to the festival's undoubted magic. We were able to share good times and musical passions (me introducing her to Tindersticks and Ezra, she introducing me to Edward Sharpe). Of course, the organization was impeccable, as ever. I liked a lot of the changes to the site (but seem to be in a minority on the Walled Garden. I thought it had less atmosphere and unlike most years spent almost no time there). 

But most of all the vibe just seemed incredibly good this year (maybe it was just us, but I don't think so). We met so many wonderful, happy, friendly people - big shout out to the "The Rum and Coke Kids" who shared with us during Edward Sharpe! This was a special, special year for me. 

ps. a personal thanks to the guy who collared me during White Denim absolutely convinced I was Mark Mulcahy, you gave us a giggle.

Another lovely GM passes all too quickly, made bearable by reading everyone's fond memories. Arrived Thursday, headed over to Far Out as quickly as possible to watch MeatRaffle et al, but was only really impressed by Gizzard who were fab. Immediately confused at the bar by the choice of normal Growler (which looked much more golden than previously) and Pale Growler, which was actually darker - it doesn't take a lot but this definately twisted my melon. 

Friday daytime was great at the Mountain Stage - The Oh Hellos (and their whirling banjo player) were fab, as was Phil Cook, Meilyr Jones and Miracle Legion. Headed back in for Jason Isbell who i preferred when he stuck to the country template rather than the bombast of his rockier numbers. The music later on didn't really do anything for me, but we did catch Shelnanagig at Chai Wallahs who were fun. Lull was broken by an unexpectedly great set from Ms Church - so much fun, and had the crowd bouncing; loved the Neutral Milk Hotel cover as well as the Nine Inch Nails mentioned earlier. Managed to catch most of Meilyr's secret set but headed back before the end on unsteady pins.

Started Saturday a little bleary eyed, but was helped out by a couple of great Bloody Mary's from Flaming Lips - hair of the dog and a few of your five a day to boot, what's not to like? Saw I See Rivers at WG who were lovely (only got the pun when i heard their accents), over to CD to see FarmHand and the trippy video visuals. Back to MS to see YTK who were mesmerising (esp. Khan as mentioned elsewhere), followed by a bedraggled looking Ryley Walker. Nice set, but i preferred his gig a few days earlier in Cardiff TBH. Unthanks were fab as ever (inc. 3 part harmonies from the crowd), Tindersticks majestic, and Edward Sharp was a pleasant surprise - not one for serious muso's but got the crowd bouncing. Stayed for Laura who i usually love (great at EOTR last year) but felt a bit dreary - wished i'd gone to see Pictish TBH. Finished off to a great gig from the Fat White's - blistering and epic.

Couldn't believe it was end of Saturday already and only one more day to go.... :(

Weather had been more than bearable and much better than forecast. GM seems to be the only place i can get sunburn and trenchfoot on the same weekend though!

Sunday was mainly Mountain Stage again - Dan Norgren was fab, Gengahr workmanlike, Slow Club started well but i headed over to FO for Kevin Morby who was sensational. Saw Songhoy who got crowd dancing like crazy chickens. Finished off in Walled Garden with Whitney who i love on record but voice was wobbly live. Unfortuantely Joan Shelley (one of my must sees) had swapped with Sam Lee so i missed her. SL was fab though, as was Malc (playing with JL) - cheery as ever, finished off with You're all Going to Die alone (loved it). Then for the biggest clash of the weekend - familial democracy won and i had to forego Grandaddy for B&S - another great set though and definite H&S palpitations from security as half the crowd ended up on stage for Arab Strap singalong. Off to the fireworks and ritual burning for the end to another wonderful weekend - don't know how they do it, but it never gets boring - big love and thanks to all involved x

Year 4 of Green Man and lots of changes it seemed!

Highlights;

Whitney; Both Meilyr sets; Charlotte Church; Alex Horne; Rhod Gilbert; Palace Winter; Margaret Glaspy; B&S; BC Camplight

Slight (but still good) disappointments!;

Second half of James Blake; Genghar; Laura Marling

- Really missed having a big fun act like Hot Chip headlining this year (who I wasn't looking forward to last year at all!) but White Denim and Ezra helped that.

- More stuff like the late night Meilyr, Fat White and Charlotte please!!

- Can't believe how much stuff was still being built on the Thursday and Friday - haven't seen this mentioned anywhere but it didn't seem finished?

- So many sound issues, late starts - especially in far out, instruments breaking - especially in the walled garden.

- So many chatty crowds - I know everyone has been saying that they dealt well with the crowd increase but I disagree it *felt* busy and an awful lot of younger large groups of people taking all sorts although...

