Nice to see you've got live music back Titch & SRK.
I had my first non-socially distanced gigs over the past week plus a festival, fucking great to have music back properly again. Apologies for the essay below so it's ok if you don't read it... I know JP will though!
Black Midi @ the windmill with popular forum member Krburg. So Black Midi have been life savers for me during lockdown, their socially distanced gigs in the Windmill boozer have kept me going + it has been incredible watching the band develop new ideas as well as have fun with a bunch of covers. This was the first time they'd had the sax & keys players for the pub gigs, basically did this as a warm up for festival dates. Short hour set that flew by. Crowd was going pretty mad, kinda weird after having seats for so long to see people moshing about but it felt good. Support came from FC Malina, a 2 piece industrial/electronic shouty thing. I think they were Russian, it sounded Russian anyway
It wasn't particularly any good but I admired the energy of it. Lucas Loveridge who runs the black midi facebook group did his debut gig too, lots of beats and silly vocal effects, kinda cool for what it was.
The Cribs @ Pryzm in Kingston with popular forum members Krburg. Never been to Kingston before, the venue is like a really hold carpeted theatre that is now used for what I assume is an awful club. However Banquet records use it for their instores. This really felt like a return to normality. Cribs smashed through 16 songs, fucking love that band. Seems they were really close to calling it a day in recent times. Long may they continue, there aren't many straight up indie rock guitar bands that I can say I genuinely still love but The Cribs do that anthemic, heart-on-your-sleeve thing better than pretty much anyone. Long live the Cribs.
Just got back from Wales for my first Green Man festival & it was fucking incredible. The coach arrived slightly later than expected so I missed Wet Leg but made it in for
Lynks, hadn't heard of him/they until JP mentioned seeing them at Latitude. A electroclash/dance pop hybird with a man in a gimp suit and a backing band of 3 dancers that he calls bodywash. Ridiculous fun with a great Courtney Barnett cover thrown in too.
The Cool Greenhouse were on next. Annoyingly they were clashing with Yard Act, a similar type band that I'm sure sets of both bands would have loved so that was a bummer. Cool Greenhouse got a small but decent crowd, though the sound was dire for the first half. Thankfully by the time it was fixed and Yard Act had finished they had a pretty large crowd & the set went down great.
PVA were pretty damn good in the big Tent. They've come on a ton since I saw them opening for Dry Cleaning a few times in 2019.
I did my usual of not really eating anything and got pissed pretty quick, saw some of
Nubiyan twist, funky jazz type thing though can't comment too much on if it was any good.
Working Men's Club were on next, I feel like I should like this band but something just annoys me about them a bit. It feels like someone trying to do New Order, but through a Kasabian lens. I'm not even saying that like it's a bad thing, they just don't really land for me. Was a choice of bands playing after, neither of which appealed so I called it an early night.
Friday (the proper start of the festival) I started with
Hanya, a young dream-pop/indie-rock band from Brighton. They were fine, if a little forgettable. It felt like the guitarist wished he was in a shoegaze band but everyone else wanted an indie band. Still, thumbs up
Nuha Ruby Ra is another artist I just took a punt on from a tiny clip on youtube, she opened the main stage. She basically just had a backing track she sung to but used two microphones in her hands to do some playful things with the vocals. Proper brooding art-pop with some interesting lyrical themes. Definitely going to check out her record, I dug her style.
Had been talking to
The Cool Greenhouse after their set the night before & they told me they'd be doing a gig in the festivals record store tent the next day so I popped along to that. Basically these sets are only like 15/20 minutes long & recorded for the festivals website. The sound was perfect from the get-go, unfortunately it was too short. Still, what a wonderful band.
Next up were
Home Counties, a band who's debut EP sounded like a lot of other British post-punk bands right now, but didn't grab me. Seeing them live it all made sense, their set went down great, one of my surprises of the weekend. Will revisit the EP, hopefully it'll sound better to my ears now.
Had some time to kill so checked out
The Surfing Magazines on the main stage. Think they contain members of The Wave Pictures & a couple of other unsuccessful indie bands. They was fine, basically felt like some older blokes living out their rock & roll fantasies but I don't say that as a negative.
