2010 - Wet But Flaming Wonderful

[peridot]

It must be some kind of magic that makes GM seem perfect each year and then so much better the next

Or is it just listing to the punters and seeming to respond to each and every suggestion for minor improvements - little things we collectively suggested last year like deposits on the plastic cups to keep the arena cleaner, dish washing facilities, better programmes, etc, etc.

The video screens at the main stage were a welcome addition, as was the GM radio station, and I couldn't believe an even wider range of food stalls (Laverbread burgers anyone )

My all time GM highlight was seeing Robert Plant in 2007 but I have to say that he's been relegated to second place behind Flaming Lips 2010 - what a performance

Other personal highlights included Laura Marling, Race Horses, Beirut, An Horse, Chew Lips, Besnard Lakes, Erland & The Carnival, Alasdair Roberts, Darwin Deez.

I've previously been ambivalent about Doves but having seen them live I now understand that they're about as irrelevant to modern music as you can get

And what anyone sees (or hears) in that wailing wench with the harp is totally beyond me

I will self-flagellate for weeks in repentance for having spent an hour of my life I could have used watching First Aid Kit, seeing the 'Bard of Boring' (Billy Bragg) instead. Why on earth did I think he could dissuade me from the certain knowledge that the man's a tit

The only act that underwhelmed me in terms of delivering less than I had expected was The Unthanks. They were very good (of course) but personally I thought the choice of tracks would have been more suited to an afternoon slot rather that the evening billing they had.

The stewards as ever were brilliant, I don't know what they inject them with at the training but I want some of it! How they all maintain such a cheery attitude even if standing in the pissing rain for hours on end is beyond me.

After four Green Man's the one thought that recurs every time is that there is nowhere on earth that I would rather be on those three days of the year. I hope that it will always remain that special.

Looking forward to 2011 already, and to hearing what the rest of the half a dozen of us left here thought of this year's shindig ;D

And if the post-mortem gets too heated on the official forums and we get some new recruits I hope I've left enough TONGUE IN CHEEK hooks above to spark some intelligent debate

[cyfarthfa]

Hello Matey,
Agree with you actually.
BUT Video screens were BORING- could do a lot more with them.. Only time they worked to my mind was during Flaming Lips and that was beacause Flaming lips are already Savvy about vid & appeared to have cams and their own feed to the screen. BUT even down the front did you notice how people wanted to look at screen- not at performer on stage, but at the screen- perhaps in hope of seeing self? Music should be about presence and suffering dammit! You should only be ablr to see up their noses if you are down there in the mud!

My wife is from Newcastle. I therefore cannot say a word against the unthanks. Or I will sleep ALONE for a year. I thought Billy Bragg was oK. What i can't work out with him is that i've had three relativly long conversations with the bloke and he is sound. I've filmed him once and he is genuine and there is no ego beyond what you might expect for a person of his position (haha) . BUT I go and see him out of a sense of duty. BUT I don't think he's a tit, and he writes a good love song. Ar least he didn't do 'Between the Wars'.

I still get a nice feeling at being handed a hot dog by an heir of the Crawshays.

It is odd isn't it, how it works out in the end? Didn't see most 0f what I wanted to see at the start. I missed Alisdair Roberts again. Didn't see first aid kit. Didn't (knowlingly) meet up with any of you lot- but it was a great time. Best I've been to. One of the highlights was Brigyn on the Sunday in the Green man Pub. They sang a song about Johnny Owen (in Welsh) which was respectfull and considered. They then sang a song (in English) about Anglesea, their home, which included something like: 'this is home, this is part of me, this is where I want to be' which was how i felt, and feel about the Greenman.

I was disappointed by the Leonard Cohen film. It was very BBC. There are sometimes reasons why films are lost to history.....

The stewards.... I recon they're all on something.

Cosidering that the entire place is on a flood plane I think the organisers do a mighty fine job, and each year has got better

[peridot]

Glad you had a great time too

Yes, I hope we do see better use being made of the video screens in future. If they're retained as a permanent feature, I'm sure some artists will look to feed their own material.

I did actually see one person videoing the screen on their mobile phone which I thought was rather sad, but at least GM doesn't generally suffer the massed ranks of phones held aloft that you get at some gigs these days.

I certainly know better than to say a word against any Newcastle lass . The Unthanks were fantastic, I just wasn't overly enamored by the set choices but judging by the comments on the official forum I'm in a very small minority on that

I was being deliberately provocative about Mr Bragg (I'm not keen on 'National Treasures' in general). I have no doubt that he's genuine and agree wholeheartedly with the vast majority of his political views. He's also extremely cynical though which makes his rants against cynicism in other quarters somewhat ironic. His lecture on the evils of the Daily Mail was rather pointless and I don't think many of his audience really needed a 10 minute explanation of the double entendre in 'Ingrid Bergman' - it is fairly obvious ;D

I agree that planning is pretty futile at GM as pretty soon you end up going with the flow. I had short lists of 'must see' and 'best avoided' acts. Stage timing clashes buggered up a lot of the first list, and when I happened across some of the acts on the second one (Egyptian Hip Hop for example) I quickly reevaluated my opinion.

I do find each year that there's a moment when the music, my mood, and probably my state of inebriation, are perfectly matched and create that moment of pure bliss. Last year it was during the Yellow Moon Band, this year it was Besnard Lakes.

