Segunda-feira 20 Ago 2007, 17h:08
The big discovery for me at this was the excellent Joanna Newsom, harpist and singer, who would appeal to any fan of Kate Bush, and indeed to anyone with ears to hear. I'm more than a little embarrassed that I hadn't noticed her before.
The very same evening, the magnificent Tunng rose to the big-crowd challenge perfectly, managing to include a cock-rock guitar solo and a bunch of bouncing beachballs into their triumphant set. Their new album, Good Arrows, was on sale early, and certainly lives up to expectations set by last year's Comments of the Inner Chorus, while also making new moves.
Tunng seemed very pleased, and at first a little daunted, to be returning to the Green Man, having played much lower down the bill two years earlier. Maybe the excellent Monkey Swallows The Universe will get the same royal treatment at a future Green Man after this year's delicate yet resounding performance. They even made the rain go away. For a while.
Kudos for making a bunch of lazy drinkers get up and dance purely by telling them to do so goes to the idiosyncratic Slow Club, arguably the highlight of the café stage.
My only criticism of the festival is that the whole thing felt a little too ponderous overall, though all of the above-mentioned did a damn good job of lightening the mood, and the thunderous tight art-punk of Clinic and the under-rated post-rock beauty of Fridge at least took the edge off the folkitude. Maybe get Alabama 3 on the main stage next year?
The prize for Worst Lyrics Uttered in Public for this festival goes to The Broken Family Band, though competition was particularly strong and they only won by a whisker.
The prize for best tent to hang around in must surely be awarded with honours to Café Dish, for their high-octane coffee, their infectious enthusiasm, and their excellent soundtrack. Perhaps these three things are related.
And as for Robert Plant, he was precisely as I expected him to be, so I sloped off to the cinema tent to see some excellent live-soundtrack shenanigans from Woodcraft Folk. If you are ever in the same situation, I can only hope that you have the same option.
There were undoubtedly many more top things. Despite my best efforts, I might have missed one or two.