Welsh Glasto? The Green Man
From the Green Man festival in the Brecon Beacons. Camping in Wales was asking for rain, and I have seen lots of it! It rained from Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. I perfected the method of putting my tent up in the rain while keeping the inside dry though, which helped maintain a reasonable comfort level. I shouldn’t complain as this is the eighth festival I’ve been to this year, and only the first wet one.
The music at this festival was of a variety of styles. There where literature, film, and comedy sections as well. One innovation at Green Man I have not seen before was the science garden. This was quite well done although more aimed at children than adults.
The site is well suited to holding a festival, with the acoustic isolation between the stages being particularly good without having a long way to walk between stages. The main stage is in a natural amphitheatre with the Welsh hills as a backdrop. The surrounding countryside is picturesque as it is based in the Eastern side of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
With several stages of varied content, in a rural setting this festival can claim to be a mini Glasto.
The Sidmoth Collection 2010
Here is the slide show of the best of my photos.
Sidmouth Sunday
Here is image of what can be found just round the headland from the esplanade with all it’s activity.
Dipping in and out of concerts is not as easy here as other festivals. It’s also often necessary to turn up early for a concert to be sure of getting in. This means I see fewer performances than I do elsewhere. I don’t think I’m getting value for money with a season ticket. Better to pay on the door for the gigs I know I want to watch.
Sidmouth
 I’m spending a long weekend at the seaside for the first 3 days of the Sidmouth Folk Festival. The weather is muggy sometimes bright, sometimes cloudy. Typical English seaside weather. I didn’t get off to a good start yesterday as the first concert I went to was full when I got there, so I couldn’t get in. My second choice was a long walk away. The act wasn’t very good so it was another long walk to the third choice. Part of this festival is the busking. Here is couple you have seen before in my blog trying their luck on the seafront. |
Galacian Pipes
One of Saturday’s highlights was Anxo Lorenzo. The pipes he was playing looked a cross between Scottish and Breton. They sold out of CDs at the end of the gig, so were very popular. The music style showed Celtic origins, enhanced by having an Irishman in the band.
The other was totally silly. Bonny M where a late replacement for another band. I couldn’t stand them when they were in the charts. Now the performance is an excuse for 70s style silliness. They are still lacking in any artistic merit though. One wag was heard to note on observing the apparent youth of the band “at least the drum kit is original”.
Main Stage Working Well
 Unusually it’s where I’m watching most music. The new layout suffers from the second stage being too close to the main stage, but otherwise is working well despite the main path to the site entrance passing through the middle of the audience area. It has made it more of a bring a seat thing. This makes moving through the standing crowd in front of the stage difficult as there are abandoned chairs everywhere. |
Moonshine Main Stage
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| Just two stages operating Thursday night. The choice was Show of Hands and friends, or local rock bands. Not a difficult choice. Show of Hands were compares for the show and played with all their guests as well as doing their own set with their guests being invited on stage for some of their songs. I saw SoH play with Little Johnny England, a folk rock band. The result was more Cajun than anything else. Also SoH with Fisherman’s Friends as a backing choir. |
First muddy one of the year?
I’m at the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. The music doesn’t start until this evening, so I’m in my tent listening to the rain. The performance and trading area will get very muddy if this continues. Fortunately I decided to use my large tent this time to give it an airing. This gives me room to hang up my jacket in the porch to dry, keeping the inside free of wet stuff.
The layout has changed from previous years. One DH regular here was not impressed. I overheard a conversation indicating that the change was to move the main bar into a different county, where the licensing regulations are more favourable.
No photos yet.
Priddy 2010 Gallery
Another brilliant Priddy Folk Festival. I was working as site crew on the Friday morning and Sunday afternoon. The timing is good as I only miss part of one concert, the last one on Sunday. This was Spiers and Boden who I have seen many times before. The mix of new act and old favourites was just right. It was good to see Maya Preece doing the singing workshop again, she does manage to get a very good sound out of the class in a short time. It probably helps being at a folk festival where good singers abound. The club tent (free to enter) was as popular as ever and attracting good acts.
Below is a selection from my photos taken over the long weekend.
Larmer Linkups
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| The music here is quite varied. One of the styles on offer is Beatbox. The photo above is of thee practitioners of the art who appear to have met up here. This genre is conducive to improvisation so such acts can go on stage with little rehearsal. There is comedy and poetry here as well as music, some quite good, although some of the comedy stretches the definition of a family festival. |
