Greenman

Iron & Wine to headline Green Man Festival Sunday night

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Backed by a superb live band, acclaimed Texas-based singer songwriter Sam Beam will bring the curtain down on our ninth annual summer shindig in the Brecon Beacons on Sunday August 21st.

iron and wineIron & Wine’s brilliant fourth album Kiss Each Other Clean was released to rave reviews at the start of year, drawing comparisons with the likes of Mercury Rev, Simon & Garfunkel and even Stevie Wonder.

It is Beam’s most ambitious and accessible record to date, adding increasingly adventurous instrumentation and a healthy dose of funk to the dusty American of Iron & Wine’s achingly beautiful 2007 breakthrough The Shepherd’s Dog – we can’t imagine a more atmospheric climax to Green Man 2011.

The list of exciting new additions to our amazing 2011 line-up goes on and on!

Gruff Rhys, a bona fide Welsh music legend, has good Green Man form. He headlined the main stage with Super Furry Animals in 2008 and, in typically off-kilter fashion, played a secret solo acoustic set in a nearby cave in 2007. One of the most prolific and consistently original songwriters of his generation makes a welcome return when he headlines the Far Out Tent on Sunday. Gruff will be joined by ace Welsh surf band Y Niwl as he performs tracks from new album Hotel Shampoo, along with melodic gems from his solo back catalogue.

noah and the whaleNoah and the Whale have matured beyond their origins on the West London folk scene alongside contemporaries Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling to morph into one of Britain’s most vital and life-affirming pop bands. Main man Charlie Fink describes new album Last Night On Earth as his “coming of age record” – witness the rise of a compelling band hitting brave new creative heights.

James Blake makes music that melts hearts and moves bodies in equal measure – not so much breaking down musical barriers as leaping over them. It is fair to say that the 22-year-old composer and producer is hot property right now, and for once the hype is justified – here’s your chance to find out what all the fuss is about.

James Yorkston has been holding Green Man audiences spellbound since our very first festival in 2003. As warm and comforting as a well-aged whisky, James will combine timeless folk song-craft with readings from his wry and witty tour diaries It’s Lovely To Be Here – the first ever book from Domino Records’ new publishing imprint.

Suuns are the latest in a long line of great bands to emerge from the musical hotbed of Montreal. The Canadian four-piece fuse post punk, electronica and Krautrock as crashing drums and nose-diving guitar riffs punctuate tautly-weaved beats.

PLUS we’ve got sets from The Antlers, The Cave Singers, Thomas Dybdahl, James Vincent McMorrow, Ben Howard, Treefight For Sunlight, Moddi, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Marcus Foster, John Mouse, Chialo Sim, No Thee No Ess, Neverest Songs, The Sleeping Years and The Bleedin’ Noses to name but a few.

We’ve been keeping you on tenterhooks, but now our final main stage headliner is revealed at last! The good news is that our 2011 line-up doesn’t end there. Ever the tease, Green Man still has some big names hidden up his sleeve. The bad news is that tickets are selling fast, and it just wouldn’t be the same without you…

*Line-up so far:*
2:54 / Admiral Fallow / Bellowhead / Ben Howard / Benjamin Francis Leftwich / Bleeding Heart Narrative / Chialo Sim / Driver Drive Faster / Duotone / Ellen & The Escapades / Emily Barker / Explosions In The Sky / Fleet Foxes / Gruff Rhys / Hannah Peel / Holy Fu ck / Iron & Wine / James Blake / James Vincent McMorrow / James Yorkston / John Mouse / Lia Ices / Marcus Foster / Moddi / Neverest Songs / No Thee No Ess / Noah and the Whale / Oh Ruin / Our Broken Garden / Polar Bear / Robyn Hitchcock / Suuns / The Antlers / The Bleedin’ Noses / The Burns Unit / The Cave Singers / The Doozer / The Gentle Good / The Leisure Society / The Low Anthem / The Ramshackle Union Band / The Sleeping Years / The Travelling Band / Thomas Dybdahl / Treecreeper / Treefight For Sunlight / Ute / Villagers / Wild Nothing… with more to be confirmed in the coming months