Tiña went down a treat on the smallest of the 4 music stages. Was a ton of members of other bands down there watching them, proper rowdy crowd with PVA constantly shouting "take your shirts off!" at them. Nice to see Tiña pull a decent crowd.
Los Bitchos drew a huge crowd in the tent, one of the first times I couldn't walk in straight to the front. Seen them a few times doing support slots, sorta surf-rock/indie instrumental thing & I usually lose interest after about 3 songs. However, seeing them with a huge crowd it kinda works a lot better. Still I think their sound comes tiresome after a while but this was the best I've seen them.
Nadine Shah was great on the main stage, much better than the Barbican gig I saw last month. Mostly as that night she did the new album in full, here she mixed it up and basically did an hour of her best material. Wasn't much on after I wanted to see for a bit so took a punt on
Georgia, upbeat synth/electro-pop. If I'm being lazy I'd say she's like Robyn but plays a load of pads/drums whilst running too and from her instruments. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, but I thought it sounded really safe & got bored quickly.
Egyptian Blue are a band I've wanted to see for AGES. Basically the 1st time I wanted to see them at a day festival I moaned like fuck that they were late coming on, only to realise I was stood at the wrong stage. By the time I'd made it to the stage they only had one song left which sounded phenomenal. Another time I had tickets but Dry Cleaning announced a gig so I sacked that off & then the last one I was going to COVID ruined. I like both their EP's but find them a little samey... however live they were fucking MONSTERS. Pretty much everyone to this point at Green Man had looked overwhelmed to be there, mentioned that it's good to be back & all the rest of the usual shit.. Egyptian Blue came on stage, said nothing, looked like they had a purpose and thrashed through some really beefy post-punk. It was ferocious. Really blown away by their set, think they said thanks at the end of a song and that was pretty much it.
The main stage at Green Man is bloody incredible. It's on a massive hill with the stage at the bottom so thousands can watch like you'd normally watch a band, but the rest all sit on the hill & you can see the Welsh mountains in the background. Not only is it a great picturesque setting, the sound is GREAT wherever you place yourself around the main stage. So decided to sit down and watch
Caribou, an artist I've never really got TBH. The set was so-so, there was a couple of moments where it totally made sense when things turned into a big tech/house kinda thing. The slower moments, especially when he attempts to sing I just find lifeless. I enjoyed it for the most part though, wouldn't ever pay to see him mind.
Thankfully sitting on the hill put some life back into Old Man Mahoney & I found the strength to make it to
CHARLOTTE CHURCH'S LATE NIGHT POP DUNGEON at 1am. This was RIDICULOUS fun. Basically she has a covers band featuring her husband that do an eclectic bunch of songs. It worked best when they jumped from one song to the next. They ranged from Kelis to Radiohead, Can to Alanis Morissette, Prince to Rage Against the Machine. They also threw in a beautiful version of one of the songs off MWNG which I don't think any of the crowd knew what the fuck it was. If she's ever at a festival near you, make the effort it's a great time.
Saturday it pissed down all morning. I don't think it was just the weather though as the festival seemed to suffer from fatigue, it felt like the last day of a festival for a lot of the day. Got some food by the main stage and listened to Gwenifer Raymond (instrumental acoustic American Primitivism). Felt sorry for her as the weather was so shit nobody was watching, had it been a sunny day she would have had a nice crowd. Was nice but the weather to grim to enjoy that sorta thing.
next up were
Peaness, a 3-piece indie-pop band from Chester. Very basic & predictable sound but their songs had some hooks. I enjoyed though not sure I'd bother listening to them on record.
Deliluh were up next. So, I saw this band a couple of years ago & they had a full band (I forgot how many members, but I'd guess at least 5) so was kinda disappointed when they came on stage as just a 2-piece. Also, nobody showed up to see them which was a shame. Anyway, once I accepted the new direction I was really impressed with the performance. It was moody as fuck, the pieces were kinda abstract with tons of atmosphere. I definitely prefer them with a full band lineup, but this worked wonderfully.
