Top 5s

[blackcatista]

Yay what a great weekend!

As always, here's a thread for you all to name your top 5 acts. In a couple of weeks I'll combine them into an overall top 10/20.

Rules: only 5 please, and put them in order. Feel free to give "honourable mentions" but they won't count towards the overall.

Also, just for fun, what was your favourite song/ track of the weekend, and what was your non- lineup highlight (a stall, moment, person, drink, piece of artwork or whatever- be creative....)

I'm gonna have a think and post mine later.

[jetshymotion]

Hello! It was lovely, wasn't it?...

1. The Last Dinner Party*
2. Courtney Marie Andrews
3. Christian Lee Hutson
4. Dur-Dur Band
5. First Aid Kit

Honourable mentions: Lilo, Delgados, Beth Orton

Favourite song: Courtney Marie Andrews - Loose Future (which became the first song I danced to, live, with my 2 year-old daughters)

* also my moment of the weekend; getting chatting with two glorious souls from Liverpool, my old hometown, and revelling in all that is joyful about those moments when an apparently random world reaches out a hand...

[blackcatista]

Okay, let's have a go at this.

1. Goat. Nothing else like them. The intensity of it all just stood out.
2. Lankum. Just owned the mountain stage arena in a way not many can.
3. Les Savy Fav. Suspect this one may have split opinion. I remember commenting last year that Melin Melyn made me smile more than anyone else ever at Green Man. The LSF set knocked them out of the park, and it all works because their songs are really good. I last saw them in 2001 and was prepared for some antics, but that was entertainment overload- in context, it was barely remarkable to see the singer going and snogging the guy in front of me. And then it was all topped by Tim throwing the mic to Big Jeff to finish the last song. If only Wales had good enough internet coverage to get the zoom call going.
4. Young Fathers. Wow, they're good aren't they? Every song hit home and I really like the on-stage dynamic. And they just seem like incredibly cool people.
5. Cory Hanson. Was loving Amyl and the Sniffers but really pleased I pulled myself away to catch this. Just really good epic West Coast psych rock. Worked brilliantly after dark in the Walled Garden. But anyone who let him call his last album Western Cum should be sacked.

Honorable Mentions:
The Wedding Present (lovely to hear the Come Up and See Me cover, and "Hello Bestival"),
Josephine Foster (really wanted to put her in my top 5, but even the Walled Garden stage seemed a bit big for her music at times. Nice to see Green Man legend Alex Neilson in her band),
Slowdive (Rachel's headwear)
The Delgados (think some songs (Coming in from the Cold, American Trilogy) have lasted better than others (All You Need is Hate sounds a totally different song in 2023, I'm sorry to say), but still totally worth braving the rain for it)

Best song: Josephine Foster's Birthday Song for the Dead.

Non-lineup highlight: It's got to be the security guy in the main entrance to the Mountain Stage, yeah? If you encountered him, you'll know....

[Krasnyi]

1. Sister Wives
2. Spencer Cullum
3. Melin Melyn
4. The Gentle Good
5. Yasmin Williams

Honourable mentions: Dur Dur International Band: Etran De L’Air: Horace Andy; CMA; Goat; Bug Club; Rogue Jones; FAK; Cory Hanson.

Gutted to miss Kanda Bongo Man and H. Hawkline due to having to bail out to deal with a family emergency.

Special mention to the Accessibility crew. Due to my dodgy knee I was able to make use of the viewing platforms and all the pink-tabarded accessibility stewards were excellent, really professional set up.

[synthpopeye]

Top 5 for me...

1. Devo - Truly and utterly perfect. Green Man even uploaded a photo of me and my partner on the main page in our Devo suits at the front of the stage!
2. Gilla Band - No other band on the planet sounds like these guys or will ever come close. Musically anarchic brilliance!
3. Goat - Pure magic!
4. Amyl & The Sniffers - Sweary, ballsy, energetic awesomeness!
5. CumGirl8 - Surprisingly not as much as a gimmick as first thought, really cool Gothy sounds.

Honourable mentions: Yabba, uh, Julie, Water From Your Eyes, Island of Love


Favourite song: Peek A Boo by Devo


* My moment of the weekend: Chasing my partner through the art installation woods in a Cowboy hat and spaceman mask screaming "Git back 'ere'" while all the stewards laughed. 

