In 2005, a film was made of the Green Man Festival in Wales. It has been unreleased and unseen for nearly 20 years and features performances by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Alasdair Roberts, Josephine Foster, The Fence Collective and Joanna Newsom, among others.
Folk was the word of the moment – in all its truest sense and meaning.
Like sleeping giants, the Welsh Black Mountains offered a striking backdrop for the Green Man festival, which, in 2005, was enjoying its third year. We were in the thick of the New Weird; on Folk Radio, which launched a year before, a new live stream appeared called ‘The Edge’, dedicated entirely to alternative and indie folk…it felt like a great time, new beginnings. With a capacity of 3000, Green Man, by modern festival standards, was still small enough to feel cosily intimate. Most importantly, they gave a stage to many of the underground folk artists of the time that other purist folk festivals were ignoring.
The festival felt unique enough for some to worry about its future. Andy Tait wrote in The Wire, “I worry for The Green Man. It works so beautifully as a small and friendly listening event. Its confidence and delicate nature could easily be trampled under festival wellies, as the mainstream rushes in to plunder its folk spirit. Thankfully, organisers Jo and Danny are fully aware of the need to protect this precious resource.”
This film offers a slice of that magic, which festival founder and former organiser Jo Bartlett has also shared some fond recollections of:
“2005 was an incredible year. It was the last year Danny (Hagan, the other founder and organiser) and I did absolutely everything ourselves. We were so busy leading up to and after the festival that we weren’t able to work on a release for the film. Our wonderful friend, Jason Glenister had directed and produced it, we saw him and his crew (of two), buzzing around the site with their cameras. Every now and again, one of us would call the other and talk about what to do with the film, but then life would take over again and it remained unseen.”
“I watched the film about a month ago and it blew my mind how wonderful and special it is. It is now an historical document, not just of the festival, but also, a music scene. I realised this time, we need to get it out there, for as many people as possible to enjoy. The time feels absolutely right and I am very excited!”
Jason Glenister recalls:
“My main memories are of Jo & Danny physically building the main stage, booking artists, having fraught last-minute calls, curating the band times, sorting out portaloos – and all the while herding and corralling their two young children away from festival site hazards.
“This is all part of the reason why Green Man 2005 is such a beautiful coming together of music, friends, family and celebration. And in turn, I felt the only possible way to capture all this energy was to be as honest, open and un-intrusive as possible in creating a documentary of it all.
“I approached the entire idea as a fan of music and an audience member caught up in the middle of that joy. There are no ‘artist or musician interviews’ but instead, simply chats or conversations had in a passing moment, over a beer or between a song. I doggedly stuck to this approach, with all the people involved constantly roaming around with cameras rolling – caught up in an impromptu ceilidh with James Yorkston – or King Creosote campfire sing-along with Adem, families with kids and Joanna Newsom. That is why it’s so special to me and why all involved felt joyous to be part of it.
“Folk was the word of the moment – in all its truest sense and meaning. I vividly remember there being a tangible communal buzz of simply being together at a point in time, with great musicians, great people, with no real difference between audience and artist. So the only real approach to capturing this was to be as invisible as possible, in both filming style and then in editing and shaping it afterwards.
“To give it a sense of simply opening a door, stepping into a moment in time and watching as it magically unfurls before you. Being carried along on the music and the flow, then once it has flickered through it’s story, to then simply recede until there is only a yellow moon hanging over a Welsh valley in the sultry summertime. A magical music box with all the treasures and joy of celebration held inside, waiting until someone opens the small door and steps inside.”
In order of appearance
King Creosote
Alasdair Roberts
Daimh
The Fence Collective
Josephine Foster
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Matt Sweeney
Malcolm Middleton
His Latest Novel
The Earlies
James Yorkston
Wizz Jones
Joanna Newsom
Adem
More from Jo Bartlett
Jo has been steadily writing about the years she and Danny ran the Green Man – her 2005 memories can be found here: https://indiethroughthelookingglass.com/2005-green-man/