Emma-Jean Thackray was on next, had been listening to her album a fair bit leading up to the gig & was on the fence with it. It's perhaps too eclectic for its own good, though there are definitely some great moments on there. Live I was hoping it'd all make sense, but I was left with the same feeling. Felt a little flat so left before she finished.
Had a sit down on the main stage for
Richard Dawson, seem him a few times in recent years now & each has been solo with him doing the same sorta gags & same songs. Really love Dawson, made my favourite album of 2019 but I'm dying to see him perform those songs with a live band now. Enjoyable, but nothing I've not seen before.
Was a secret guest in the record store tent booked so we headed over there. Nadine Shah had said she was appearing again in the weekend so assumed it was her. Got in there and it was packed. Couldn't really see what was going on the stage so was surprised when out of nowhere
Laura Marling started singing. Unfortunately they didn't mic her performance up properly so you could barely hear anything. She only did 3 songs anyway so was no big deal.
Sinead O Brien was up next, solid set from her. Still not been blown away by her live (would like her to get additional musicians) but I'm confident she'll make a hell of a record eventually.
Popped to the smaller stage to see
The Goa Express on JP's recommendation. I thought they were really fucking shit
first song sounded like an Oasis bootleg from 93, I thought fair play I'm down for this but then they did 3 tunes in a row which sounded like the fucking Kooks. I left in disgust and cursed JP so loud it could be heard in the Welsh Mountains.
Next up were
LUMP. I enjoyed the debut but this second album is definitely a step up from the debut. Set was actually alot better than I'd imagined. The bloke from Tuung's lead guitar parts helped put a lot of energy into the performance + Laura's vocals are hypnotic in this setting.
Black Midi were on next.. I'd been on a bit of a downer all day but the whole day I kept thinking Black Midi's later. After seeing them play the Windmill so many times trying out new material it was insane seeing them play to a huge crowd on the second stage. It felt like they were headlining. I can't say enough about this fucking gig, they were phenomenal. Yeah people went mental from the get-go moshing about, but you could see the looks on people's faces that they were gobsmacked at what they was seeing. Seeing them perform these songs on a huge stage and it sound even better than I've ever heard it before was quite something. Despite seeing them live & loving them for being so unique there was always that nagging feeling that outside of small venues Black Midi wouldn't work for me but I couldn't have been more wrong. The sound was unbelievable in there too... Morgan's playing as incredible as ever. The Sax sounded fucking killer. It was just perfect. Plus they broke into a Kate Nash song mid set
Even doing a big gig like that they still had the balls to perform a huge chunk of unreleased material and a cheesy cover. Not only was it the gig of the weekend by far, it's probably one of the best gigs I've seen in fucking years. Mindblowingly good. I can only imagine Jose Gonzalez backstage thinking fuck I've gotta go out with an acoustic guitar next
Finished the day with
Mogwai on the main stage.. I'm not much of a fan & wasn't too keen the last time I saw them. I don't like a lot of post-rock, it just doesn't sit with me & just feels like a massive "look how epic we are" wankfest. I got bored after maybe 45 minutes. I guess if you like that sorta thing, they're great at it. A
Sunday got some food by the main stage, some competition winner called
Teddy Hunter opened the day. Whoever judged that competition needs shooting, boring as fuck. Next up were a Jazz band called
Duski, tight band though the Sax felt a little cheesy for my tastes. Usually like my jazz to have a funk element so this didn't quite land. Next up were
LYR which is the poet Simon Armitage's band. Basically it's him reading spoken word pieces over music that doesn't sound a million miles away from early Doves. This was my kinda thing. Nice set, need to hear their album. Caught
The Golden Dregs next. The singer (who I think is basically the band) has one of those deep voices like the guy from The National or Absentee. Infact musically I guess they were kinda like something like Absentee, nothing too exciting but hanging on his lyrics/voice. Again, can see myself really digging these on record.
Had a lay down by the main stage and listened to
Matt Maltese, strong piano-based ballads, liken it to something like Ed Harcourt. Was happy resting whilst listening. Also, he used to be a slaphead but now has a wonderful head of hair.
