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Green Man Festival 2018


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Well that was my first Green Man and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Top 6 Music highlights (it was going to be 5 but I struggled to get it down to 6):

PSB - I was near the front but heard afterwards about the crush further back (see later in post).

King Gizz - also caught their soundcheck and afterwards Stu and Joey came down to the barrier, chatted with the fans, signed stuff & posed for selfies: I thought that was class.

John Grant

Whyte Horses

Kevin Morby

Nubya Garcia

Tunng (and yes I know that's 7)

Unexpected highlight - Xylouris White: boy can that man play drums. I was down on the barrier and you could see people (inc. Adam Granduciel) stood at the side studying, discussing and appreciating what was going on.

Likes:

Really very friendly atmosphere, great vibe all weekend and as somebody doing it solo I found that everybody was ready to chat, suggest acts to see and spend time with a complete stranger. Also - lots of the bands hanging around and enjoying themselves.

Beer and food - top class.

Weather.

Short walk back to the tent.

Dislikes:

Bloody chairs, especially in front of the main stage. Leaving after John Grant - in the dark - it was really busy with people leaving and others streaming in to get to the front for Fleet Foxes (which should have been expected) - I came across a line of chairs blocking my path out, people going in the opposite direction on either side and I was lucky to be able to elbow my way through them to avoid what could have been a nasty accident. (I'll be writing to GM about this).

The general standard of stewarding was poor. The stewards themselves were friendly enough but I couldn't see what most of them were supposed to be doing and I suspect that they didn't have much clue either. So instead of having stewards making sure that the exits from the stages were clear or that they weren't getting overcrowded (see PSB comments from others and around Far Out after they put the bonfire barriers up on Sunday) they were pointlessly checking wristbands by the steps over the wall to the side of the main stage. Either they don't employ enough stewards or they were poorly deployed.

Favourite randomly overheard conversation:

"I don't know whether to go back for my rain jacket because if it doesn't rain I won't need it" - I'd put him in charge of Brexit.

Anyway despite the above grumbles, I had a fantastic weekend and will happily be back for more.

Edited by Losing my hair
Parts made no sense whatsoever.
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Second Green Man and loved it.  I thought the infrastructure was excellent and the portaloos were spotless throughout in the CV field.

Not so much of the music excited me as last year but each to their own.

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How lucky were we with the weather? Perfect festival for me but completely knackered now. Just had a quick count up and got to 33 bands I saw. Quite a sprint to see RBCF, get down to M/Stage for Anna Calvi and then back up for The Wedding Present where there was a brilliant crowd down at the barrier. 

Couple of new standout bands for me were Snapped Ankles and Black Midi. Black Midi created quite a stir on the Rising stage; the youngsters were giving it some. 

Oh and Jade Bird is just lovely. 

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Another fantastic Green Man for me!

Highlights include Boy Azooga, Squid, Lemon Twigs, Dirty Projectors and PSB to name just a few!

Regarding the complaints about PSB I was in the front third and I can assure you there was no overcrowding at all there! Plenty of space to dance and move about and the atmosphere was so wonderfully positive. Everyone knows it’s the people at the back of tent pushing back against late comers joining the tent that causes the crush. If you see people trying to join then let them past you... and of course pick your bag up and pack away your chair.

Another unexpected highlight was the amount of great bands at the GM Rising stage this year as well! That and of course the wonderful staff and security, it’s these people that make Green Man such a special festival!

Same again next year!

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The issue at PSB was mainly down to bottle necking between the huge mixing desk and the viewing platform on one side plus the usual issues with entitled behaviour. If you like a band so much and need to be down the front then get there early. Turning up midway through to barge past people is just pure entitlement.

Had a decent time. Enjoyed Teenage Fanclub, Simian Mobile Disco, PSB, Beak>, Mount Kimbie, Sacred Paws and Rolling Blackouts in particular. Kelly Lee Owens and John Talabot pulling out last minute and being replaced by Girl Ray (dull) and a dj set by a bloke who had played a live set an hour or so before were irritating.

Too many food trucks and families setting up camp in the walled garden meant too much chatting. Quieter acts really suffered with Phoebe Bridgers being a bit of a let down.

Nubya Garcia's popular set suggested to me that there needs to be more diversity of genres on the main stage. The parade of serious indie white (largely) men felt a bit out of step with the musical times. Xylorous White and Curtis Harding were the only other acts I saw on the main stage that engaged me for all their sets. UK jazz is enjoying something of a moment but there was none of it outside of Chai Wallahs.

Beer selection was excellent, food very good and generally a very pleasant place to be. Lots of very nice people too.

Would not return unless there was a more eclectic and slightly less pofaced approach to the lineup though. 

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Well what a bloody lovely little festival that is! Had an absolutely awesome time and fell a bit in love with the place as a first-timer. I thought the setting was unbeatable and all the areas/stages had their own really nice identity. There was a great view of the main stage wherever we were stood and the sound across all the stages was really consistently good. As a Glasto regular, the manageability and small size of the place was really refreshing - it was so nice to be able to just wander from stage to stage and back to the campsite with ease. I also found everyone really friendly, the toilets were generally in a better state, the campsites were more spacious, there were far less dickheads around... all in all, I massively rated it and would go back. Such a nice atmosphere. 

The food options too were incredible, especially for a veggie. Big shout out to the brownie place (we went twice!), the Scotch egg place in the same tent, the dosa place (SO good) and Poco for the breakfast shakshuka. And as a cider drinker I was obviously in seventh heaven with the massive selection.

