Green Man Festival
Glanusk Park, Brecon Beacons
21/08/2009-23/08/2009

The same weekend as V but with no crossover whatsoever, Green Man’s upped the capacity to 10,000 but lost none of its charm, with an astonishing setting and a chuffing splendid line-up.

Friday afternoon, Far Out Stage and the first must-see; with spunky Welsh indie-rockers Sibrydion - whose set properly kickstarts the weekend and sets the bar unerringly high. At the Green Man Pub, The Gentle Good are shorter on bombast but no less exhilarating, with immaculate compositions delivered beautifully and deserving of more prominent billing. Then back at the Far Out, there’s a huge crowd in place for Beth Jeans Houghton - providing the first real ‘buzz’ performance of the festival. Next up Pivot sod around in a manner so laboured it’s embarrassing – not least the prick on the laptop. So it’s up to Four Tet to show how it’s done as Far Out headliner with a back to basics set. Of course, Animal Collective are the big pull on the main stage, but they couldn’t have blown their moment more spectacularly; lacklustre at best, but more truthfully just plain dull.

The Leisure Society deliver Saturday’s first noteworthy performance and are a strong contender for band of the weekend, with a terrific, polished set expanding on their recent album. The Far Out welcomes Jonny, aka Euros Gorkys and Norman Fanclub – and some predictably sunny pop harmonies. It might not have the depth of their individual catalogues, but they’ve earned the right. They are followed by Peter Broderick, his one-man-band performance destroying everything that’s gone before; with the euphoria at the conclusion of his set fully justified. You know how lovely Bon Iver‘s album is? Well live the magic is equally evident, with them revelling in a main support slot as fitting as anything on the bill. Jarvis Cocker, however, falls desperately flat, his trademark wit and banter failing to mask a lack of decent material. So it’s back to the Green Man Pub for Dent May and some of the finest pop songs this year, displaying effortless sophisticated charm.

There’s a definite wind-down on Sunday, with only Yellow Moon Band and Dirty Three standing out, while the likes of the painfully earnest Scott Matthews pad out the day. But nothing could detract from a beautiful weekend in every sense.

Andy Slocombe