Crack Cloud were late getting started so the set was short, but what they did perform was pretty banging. More energetic danceable post-punk.
Porridge Radio drew a big crowd & a young audience (most the festival is basically 30-50 year olds). Their sound was too basic for me to enjoy, watched half but got bored quickly.
Was a DJ by a nearby tent blasting out reggae which sounded incredible! now, you always get reggae played at festivals inbetween bands but I don't think I've ever been in a setting where it's played like it's a club with DJ's talking between tracks. I could have stayed in there all day TBH. Done soul clubs in the past and loved them but man, this was proper joyous.
Snapped Ankles I'd heard a record before & wasn't too fussed but fucking hell, proper impressive live. A real driving dance-punk, like NEU meets LCD Soundsystem. Had the whole tent dancing & moshing about for the entire set. Listening to some bits on youtube now & it sounds fine.. but I'd highly recommend catching these guys live. Incredible energy.
Saw a bit of
DEEP THROAT CHOIR, basically a big choir singing songs over hip hop beats and a keyboard. Seemed OK though only caught the back end. Got right on the barrier for the festivals secret special guests
SQUID. Everyone knew it was them as they'd been there the entire weekend watching bands so wasn't much of a secret. The band before had overrun & Squid took ages setting up, the stage manager was getting proper arsey with them to the point the guitarist threw down a guitar pedal and stormed off
Once they got going they absolutely smashed it. Huge crowd with circles pits and crowdsurfers, though there was zero security so they were all just crashing to the floor
Been incredible watching bands like Squid and black midi play to large audiences and completely kill it. Again, this felt like a headline slot.
Headed to the main stage for
Thundercat, which we watched from the back but again, sounded really great. Always feel like I should love Thundercat but whenever I try his latest releases I'm always left feeling a bit cold. Live however it completely made sense. He & his band were incredible, the audience down the front were all completely into it. Did a mindblowing tribute to Chick Corea. Usually at these big festivals if I'm not stood near the stage I feel like I'm not part of the experience but it just works at green man so well. Definitely going to go back to Thundercats back catalogue now in hope that it'll just click, but even if it doesn't he has become a must see live performer.
Fontaines DC headlined the main stage & it felt like the entire festival would be seeing them. Unfortunately for me I think they're bang average so, in retrospect probably foolishly went to watch the sad, pethetic dying remains of
Teenage Fanclub. I walked in a couple of minutes before they were due to start to find there was only about 200 people there
Even Deliluh pulled more people in. When they got the few songs I wanted to hear out it was fine... but they look fucking ancient & I've never really thought about it before but fucking hell their lyrics are proper embarrassing shit. I had committed to seeing them so had to see it through as I knew they'd finish with Everything Flows, which I won't deny, still sounded incredible so in some ways it was good to finish the festival with one of the best songs ever created my mankind. But fucking hell, it's time for them to give it up. They've got cult Welsh hero Euros Childs on keys now, but when they introduced them he barely got a cheer... what a fucking waste of talent. I felt bad for The Swede making her watch them, I don't particularly like Fontaines DC but at least that wouldn't have felt like a funeral.
Only plus side was as soon as they finished we were right by where they burn down the giant wicker man & do the fireworks display so that was a nice finish.
all in all, a fucking incredible festival. The older I get the smaller I need things like this to be & this was the right size. Bars could have been faster, but they don't stop you bringing your own booze in so I can't complain. The sound on all the stages was ace, the crowds really responsive to the bands, seemed a lack of dickheads in the crowd plus the campsite was pretty quiet at night. Also was really easy to get down the front for pretty much everything so no worrying if you will get into a tent if you arrive late. Will definitely be my go-to festival of choice, especially now Glastonbury gets ever increasingly hard to get tickets for.
thanks for reading, JP.
Not that it was dull, it just has that kind of relaxing feel to it. Enjoyed it a lot, these young kids definitely sound like they're inspired by The Jesus Abyss. 
It wasn't particularly any good but I admired the energy of it. Lucas Loveridge who runs the black midi facebook group did his debut gig too, lots of beats and silly vocal effects, kinda cool for what it was.