The first thing you notice when you arrive at Green Man 2024 is the scenery. Whichever way you turn, at the festival site in Wales’ Brecon Beacons , the horizon is turreted by verdant mountains. They are also the second thing you notice, and the third; over the course of the weekend, you never stop noticing them.
It feels, often, like an encounter with the sublime. It’s a good job, then, that Green Man has a billing to match — an eclectic but palpably curated mix of music, comedy, film, performance art, speakers and workshops. Headlining the four-day event are tight, soulful electro-R&B act Sampha , DJ and Spotify-stream titan Jon Hopkins (who arrives on stage some 35 minutes late, before launching into a vibey if unspectacular 90 minutes of electronica) and American folk-rockers Big Thief .
If Hopkins was slightly underwhelming, then Big Thief were the Real Deal. The prolific band, fronted by songwriting force of nature Adrianne Lenker, have slightly reinvented themselves in recent months, following the departure of their long-term bassist Max Oleartchik; here, they emerge as a five-piece, having both replaced the position and added a second drumkit. They sound nothing short of phenomenal: crisper and more sonorous than I’ve ever heard them.
Watching them play, it’s clear you are watching a major artist in their prime. That they are able to load their set list with new, unreleased material (and a smattering of old favourites — “Masterpiece”; “Not”) and st.