I was disappointed at missing the Leonard Cohen film as I wasn't there 'till Friday morning so I'm selfishly pleased to hear that it didn't live up to expectations.

Anyway, back to work tomorrow Always difficult to adjust back to 'normality' after GM, but looking forward to camping in Llandovery for the bank holiday weekend.

Seems to be very few complaints on the other forum, and lots of first timers saying how wonderful it was. Given the conditions that says a huge amount for the organisation of the festival.

Time to start my perennial campaign for Paul Brady on next year's bill. He'd be so so perfect for GM. However given that he played to a near empty St. David's Hall in April he might need some convincing to come back to Wales

[mojopearl]

Got to agree it was "Wet But Flaming Wonderful". I still on high from it all. I too haven't adjusted back to normality. My brain is still scrambled eggs.
I had a holiday ticket and spent two hours sitting by the river on tuesday just watching blue butterflies. I don't think I've relaxed so much in years. By the way which is the best food pub in Crickhowel. Anyone know?
Billy Bragg was interesting, a I hadn't seen him before. Two years ago I loved hearing Joanna Newson at Green Man, but this year it felt a bit flat to me. I don't know why. I really enjoyed Beriut.
Overall, I thought the big screens were a bonus. Pizza's in the main area were yum!
The only negative for me was so many young children, especialy toddlers without ear protectors on. I might mention it on the other forum as a suggestion the GM provide them for youngsters next year. I think it's a good idea.
Otherwise, I loved the German Wheat beer ! Could do with a pint of that now.
And stewards were amazing. If I were in the pissing rain for hours I don't think I'd be smiling. Crazy ! That valley pushes out some wonderful vibes.

[peridot]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it mojopearl! It was my first time to see Beriut and I've listened to very little of their stuff, but I recalled the furore over their pulling out a couple of years ago and thought there must be something special there. And boy, wasn't there just

The Bear is normally reckoned to be the best food pub in Crick and is the only one I've tried. I don't reckon it's all it's cracked up to be though and I've had far better food in the coffee shop down the hill from it (can't recall the name)

Is it really necessary for kids to wear ear protection? It's not that loud at GM, certainly not compared with an indoor gig / club. I'm sure lots of kids toys that they'll have their head close to are louder. My personal view is that if you take your kids to a festival you have to be prepared for them to be exposed to noise, mud, swearing, smoky aromas of various kinds, etc. - in other words a pretty good education

[mojopearl]

Hi peridot, Thank for the info about the Bear. Will look into it. When you say the the coffee shop do you mean the bakery. If so then I've found it - very nice cakes. I always end up buying too many!
Nice to have your feedback on earplugs. I've hesitated mentioning it on the other forum, as didn't want to be negative sounding amoungst so many positives reactions.
This year I missed the lighting of the Green Man, as I think it was tipping it down. Did anyone see it? Did I miss something impressive?

[peridot]

Yes I think it is the bakery. They do some hot food too and there's a nice seated area downstairs that you can chill out in for as long as you like? I think we're thinking of the same place

Just realised my earlier post sounded quite negative about The Bear which I didn't intend. It is really good, just that some people I know go one about it as if it should have a Michelin star or something when I think it's just good quality pub food.

You didn't miss anything at the burning of the Green Man. I was bored by Joanna Newsom (as I expected to be) so went up early to get by the fence. Waited best part of an hour in the pissing rain before they started with the fire jugglers / hula hoop dancers that they had last year. It was okay watching in the dry but not in the conditions we had at the weekend, and of course anyone behind the first couple of rows couldn't see a thing. They eventually lit the green man and it burned for five minutes with a few fireworks around it. You could have more fun with a a box of matches and a Prodigy CD. I certainly won't be bothering with it next year

[mojopearl]

No you didn't sound negative about The Bear. It's good to have the info for next year. Also, got some relatives in Abertillery, so who knows might end up down that neck of the woods sometime earlier. Also, I hadn't realised that the bakery did hot food.

Last year, I must have been very far back when I watched the Green man burning, as I saw no fire jugglers/hula dancers. Glad I didn't miss anything this year.
Anyway, I think the Green Man legged it up the mountain before he was lit.

[krasnyi]

Hi folks! Our 4th Green Man and possibly second best to 2009 (largely due to the weather). Like everyone else I was completely blown away by F Lips - an astonishing show. Other big highlights for me - the mighty Field Music, Erland and the Carnival, the Wave Pictures, Efterklang, Race Horses (carrying the spirit of Gorky's), John Grant, Fanfarlo, Laura Marling. Miffed to have missed the wonderful Caitlin Rose due to a stage switch but my wife and daughter saw her at the Rough Trade tent. She took time to have several lengthy chats with my daughter (nearly 7) which made her festival. They've since been conversing on facebook!

I think the big improvements came after 2008 in terms of the site layout and general organisation and it's now about as perfect as possible. I thought the big screens were a useful addition especially for kids wanting to see close-up what's going on and also if you're at the back of the arena. And they didn't carry any advertising on them between sets!

Basically it still remains a lovely place to be - even in the downpour on Monday morning we were all swapping banter on the way to and from the carpark. When do the Early birds go on sale?