[moz]

1. Crows
2. Delgados
3. julie
4. Tarot
5. My kids giggle on the helter-skelter.

[removablecloud]

1. Courtney Marie Andrews
2. Melin Melyn
3. Cory Hanson
4. Buck Meek
5. Self Esteem
I was a bit disappointed by the lineup to be honest. A few really good things and lots that really wasn't to my taste at all. Ho hum.

[andalucia]

I thought it was absolutely excellent this year, not a dud act in sight other than Spiritualised and all the late-night stuff I saw was incredibly fun

Top bands:

1. Lankum
2. Young Fathers
3. Sudan Archives
4. Say She She
5. Billy No Mates

[rayrad]

this, as ever, is almost impossible

after what was looking like a very thin bill for me, i ended up seeing loads of great music

and choosing five highlights - let alone putting them in order - is a bastard

but, i THINK this is probably it...


1 arushi jain. a combination of factors put her at number 1. the blazing sunshine. an accidentally perfect degree of inebriation. having been forced to listen to nuha ruby ra while queing for an ice cream and desperately needing the antidote. having no real idea what to expect. watching everyone around us descend into advancing degrees of loved up bliss while their minds melted (honestly, some of those people are getting married after going through that together). but the key factor, of course, is just how fucking great the music was. so easy to wander into a noodly prog rectal exam with just a bank of modular synths at your disposal. but she played that crowd like the sunburnt fiddle they were desperate to be at that moment. plus her voice is insane

2 goat. i know, i know - everyone's been telling me how amazing they are live for years. but somehow this was the first time i'd seen them. and they took my head off. again, circumstances may have played a large part. the far out was like the fucking somme at that point. and most of the other people in there seemed, appropriately, to have stumbled, shell-shocked, from some kind of psychic mobile army hospital of the mind. but what better, as you succumb to trench foot while surrounded by desperate, goggle-eyed lunatics, than the soundtrack to some kind of long-suppressed alejandro jodorowsky film

3 amyl & the sniffers. the absolutely triumphant riposte to anyone who thought they wouldn't work outside of some sweaty back room dive and were fundamentally unsuited to a huge festival stage. you have to feel sorry for first aid kit, forced to follow that. also, collosal props to the tag-teaming sign language interpreters, neither of whom could manage more than two songs in a row without having to hand over to her colleague. but i could have watched them, without the sound, and still got a pretty solid idea of what was happening on stage. they ruled. therefore a completely perfect moment when amy descended from the stage to join one of them in a jumping, stomping riot of delight. the very best thing about the band, though, may have been the sight of legions of pop-eyed eight year old girls watching them and collectively realising that that kind of behaviour was not only acceptable, but actually essential. huge kudos to their mothers for keeping them up late and trusting them to take exactly the right message from what they were experiencing. never have such a foul mouthed bunch of punk reprobates engendered such all-pervading joy. i, like everyone i could see, wandered away from that beaming like an idiot with unexpected satori

4 broadside hacks play the wicker man soundtrack. took an age for them to get the stage sound sorted out - and repeatedly blew a few panicked folk musicians ears out in the process. but how great it was once they got it going. really sorry not to be able to put gently tender in my top 5 – but as sam fryer was the lead vocal in much of this as well, felt I had to choose one or the other. lovely to have newly minted GM royalty there in the form of katy j pearson too. it’s sam’s keening vocal on ‘gently johnny’ that went around my head on repeat for the rest of the weekend, though. what a brilliant thing BH are

5 floodlights. australia gives me two of my top five this year – which ought to be some kind of compensation to the hordes of disappointed matildas fans. always great to get a totally new discovery from GM – and floodlights were it this year. the triffids meets the replacements. with mouth organ. what more do you want than that? louis parsons’ face was a picture of delight too – always a joy to see a band loving the reception they’re getting. looking forward to seeing them again at EOTR and in london later in september. take my money


extremely honourable mentions:

thus love. why is there no room for them in my top five?! they were fantastic. psychedelic furs meets television. thoroughly enjoyed echo marshall being waylaid by punters as she carried her pedal board off stage – and then having to explain it to them! also, you have to love a singer who, when faced with someone shouting “best band of the festival!” from the crowd, parries it with “fuck no!” and then goes on to list her own top three. they make a big noise – it’s a bit cheesy – and it totally fucking works

