Everyone was delightfully excited to be back to Brecon Beacons. Wherever you wandered in the festival grounds – and at whatever time of day – you were guaranteed to make friends with someone new. This is something that sets Green Man apart from a lot of similarly sized festivals; whether you’re exploring the shops in Nature Nurture in the early afternoon or huddling around the festival campfire at 2 a.m. in the morning, you always feel safe and welcomed. Everyone looks out for each other. And that just leads to such a warm atmosphere.
Still, the music was important. And luckily, Green Man 2024 delivered. As with previous years, many of the biggest musical moments occurred at the Mountain Stage. Friday was littered with fantastic acts, from festival favourite This Is The Kit – who treated the audience to a slew of songs from their latest album Careful Of Your Keepers – to electronica purveyors Mount Kimbie, who brought out King Krule for a couple of special guest appearances. Then, on the Saturday, Wednesday delivered a blistering mid-afternoon performance. New songs slipped in alongside old ones effortlessly, with fan-favourite Bull Believer providing the perfect scream-a-long finale to the band’s set.
More than any other act though, Big Thief truly made the Mountain Stage their own. During their Saturday night headline performance, the band noted that it was the biggest crowd they’d ever played to, and they brought enough energy to match the occasion. Adrianne Lenker kicked off the set with a couple of solo acoustic numbers, before the full band joined in to play some favourites from their deep back catalogue, including Masterpiece and Vampire Empire. The only issue with a band like Big Thief is that they have too many incredible songs, meaning a lot of classics were left on the table. New material also made up a large portion of their set as well, with the singalong closer Incomprehensible being particularly magical.
Across the weekend, the energy levels only dipped a couple of times on the main stage. Jon Hopkins’ Friday night set felt a little too muted and polite at times – especially compared to The Jesus and The Mary Chain, who were tearing up the Far Out tent at the same time – while Black Country, New Road felt like a band still finding their shape after the loss of their lead singer. Still, these minor blips didn’t detract much from the incredible run of performances across the weekend.
There were also plenty of fantastic acts to see at the festival’s largest indoor stage, Far Out. Singer-songwriter Liz Lawrence and hard-rockers Sheer Mag kicked things off in style on the Thursday, and the energy stayed high from there on out. As mentioned, The Jesus and The Mary Chain sounded as vital as they ever have on the Friday night, playing favourites like Just Like Honey and Head On. There were plenty of other opportunities to rock out at Far Out across the weekend too, with festival favourites Osees bringing their singular brand of scuzz punk to the tent and Hotline TNT delivering some impeccable shoegaze.
If you wanted to dance at Far Out, well, there were plenty of opportunities to do that too. Ibibio Sound Machine drew one of the biggest crowds on Saturday afternoon; their set felt like one long dance party, with the band delivering hit after hit, and treating the audience to a lifetime’s worth of cowbell solos. Late into the night, Hannah Holland offered up a very different type of dance party with some crushing techno and DnB. Chai Wallahs and Round the Twist similarly offered plenty of opportunities to move your feet, as well as the festival’s secret cabaret bar, tucked behind one of the festival’s many clothes shops.
The problem with writing a review for a festival like Green Man is that, more often than not, it runs the risk of devolving into a laundry list of great musical performances. There were plenty of things to love beyond the bands and DJs, though; the festival’s cinema tent, Cinedrome, also delivered plenty of highlights – including the weirdo POV horror film In a Violent Nature – and Babbling Tongues offered up great talks and great comedy. Joz Norris was a particular highlight on Friday night, delivering a ridiculous 20-minute set in which concluded with him jumping around the crowd in his underwear and collecting smells from the crowd.
Like every year, Green Man succeeded to weaving a rich tapestry of entertainment. Beyond what I’ve mentioned there were also great dancers, children’s performers, karaoke, cabaret, art installations, and impeccable food and drink choices. The only real downside is the difficulty of coming back to the real world and trying to orientate yourself again.
Now comes the longing until we can do it all again. And if Green Man 2025 is anywhere close to as good as it was this year, then it’s sure to be something magical too.
