Hello friends. We were wandering through the Cardiff indoor market the other day (aren’t all the new food places WONDERFUL??) when we came across a young man who described himself as a public typist – improvising stories for people on a little typewriter.
We were most taken with this idea, so here’s a little feature on Adam of Found Out There.
My name is Adam. I am a public typist. I travel the island improvising stories on a typewriter for people in public. I’ve made a little cabin of wonder in Cardiff Market where I’ll be typing stories until Christmas.
You are welcome to give me three random words, the name for a character and I’ll type you a unique story as you wait. Lovely as gifts for children, adults, friends, family or for yourself.
Between now and the end of the year, my opening hours will be:
Monday – Thursday 11 – 5 Saturday 11 – 5
I’ll be participating in the Night of The Arcades on the 15th November and my hours will change in December to include the extras Sundays the market will be open.
People can also order stories via my website if they can’t attend the market in person: Found Out There.
Cardiff friends! Our exploration of Cardiff’s cultural scene continues today with a peek inside CULTVR. Genuinely one of my favourite venues in the city, CULTVR is one of the only spaces of its kind IN EUROPE (never mind Wales / the UK), and it celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. Big thanks to the team at CULTVR for taking time to chat with us about their amazing venue.
Q. For those who have never heard of CULTVR Lab, can you describe it to us please?
We are a test bed to research and develop immersive art projects and XR live performances. We deliver our activities through three platforms, with CULTVR Lab bringing together producers, technologists, film, theatre makers, artists, academics and performers to explore the limitless potential of immersive storytelling through the digital arts. Our educational platform CULTVR Academy facilitates workshops, lectures and curriculum based activity to advance the knowledge of emerging technologies and skill transfer. And finally, we have created CULTVR Portal, an immersive digital archive for future generations capturing the creativity of Wales and showcasing the best of contemporary Welsh culture in a free for all online platform.
We never anticipated that we would be the first immersive arts lab to open in Europe focused on fulldome cinema, XR live performances and digital arts. We were hosting live immersive events four years before the Sphere in Las Vegas opened its doors! And we did this totally independently of public funds and corporate investors, which is incredible. We have the largest screen in Wales with 225 sq mt of surface area, which makes our arts centre quite unique.
💎Cardiff’s hidden gem💎
We've realised that so many locals still don’t know about us! So here's a quick 30-second video to give you a glimpse into who we are and what we do in one of the most unique venues in Cardiff!
We have been creating immersive films for the last 10 years and making XR live performances since 2017. We had to travel to the other side of the pond to create and present our work, as simply we could not showcase it anywhere in the UK as the infrastructure was not in place yet. Additionally, we had experience touring portable domes across Wales and internationally so we decided to create CULTVR to be able to showcase our own XR projects and also to facilitate the presentation of immersive art creations from fellow artists working in this medium.
Without experiencing the transformative power of immersive spaces it’s difficult to be inspired enough to commit to the hurdles needed to be overcome to produce for the medium. It’s even harder, if when you are hooked you have no way of testing out and learning as you create. Domes and immersive rooms need to be more accessible and greater in number, and luckily the overall excitement towards immersive technologies is helping significantly in lowering the price of entry into this arena. So for us to be able to produce content, we soon realised that we also needed to create the physical infrastructure to be able to R&D and present immersive work to audiences.
Please introduce us to your team!
Our team consists of six talented artists, designers, producers, engineers, and creators at the forefront of technology. We believe in cross-disciplinary practice and collaborate with a team of specialised freelancers for specific projects when we need to expand the team in a certain direction.
Our directors, Matt Wright and Janire Najera focus on the creative and artistic aspects of CULTVR while working with organisations, artists, and technical teams to produce immersive experiences. Lauren manages CULTVR’s daily operations, ensuring the smooth functioning and alignment with our mission. Mauricio Martin leads the creative aspects of our XR programs, while Rhys Davies oversees immersive filming and live event activations. Jamie Wilson specialises in 3D design and animation supporting the delivery of digital art experiences.
Exciting News! Three of our immersive productions are on tour! 🌍✨
Polydomous – House of Digital Art 📍 Mauritius From the Shadow of the Stone – RAM Festival 📍 Italy The Voyage of Arka Kinari – Astra Film Festival 📍 Romania#fulldome#immersivefilmpic.twitter.com/z5KBzsQh9I
Since we opened our doors, we have presented film screenings, dance, theatre, live music performances and have hosted conferences, networking events, training sessions and brand activations to name a few!
We delivered the first programme of immersive art residencies in Wales back in 2021, supporting 12 artists to create their own XR (Extended Reality) projects. And we continuously receive visits from schools, college and university students from Wales and beyond to get an introduction to immersive media and learn about the opportunities and the skills needed to produce for this medium.