gently tender. as above. they were ace

courtney marie andrews. several new songs. many of my favourites from the old songs. three hours after landing in the UK and all on borrowed gear after british airways lost it. looks like they may have lost the bass player’s clothes too, based on what he was wearing


honourable mentions:

lost map presents weird wave. how johnny continued after landing, full bodyweight, on his balls on the front barrier is beyond me. that man is a trouper. i guess a life on the isle of eigg breeds a more resilient set of genitalia than i possess. also, musically, they were grand

dylan moran. it meant missing josephine foster (with alex nielson!!) – and i generally hate stand up. but fuck me, he was funny. this was a version of the set i’ve seen twice before – but only fleetingly glancing elements remained identical. he is a wizard and his mind works like no other

aoife nessa frances. again, i’ve seen her a bunch of times before. but it still gets better every time. if she’d been new to me, she’d have almost certainly made the top five.

dur-dur band international. joyous. infectious. all those things that idiot white people say about ‘world music’ acts. and just wait till i tell my somali next door neighbour, mohammed, that i saw them this weekend. he’s going to hug me

yasmin williams. well worth convincing the family to leave the B&B early for. you have to love a musician that accomplished who learned her craft by playing guitar hero

gina birch. not a lot of musical accomplishment here! but hooks galore – and an irresistible attitude. great to hear ‘feminist song’ live again too

etran de l’air. how the fuck did they make it to wales from niger right now? very glad they did, though. properly psychedelic

lady maisery. i skipped the first half of spencer cullum to go and see them. to then be told, after SC, that the second half of his set had been way better. i am nostradamus. but WTF? why is a band who’ve been playing for 13 years stuck on the rising stage? they should have followed jake xerxes fussell on that sunny sunday morning on the main stage. anyway, they pulled a huge crowd nonetheless – including a delighted big jeff – and their acapella version of ‘hyperballad’ is way better than the original

spencer cullum. well, the second half was excellent! great to see sean thompson (and his weird ears) up there too. along with max from hollow hand – who also played with aoife nessa frances. how come he didn’t get his own set too? anyhow, yes – major grateful dead vibes by the end. the good era

confidence man. another band who, had that been the first time i’d seen them, would have landed straight in the top five. bar a couple of mentions of ‘green man’ from sugar bones, the set / costume changes / dance moves were identical to when i saw them back in march. but it definitely bears repeat viewing. also, i danced my arse off. and didn’t get to bed until 2:30. been a while since that happened...

jake xerxes fussell. was that the perfect sunday morning act or what? mrs rad is insisting that we buy his entire catalogue. on vinyl. trust me, the fact that she is encouraging me to buy more vinyl is... unusual. also thoroughly enjoyed watching him get repeatedly accosted by over-excited punters as he wandered through the crowd later to get some lunch. he seemed surprised that anyone would want a selfie with him. but put off his complimentary wrap for quite some time in order to accommodate those requests

sarah jarosz. tbh, i found it a bit... polite. ‘slick’ isn’t generally praise from me. but the songs are great – and she has a belting voice. and did i mention how sunny it was? also, mrs rad’s eldest knows her drummer from NY, so i was minded to give them the benefit


disappointments:

number 1 by a country mile – the fucking terrible sound in the walled garden. at least anywhere close to the stage. it wasn’t just me – everyone we were with and several people i spoke to over the weekend brought up, unprompted, how appalling it was. we moaned about this last year – but no one listened. why are the drums so insanely loud that they’re blowing out the PA? why is the bass drowning out the vocal? WTF? the sound in there used to be great. but this year and last, it’s really taken the edge off a lot of acts for me. aoife nessa frances / spencer cullum / thus love / and more – all of them suffered. it’s saying something when i feel like the sound in the far out is now better than the walled garden...