Musical highlights for me were John Grant, Anna Calvi, Floating Points, The Lovely Eggs, Simian Mobile Disco (what I saw of it), Nathan Fake, High Contrast and everything from the Cinedrome Crystal Massage takeover, particularly Graham Dunning (already a fave), Stung and Charismatic Megafauna. Also loved what I saw of The Wedding Present. The line-up certainly wasn't a massive winner for us, though, which we knew way in advance of going, but that meant it was nice to just wander about and not feel too time-pressed to do anything.

The weather was awesome! Wellies got brought but did not get used, which is always a bonus... we had no travel problems coming in or out by coach and the journey was fairly painless to and from London.

I didn't make it to the meet once more, maybe one of these days...

Nothing to gripe about from me really - could have done with another food/coffee option around the campsite maybe... And I knew PSB would be busy so didn't try too hard to get in and just watched from the screen outside. A shame, but I've seen them quite a lot by now!

 

Edit to add: forgot to mention the comedy! Really enjoyed a few things I saw and the tent in general had a nice vibe. Colin Hoult was brilliant.

Edited by Zoo Music Girl
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18 hours ago, Odessa said:

Literally just sat there having a chat and doing next to nothing, mainly just explaining the brown water situation to about a thousand different people.

I never thought to ask anyone at the time, but now I'm dying to know - what was that about? And was it safe to drink? Filled up a bottle from the campsite on Sunday and then thought better of it...

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41 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

I never thought to ask anyone at the time, but now I'm dying to know - what was that about? And was it safe to drink? Filled up a bottle from the campsite on Sunday and then thought better of it...

There was a sign by the Far Out toilets that explained it was a burst water main, presumably the same one that caused the problems leaving on Monday morning.

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3 hours ago, SalviaPlath said:

 

Too many food trucks and families setting up camp in the walled garden meant too much chatting. Quieter acts really suffered with Phoebe Bridgers being a bit of a let down.

 

It was the same for Susanne Sundfør, got there part way through the set and at the back all you could hear was people talking and the general noise from the bar and the food trucks. Get down to the front though and it's a great little stage.

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First time at Green Man and stayed in the Settlers field. Beautiful setting and very relaxing. Was surprised to see so many children but they seemed to be having a great time. Hubbie and I thought the toilets were great although not enough when the festival opened on Thursday. Great showers too and no queues if you went in the afternoon.

We were expecting to have our wristbands checked all the time like Glasto but only once and thought that anyone could just walk in at the blue gate!

Great food venues and no litter but not great crowd control.

One particular thing that bothered us was that we decided to go to the comedy tent at 7pm and sat at the front. To our left sat a group of kids without parents. The comedians came on with one having very adult themes. One of the girls was 8!! The artists obviously couldn't change their acts so they were listening to all sorts of stuff they shouldn't have been listening to at their age. Was grim!  Another family also brought in a young person listening to the same.

A curfew was given out at 9 for kids to leave but all too late. Someone should have been supervising. Dreadful but where were the parents....

 

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Meant to mention the litter thing too - I was so impressed with how clean the place stayed. A lot of that has got to be down to the plastic cups, I guess, but even food waste seemed to be chucked away and I often saw litter pickers with nothing to do. One thing about Glastonbury that always gets me down is seeing so much crap left behind at the stages and on the campsite. 

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Had a great time once again this year. Pete Brown's beer pairings, Snapped Ankles, BEAK>, Pictish Trail and Brian Jonestown Massacre were highlights for me.

Once again the real ale selection was great, and I certainly don't need anything else, but I couldn't help but notice that the craft beer and cider selections was a fair bit smaller than last year. 

 

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First time at Green Man this year, working on The Courtyard Bar (thanks to anybody who tipped us!)

As has been mentioned, I was thoroughly impressed by the friendliness of the crowd, how little litter there was, and the choice of food and drink there. Always nice to see festivals supporting local businesses as well, all the food/drink for staff was local produce, and all the booze at the bars came from Wales AFAIK. 

Have to say that I didn't find the crowds too big at any point in particular, PSB was always going to be busy on a Thursday night given the audience that Green Man attracts, and the fact that there wasn't much else on to compete with them.

Highlights for me: International Teachers of Pop, Floating Points, Boy Azooga (met Davey after, great bloke), Baxter Dury, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Wedding Present, The War on Drugs, and High Contrast. 

I think the festival could do with having a bit  more of a diverse lineup, at times it is a bit folky (I know that's where its roots lie), but all 3 headliners this year were of a similar ilk. Would have been nice to see an electronic headliner one night on the main stage.

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, John L said:

Thinking of going to this for the first time in 2019 but will likely be staying in Crickhowell.

Can someone advise how long it takes to walk from Crickhowell to the Festival site and the best route e.g. north or south if the river.

Many thanks

You can walk along the river bank to the North of the river but it's not far off 3 miles. The other side of the river would mean walking in the road I think, unless there's a path I don't know of. I only know this as I've done a few early morning runs.

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A similar question as above.

I’m a potential first timer for Green Man 2019 and considering staying Llangynidr. Is it within a walking distance to and from the festival site?

Also: is shuttle bus running from Llangynidr and/or Crickhowell?

Would be very grateful for an answer or suggestion.

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We walked to crickhowell and back along the canal, which was about 3.5miles each way. I wouldn't personally recommend either road for walking, tge one on the south of the river is narrow and twisty and busy with festival traffic. The A road on the other side is fast and no footpath. The canal was an easy walk and very pleasant. 

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