*The Festival Site:*
The Green Man Festival site is situated in the Brecon Beacons, crossed by the River Usk and enveloped by rolling countryside and breathtaking mountains and hills. It is, in a word, idyllic. We encourage everyone to explore this wonderful site, and make the most of the surroundings. Wide open spaces contrast with intimate moments. Natural beauty blends with community spirit. Camping is limited to one week of the year – Green Man festival. It’s a unique opportunity to camp in surroundings unlikely to be found at a commercial campsite.
The Main Stage is located in a natural grassy amphitheatre. Sprawl out on lush green slopes while watching world-class artists perform against the mystical backdrop of Sugar Loaf Mountain. The formal gardens are used for Einstein’s Garden where art installations, stalls and entertainment are positioned between rose arbours and flowerbeds.
The Courtyard Bar is situated in a Gothic Victorian Stables (keep your eyes peeled for the bats at night) and makes for an ideal halfway meet-up point for the festival. From the Stables you can follow an avenue of ancient trees decorated with garland lights where stalls sell delicious global food and quality crafts. From the avenue, you can enter the walled garden where the Green Man Pub hums until the wee hours. The Green Man Pub is an intimate space where you can drink a superb selection of ales, beers, cider and cocktails while relaxing at sturdy wooden tables and chairs as glorious music wafts across from the Pub Stage. After the avenue of trees, the space opens up to the Science and Literature tents. Near here is the bonfire area, a focal point for late-night jamming from dusk till dawn. The Far Out big top is also nearby, and when the sun goes down the Far Out After Dark keeps the fun alive long past the witching hour, fuelled by the nearby End Up Bar which is open very, very late indeed.
And once you’ve got your bearings, why not pay a visit the all-seeing, all-knowing Green Man himself? He might just make you wish come true…

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Green Man pub-quiz facts:*
* Green Man is the leading contemporary music and arts festival in Wales.
* Independent festival founded 2003 – this is our ninth year
* Only UK festival with a 24hour drinks licence
* Only UK festival offering a holiday ticket for festival-goers to camp on site for a week and enjoy the local tourist sites and outstanding countryside before the festival happens. At just £40 more, this initiative adds quality to the ticket and also generates more income for the local economy.
* Kites, buzzards, dippers and swallows have been spotted on our breathtakingly beautiful site during previous Green Man festivals

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Ticket Details:*
– Adult weekend pass £135.00 (18 and over)
– Student £115 – can only be purchased with proof of an NUS card or ISIC card.
– Teenage ticket (13 – 17) SOLD OUT
– Holiday ticket (£40.00) can only be purchased with a weekend adult pass. It enables people to arrive four days early, camp in the Green Man’s spectacular site in the Brecon Beacons National Park, and combine the festival with a holiday in magical Wales.
– Children 12 and under go free but must be accompanied by an adult (18 and over)
– Camper Van SOLD OUT
– Car park £5.00

Tickets available via http://www.ticketline.co.uk/green-man-festival-tickets

Green Man 2010 to premiere LEONARD COHEN film

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Leonard Cohen

So, thought we’d stop announcing new exciting stuff once the festival sold out? Think again.

Green Man is proud to present the UK première of a film that nearly never was. Almost four decades after it was first made, this is the strange tale of Bird On A Wire – a remarkably candid documentary captured across all 20 concerts of Leonard Cohen’s 1972 European Tour.

We’re rolling out the Green Carpet and converting the “Far Out Tent,” into a 2000 capacity cinema on Thursday night, as Wales and the Green Man host the UK première of this astonishing portrait of an uncompromising artist in his prime – as it was meant to be seen and heard in all it’s undiminished glory.

Tony Palmer Director and Editor “The film is precious to me and the venue for its first public screening vitally important, so when someone like Fiona asked me to première Bird on a Wire at Green Man and explained that it would be shown in a large circus tent in the beautiful welsh mountains, how could I possibly resist.”

A hitherto unseen insight into the world of one of music’s genuine geniuses, this near-mythical piece of musical history was hijacked and hacked up upon its completion.

Reluctantly lost from director Tony Palmer’s hands, artistic wrangling and massive editorial cuts mean Bird On A Wire has never been seen as its makers intended.

Now, having languished in the vaults for 38 years, the original film has been salvaged, restored and pieced back together through a huge labour of love (and just a little luck) – and you can see it first at Green Man.

Director Tony Palmer, who has previously made films with The Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, said: “Maybe what is valuable about the film today is not only that it contains 17 of Cohen’s greatest songs performed by him in his prime, it has a real feel for the rough and tumble and difficulties of life on the road.

“I know of few other films where the backstage confusion comes so vividly to life, with Cohen apparently taking no notice whatsoever of the camera. I doubt if today we would be allowed such access.

“The songs are haunting, unforgettably so. The poetry is extraordinary. But so is the man. Looking back after 38 years, my admiration for Cohen remains undiminished. The original film was made with love – I hope that quality once again shines through the restored film.”

Bird On A Wire promises to be a real treat not just for Cohen’s fans, but for anyone with even a passing interest in music, poetry and cinema.

Producer Stephen Machat, whose late father the famous industry stalwart Marty Machat managed the star until his death in 1988, added: “This film is the culmination of an epic journey. My father cajoled Leonard into documenting his tour even though Leonard didn’t want to. But my father could see what it would mean. At the time, I had no idea why he was interested in doing this. But on viewing the beautiful film that Tony has put together, I see it and feel it.”

This UK exclusive will take place on the Thursday night of this year’s festival – an extra special treat for all you Holiday Campers and early arrivals. What better way to raise the curtain on what promises to be our best-ever festival?

You can read the full incredible story of how Bird On A Wire was rescued from the cutting room floor in an exclusive in-depth feature in this year’s festival programme written by Tony Palmer himself.

This is Green Man after all – so expect the unexpected.