We have also established international partnerships with other immersive centres presenting the work of international artists at the Lab and have hosted international festivals that attract delegates from around the world. We also regularly host visiting Delegations of International visitors (from Norway to Quebec and the Basque Country to Hong Kong) to showcase the space as a best in class European facility that helps to drive forward a creative medium by lowering the barriers of entry to all.
🚨 DJ Yoda is BACK at CULTVR to present the XR live performance: 50 Years of Hip-Hop! 🚨 DJ Yoda will feature some of the genre’s most iconic tracks under our immersive dome.
Often people tell us when they come that it feels like they have travelled to Berlin, which we take as a great compliment.
You have had a bit of a bumpy journey opening just before the covid pandemic started – can you talk a bit about that, and how it’s affected what your vision was for the venue?
We never anticipated that we would have to close our doors a few months after opening our arts centre. Although we could not bring audiences together under the physical space of the dome, during the pandemic we expanded our team as many organisations all of a sudden realised the value of interactive and immersive experiences as a way to engage with their audiences. We came together during this period and the team concentrated on expanding our spaces and creating new areas within the Lab for when we reopened. It was an incredibly rocky and challenging first few months and we couldn’t quite believe our luck, but eventually we rose above the challenges and ironically ended up being one of our most productive periods. Needless to say we haven’t looked back since and continue to slowly grow however we won’t lie, the current post pandemic climate and general cost of living places huge pressures on the smaller independent grassroots venues.
Are there any frustrations or difficulties you face running the venue?
A colleague once mentioned that being a pioneer often means struggling to get the support you need at crucial moments, as you need to wait for the sector to catch up. It was very hard to explain to funders and other organisations the potential of immersive arts as it is an ‘experiential’ medium (you need to be in the space to fully get it) so we created the space in the hope it would be easier to showcase what we had envisioned. In other cities we’ve worked in, projects like this are embraced from the start, as they recognise the value for the local community and the international exposure it brings. However, here in Wales, it has been challenging to navigate the existing frameworks that primarily support established organisations, as we’ve emerged as a new arts venue with a different vision. It is in our DNA to embrace multidisciplinary practice and operate across sectors, so we fall through the funding gaps as we are a cinema, a theatre, a live music venue, a research centre, a gallery and an immersive arts lab at the same time.
Are there any events coming up over the next 12 months that you’re really excited about?
We are incredibly proud to be hosting FDUK for the second year in a row. Fulldome UK is the UK’s longest running immersive arts festival and fulldome artists and filmmakers from around the world will be descending on Cardiff to experience a curated programme of the world’s best fulldome films alongside a packed schedule of talks, presentations and immersive live performances.
In addition, to celebrate our 5th anniversary, we are presenting a new collaboration we have been making with the incredible Slowly Rolling Camera (performance at the Lab on 6 December 2024) . SRC was the first live XR performance we programmed at the Lab in 2019 when we made an immersive visual score for their album ‘Juniper’, and we are very much looking forward to this show. 4Pi are creating the visuals in house and can not wait to present the outcomes live on the 6th of December. It’s sure to be an amazing night and those lucky enough to get hold of a ticket (which are selling fast) will no doubt have a night they won’t forget.
Next March, we are hosting the Best of Earth Awards Ceremony, a coalition of some of the most prestigious and respected fulldome film festivals from around the world, including FullDome Festival in Jena, (Germany), Dome Fest West in Los Angeles, (USA), Dome Under Festival in Melbourne, (Australia), SAT Fest in Montréal, (Canada), and Brno Fulldome Festival (Czech Republic) and FDUK. Audiences in Cardiff would be the only ones that would have access to watch all of the selected immersive films.
We will continue to throw all of our efforts and resources to support the wider Welsh community in embracing and engaging with the transformative possibilities of cultural immersion and we are always on the lookout for collaborations that facilitate this. Our aim is to create a permanent facility with one of the world’s first LED domes in Cardiff, so currently we are looking at various opportunities that can facilitate this.
Also, finally, HOW DO WE PRONOUNCE YOUR NAME! Is it Cult – VR, or “culture” … or is it up to us to decide? 🙂
It is a play on the word culture and what we do at the Lab, shared virtual reality experiences. Both pronunciations work well and we enjoy having a playful name that can be interpreted by audiences. Ultimately, we promote cultural immersion so hopefully our name transmits this connection.
Pink Floyd’s iconic album ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’, originally released in March 1973, turns 50, and what more fitting a place to celebrate it and experience it than in a 360º cinema, through the music set to visuals. With the help of modern technology, the idea of a show combining breathtaking views of the solar system and beyond, played out to 42 minutes of The Dark Side Of The Moon in surround sound, has been embraced by the band. NSC Creative have led the visual production efforts, working closely with Pink Floyd’s long time creative collaborator Aubrey Powell from Hipgnosis.
