Green Man Festival 2011

The drive up to this year's Green Man Festival was looking daunting, with an overcast sky and the threat of grey clouds on the horizon. Stepping off the car, the grass was damp with rain and fellow festival goers huddled under umbrellas as they put up their tents. However as soon as we walked through the entrance something changed - and strangely, we felt as though summer had, at last, arrived.

The Green Man site is almost shockingly beautiful and feels completely hidden away from the rest of the world, nestled into the Welsh mountains. There is no doubt that this setting adds to the overall atmosphere of the event. This was my first time at the festival and I was completely blown away; you get the privileged feeling that you've just stumbled upon a very welcoming secret gathering.

Will and the People were the winners of the 2011 Green Poll but I had never encountered them before the festival. As their set started I was sitting in the middle of a very lethargic audience and getting stuck into some much appreciated alcoholic beverage, however as soon as the catchy Bob Marley influenced introduction began my attention was well and truly focused.

Their sound is very unique; while there are clear reggae overtones the lyrics and energy of the band are right up to date. The boys are utterly in tune with eachother and clearly just love being on stage together which is refreshing when so many bands these days seem 2D.

By the time they closed their set with the catchy and witty 'Lion in the Morning Sun' most of the audience were on their feet, the sun had pushed through the clouds and I was completely sold.

Lia Ices' performance on Friday was completely spellbinding and her songs reminded me of Kate Bush's, with complex melodies and unusual arrangements. Her pure vocals were completely flawless and the overall performance was very powerful and evocative.

Headliners Noah and the Whale and James Blake each played very good sets and seemed to gauge the mood of the audience well: the Green Man ticket holders are a population who are very much 'into' their music and the acts seemed to put on a classier show because of this.

When it came to atmosphere, James Vincent Mcmorrow's performance was electric. It was a rare treat to see James performing completely solo without his backing band and his beautiful songs and out of this world vocals awed the far-out stage audience into complete submission. I heard people leaving the site on Monday still talking about his amazing set and championing him as the best act they had seen.

As the weekend drew to a close I settled underneath some trees with children playing in the branches above and the sun shining through the leaves to listen to the lovely Laura Marling standing tiny and beautiful centre stage playing a gorgeous set of old and new songs. I mentally composed what message I would leave in the leaves of the Green Man wishing tree...'Bring me back'.