- Kudos to security, had an issue with a group playing music in the campsite obnoxiously loud at 4am and when I told security they went over and sorted it while I hid in my tent - didn't fancy coming back to any retribution! 

I know it sounds like a whine but I absolutely loved it and I will be back next year and looking forward to it! Still blissful and safe, just not as quiet and felt there were downsides to the improvements!!

That's a good point Lydia. I saw Meilyr and Ezra at Glasto and while they were both great performances, there was just no comparasion with Green Man. It shows how much the audience contributes to the overall experience.

absolutely

i've seen tindersticks many, many times over the last 20 years

and i've NEVER seen stuart staples look that happy

he was still grinning when he almost ran us over leaving the site the next morning

A thousand apologies to Veuf as I fear that it was I who mistook him for Mark Mulcahy on Friday night. By way of a plea in mitigation it had been a long days drinking, I was tired and emotional and by that stage was struggling to open the doors of perception with a bent key. The real tragedy however is that this revelation must now cast serious doubt on my other recollections of that fine night and suggests that I did not in fact split a Twix with Laura Marling, kayak down the Usk with Stuart Staples nor share a bus top hot tub with the remaining members of Earth, Wind and Fire. Mind you, Green Man, not unlike Reading,is a place where anything is possible and I still had a glorious time inadvertently spreading the love by causing a few giggles

presumably you sport an impressive beard veuf?

either that or smitchmit really did lose touch with reality

I did get to say hello to Mark and Ray

If it had transpired that Veuf was a middle aged woman named Angela who was sporting a Boden headscarf at the time of our alcohol soaked encounter then I would definitely be booking into The Priory. Ive never been so pleased to hear news of facial hair.

As it is, I still find myself bursting into a medley of Lets Groove & Boogie Wonderland whenever I get into my tin bath so all may not be lost. As befits a good northern soul,Veuf, Im keeping the faith . 

Really enjoyed it but the weather put a bit of a dampner on things for me, was glad it didn't chuck it down constantly but I can imagine how lovely the site would be if the weather was great (I understand this is a rarity though!) The ground coped very well with the amount of rain and mud.

The site was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, I thought it would be roughtly the same size as End of the Road but it was loads bigger. The walk from the orange car park to a free camping spot on Thursday afternoon was a bit of a trek.

It was all really well organised and slick, sound was good, security were very chilled and it was great having the screens on the Mountain and Far Out stages. Loved all the branding and thought the pint glass thing worked really well. Didn't see any security/stewards in the campsite but we didn't have any problems so that wasn't an issue.

Musical highlights were:

• Phil Cook - have wanted to see him for ages and he didn't disappoint. Lovely guy as well.
• Meilyr Jones - loved his swagger and songs
• BC Camplight - bitter, booze soaked piano ballads. Not sure about drinking a whole bottle of JD in the afternoon though
• Haiku Salut - great set and a perfect start to Sunday
• Songhoy Blues - one of the biggest crowds of the weekend and great to see so many dancing. A total joy to watch them
• Whitney - this bunch of bros were hanging out their arses but I enjoyed their sunny set in the WG and inbetween song banter. TOBY!
• Ezra Furman - fantastic, he keeps getting better. Great band too.

Wanker quota seemed low which was nice and it was lovely seeing all the little ones having a good time. Found people to be generally very friendly. Spoke to one lady in the queue for the showers who wasn't enjoying herself and described it as "very commercial"...WTAF?

Very minor complaints:

• Some people camped near us felt the need to territorially fence off about 6 tents + gazebo with chintzy bunting...totally unnecessary.
• Lack of soap gel and loo paper in the loos. Unless I was really unlucky, at least 50% of the loos I went in had no hand stuff left which is really gross when you think about how many people won't wash their hands as a result. My male friends said there was never any hand gel in the gents' urinals.
• Beer and cider selling out so quickly. Was good while it lasted.
• Wild Beasts titting about with their lighting for so long.
• Laura Marling choosing not to have the screens on, it's not exactly music to dance for and would have been nice to get a better view of the set from the slopes.
• My partner was extremely sick on the Sunday night...possibly food poisining, as I walked him back to our tent...B&S were playing "Get me away from here I'm dying"...you've got to laugh. One of our group also came down with it when he got home. Not a great end to the weekend.

My son was as sick as a small hospital after we arrived home.

However I'm not sure Green Man can be held responsible for a mucky 12 year old's poor hand hygene.

The screens were off for Tindersticks which didn't surprise me (although they did flash on briefly). Anyone know if they were also off for Edward Sharpe? If so I would suspect a fault rather than Prima donna behaviour.

Speaking of which, I see Joanna Newsom has once again secured an exclusive headline slot at EOTR ... as in no other act playing at the same time. So anyone with taste has the option of an early night or nothing. Oh dear.