beth orton. we wanted to like it. we really did. maybe it was the weather. but we all just had to leave her set after two or three songs. what was up with her voice? she sounded like a beth orton tribute act. big shame

mary in the junkyard. how i wanted them to be the band that proved how massively wrong everyone is about the last dinner party. no, no, no – THIS is the weird and wonderful band that you think TLDP is (instead of the tired rehash of endless indie tropes that they actually are). anyway – they weren’t very good. maybe they were just having an off day. i’ll give them another go at some point

repeatedly seeing louis foster (son of robert) of the goon sax wandering around the site. barefoot. but not having the moxy to go up to him and tell him how brilliant they were on the couple of occasions i got to see them play and how sad i am that they've split up

missing a bunch of acts on friday night after storm betty taught us that we're not as hardy as we think we are. we bailed after broadside hacks. comfy bar followed by warm bed at the B&B just too irresistable at that point. and i therefore missed squid, rozi plain and PVA. cheered somewhat by the fact that i've seen squid and RP before - and that PVA are playing at EOTR


non-line-up highlight:

as someone mentioned above, the undefeated bonhomie and endless good cheer of the security guy at the main stage gate. “welcome to green man! welcome, welcome!” he said to every single person who climbed up and down those stairs. all weekend. morning to night. without fail. my tiny bladder meant that i made enough trips back and forth for him to start recognising me. i felt special


non line-up highlight #2:

the peequal female urinals. obvs, i didn’t avail of them myself. but mrs rad felt that they changed the whole weekend – and met (and, as always, befriended) a host of women who felt the same. no longer did they have to balance the desire for another drink against the 20-30 min minimum wait it would necessitate at the loos. also they all thoroughly enjoyed sticking their heads up from the cubicles like some species of joyously empty-bladdered whack-a-moles to peer across the site in self-satisfied relief. genius


there's probably loads of other stuff i'm forgetting

but that's what the edit button's for

oh - great to bump into (i think in this order) and jabber with: smithers, blackpumpkinhead, peridot, krasnyi - sorry i didn't see borninthefifties, slugger, elizabeth, and anyone else i know - or who posts on here and i haven't yet met. come and say hello next year (between the bands). i'm the one with the stupid hair

[mookid94]

Really enjoying reading everyone’s thoughts. I’m trying to put something longer together but am too tired haha. An amazing weekend, as always.

My top 5 would be:
- Deathcrash
- Clipping
- Slowdive
- Sudan Archives
- Lankum

Honourable mentions: so many I could name…saw 43 acts over the long weekend, I guess Jockstrap, Young Fathers, James Holden, Les Savy Fav (crazy good fun but sometimes had me feeling uncomfortable), Spiritualised, Anna B Savage, Juni Habel, Etran de l’air, Julie Byrne, Dur Dur Band…I could go on!

Favourite song: American Metal, Deathcrash
Some non-musical highlights: hiked up and jogged down the mountain behind the main stage on Thursday afternoon and saw the amazing view plus lots of wild horses. My birthday was on the Sunday and had a perfect day. Seeing friends who went for the first time loving it. Just looking out from FO or from entrance to WG in the gorgeous Thu, Sat and Sunday evening light etc.

[biffski]

In no particular order -

Amyl and the Sniffers
Goat
Bob Vylan
Melin Melyn
Spiritualised

Great festival as always. Slightly soured by two tents near me getting robbed in the small hours. My friend had his phone stolen and another lad had his wallet nicked. Very un-Green Man but still a fantastic weekend.

[Krasnyi]

As always, mr ray, your hair was immaculate. I’m insanely jealous.

Spencer Cullum? What was wrong with the first half of the set? I thought it was wonderful. Kingdom Weather is my song of the summer.

I may have cloth ears but I thought the Walled Garden sound was better this year. I was at the front for all the acts on Thursday and they sounded great to me, especially the fuzzy bass for the superb Sister Wives.

I found Aoife Nessa Frances a little disappointing, a bit cold and remote. And a bit samey. Loved her first album though.

[alittleotter]

Another fantastic Green Man and great to see the Top 5's continue

Top 5
1. The Walkmen
2. Amyl and The Sniffers
3.Jake Xerxes Fussell
4.Etran De L'Air
5.Devo

Honourable Mentions

Spiritualized
The Bug Club
Melin Melyn
The Delgados
Buck Meek
Horace Andy
Yasmin Williams

Favourite Song Of The Weekend

The Delgados- Coming In From The Cold

Favourite Moment- When all the signers gathered at the space in front of the stage signing to Dancing Queen after First Aid Kit had just finished and everybody stayed and danced - pure joy, kind of summed up the weekend.

