Green Man / Day 2: Adrian Utley inter alia

Our first impressions were sustained, today: this really is a wonderful festival. 

We had a relaxed morning, with coffee, a croissant (for me) and a sausage roll (the Minx) from the star just outside Hotel Bell Tent, where we're staying. 

It was hot, though! The very clear skies that gave us a cold night, meant the the tent went from being chilly, this morning, to intolerably warm in the space of couple of hours.

But that was fine as we say outside reading our books until we felt it was time to venture into the festival proper, ie we were a bit peckish and also felt a beer might help deal with the heat. 

On paper, there isn't that much here for me in musical terms, but I've managed to find a few things of interest and my plan was - and remains - to just tag along with the Minx at all other times. 

First up, today, for us, at least, was The Joy, whose beautiful close harmonies absolutely justified their name. 

We followed that with the 'ambient jazz' of the Ishmael Collective, whose vibe was absolutely perfect for enjoying a beer in the sun, before going to see one of my choices: 137 x Jeff Keen. 

Actually, it was billed at 'Adrian Utley and 137 Jeff Keen Live Score Band', which is what caught my eye as Utley was a member of Portishead. Basically, the band perform a semi-improvised score while the surreal and frenetic films of Jeff Keen are played behind them. Under other circumstances it might have been a bit wearing, but actually I was in the perfect mood for it. 

After that we returned to the main stage, finding a nice spot to sit up on one of the ridges, from where we watched John Grant and then Wet Leg. 

I'm always surprised by John Grant's popularity if I'm honest. His songs aren't that catchy and during his set there's quite a bit of noodling about with analogue synths, which suits me but I guess I don't expect everyone else to feel the same way. That said, the crowd seemed to enjoy every minute.

As for Wet Leg, I only really know one song by them, 'Chaise Longue', which I assumed (rightly) that they'd play towards the end of their set. Well, we sat through the first half hour and then the Minx said she wasn't sure she was up for another forty-five minutes, which I agreed with - it was all a bit one-trick pony - but just then they started playing material from their new album and matters improved immensely; much more in the way of layered guitars and, I think, stronger songs. 

Although when 'Chaise Longue' did arrive, it was excellent.