[rayrad]

Aug 22, 2023 18:21:46 GMT Krasnyi said:

Spencer Cullum? What was wrong with the first half of the set?

i don't know. i wasn't there

(thanks for the kind words about my hair though. it's not a patch on your green beard)

[elizabethmcevoy]

A difficult year, logistically.
Had to leave the festival for 24 hours for family reasons, meaning I missed all Thurs and Friday up to 8pm... sad to miss Spiritualized and Warmduscher.
Enjoyed the company of the lovely Sluggers and Krasnyis throughout.

FWIW, here's my top 5:

1. Lankum
2. Cory Hanson
3. Self Esteem
4. Courtney Marie Andrews
5. Horace Andy
(More reggae at GM, please)

Mentions for Bob Vylan, Amy True and Corto Alto and the Dosa stall.

As always, the Green Man figure was superb and made me pretty emotional.
Left my wishes there for those who are no longer with us to enjoy the healing powers of Green Man.

[blackcatista]

Nice to see more love for Cory Hanson. Gotta say it felt like one of those "I'm not sure whether this is extremely good or just me on a high from the weekend" things, so it's nice to be backed up by a couple of other people. Having been slagging the Sunday lineup, 3 of my eventual top 5 were on that day.

I knew somebody else would mention the security guy. I'd had a crap journey and a hard time setting up my tent on Thurs, and was having a slight freakout due to not being able to get signal to respond to an urgent text, so "Welcome to Green Maaan" was exactly what I needed. And it just kept on happening at times that spirits were starting to drop a bit.

Even if he's not working security next year GM should seek him out and employ him as a welcomer.

And Ray- I caught Floodlights' set in Round the Bend, having missed their "proper" set. It was pretty much like seeing a short version of a full set on a smaller stage. Regretting not seeing their full show. Didn't seem to be stripped down or anything.

[rayrad]

Aug 23, 2023 10:57:10 GMT blackcatista said:

And Ray- I caught Floodlights' set in Round the Bend, having missed their "proper" set. It was pretty much like seeing a short version of a full set on a smaller stage. Regretting not seeing their full show. Didn't seem to be stripped down or anything.

i love it when bands go all out at a tiny show - like they're at madison square garden

doesn't matter who's here and how many - they get the full experience!

[slugger]

1. Lankum

Simply magnificent. One of the finest Mountain stage performances that I have witnessed. Pleased I got to experience that as sadly they have cancelled all upcoming dates including an extensive US tour "to preserve the health and wellbeing of our band members" Let's hope they are back creating their magic soon.

2. Floodlights

Great catchy tunes from a band that remind you of lots and lots of your favourite bands and then they sprinkle it with a blast of harmonica and trumpet. What's not to like?

3. Buck Meek

Long long fussy soundcheck in the bucketing rain (perhaps they were aware of the previous sound problems in the Walled Garden) but it was worth it. 4 part harmonies, pedal steel, shit-hot guitar playing and sharp-dressed Buck looking and sounding as cool as fuck.

4. Beth Orton

I love the album, so with such a great band behind her I was always going to enjoy this. Got absolutely drenched but didn't notice until the end. She seemed thrilled to be on the main stage and struggled to supress a giggle during the 1st song (Weather Alive) "The weather's so beautiful outside".

Non-lineup highlight was when Slugger Junior uncharacteristically didn't fight too hard for the setlist as another punter wanted to use it as a proposal to his partner!!

Good news ... she said YES!
Good news part 2 ... stage hand actually threw down 2 setlists so after the proposal Slug Junior got 1 of them.

5. Amyl & the Sniffers

Just great fun! Perfect description above by Ray.

Honorable mentions: Ivan Moult at the Settlement, Every band in the Walled Garden on Thursday (for the 2nd year running the WG had a near-perfect line-up), Courtney Marie Andrews (what a voice!), Horace Andy, Seb Lowe (with a great band including a fantastic fiddle player which elevated his songs way beyond the recordings), Christian Lee Hutson (to my ears, sort of a mix between 1970s Paul Simon and the Red House Painters), Corto Alto

Track of the weekend: The Bug Club "Short and Round" nicely rounding off the Walled Garden festivities on Thursday evening.

or Bob Vylan .. WE LIVE HERE!

[born in the fifties]

Etran De L'Air
The Walkmen
Kanda Bongo Man
Les Savy Fav
Cory Hanson

Non-lineup highlight - The lady with the dreadlocks signing at The Walkmen and Amyl and the Sniffers

[blackcatista]

Remember to get in with your top 5s! I'll close this tomorrow, probably.