Mesmerica is a visual music journey presenting music of Grammy-nominated composer and percussionist James Hood together with visually-hypnotic, 3D animated art curated from artists around the world.
FDUK 2024 will take place on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th of October and will feature the work of leading fulldome artists and producers from the UK and around the world. The event is a great opportunity to experience fulldome creativity in all its diversity, and to meet and learn from fellow immersive creatives.
Prepare for a night like no other, with the multi-talented Beardyman and the captivating Teddy Hunter, alongside DJs and VJs sets featuring João Saramago and Andrew Wagstaff. Presented by Cardiff Music City Festival.
Immersive documentary film about the extraordinary journey aboard the 70-ton sailing ship, Arka Kinari, ingeniously transformed into a cultural platform to amplify the urgent call for action on the climate crisis. Delve into the inspiring voyage across oceans of musicians Filastine & Nova, connecting distant shores through the unifying language of music and art to raise awareness about climate resilience on a global scale.
Devil’s Flower by Black Mantis is a new project from South Wales based producer Deri Roberts. His latest album Devil’s Flower sees him delve into his darker electronic side fusing together his love for sound sculpture, electronica, and jazz, resulting in an ever changing world of sound with a visual score produced by the award winning immersive studio 4Pi.
Join us for a special live performance with Slowly Rolling Camera celebrating 10 years since their first album. With their sixth studio album ‘Silver Shadow’ being released this summer this performance will envelop audiences in the dynamic interplay of magnetic melodies and cinematic visuals. Accompanied by an immersive visual score created by award winning studio 4Pi Productions, this XR performance pushes the possibilities of storytelling within shared immersive spaces inspired by the visual and musical interplay found in moving images.
DJ Yoda returns to CULTVR to present the XR live performance: 50 Years of Hip-Hop. This event is not just any club night; it’s an immersive experience that combines the best of hip-hop music with 360º visuals. DJ Yoda will feature some of the genre’s most iconic tracks presenting for the first time a fully immersive AV set dedicated to hip-hop in the UK.
If We Disappear is an immersive acoustic-visual journey crafted by Berlin multimedia artist and sound designer, Emika. Set against the backdrop of her latest album, Falling In Love With Sadness, this unique live show is designed for the planetarium, combining Emika’s distinctive voice, piano melodies, and hypnotic beats with 360º visuals. The performance delves into themes of love, loss, and the search for meaning in chaotic times, inviting the audience to reflect on where love goes when everything else is falling apart.
HUGE THANKS TO THE CULTVR TEAM! If you want to follow and support, here are all the links you need
Flying, bungee jumping, free falling and so much more at P!nk’s Summer Carnival! It’s a huge understatement to say the party started in Principality Stadium; the greatest show on earth began!
Kicking off the show as support acts were KidCutUp, Gayle and The Script. KidCutUp warmed up the crowd in between sets, Gayle rocked the stage in her Cymru bucket hat and scarf, and The Script made sure the crowd were ‘still alive but barely breathing!’
We knew before the show started that we were in for a treat, but from the first song P!nk really showed us how the night was going to continue. When she sang ‘I’m coming up, so you better get this party started;’’ that was not a lie. At the top of the stage, towards the roof, standing proudly singing was P!nk herself! And what an entrance she made. She threw herself off the top and bungee jumped down completing acrobatic tricks on the way whilst STILL singing.
The entire show was filled with fun. There were segway flamingos, hanging bunches of bananas, palm tree, fireworks, flames… you name it, we saw it! We even saw two couples get engaged during her set, which was absolutely adorable to witness.
Just coming up to the halfway point, P!nk started singing Cover Me In Sunshine before her 13-year old, Willow, walked out onto stage and joined her. The bravery and courage of Willow to perform in front of a stadium filled with fans at such a young age was commendable, and Willow probably had the biggest cheer of the night.
P!nk introduced a cover of What’s Up? by saying that she was once arrested for disturbing the peace by singing it when she was younger. The entire stadium definitely disturbed the peace with this song too and bystanders around Cardiff outside could probably hear every lyric as clear as day.
I’d like to take a moment to give P!nk a huge pat on the back for introducing every single person on stage individually and making sure they had their moment to shine. She introduced and named every band member, every back-up singer and every dancer and made it known that she was friends with the most talented people on the planet. A lot of bands and artists don’t take the time to give the other creatives on stage a platform and the fact that P!nk used a couple of songs to hype each one up, was fantastic to see.
Ending her set with So What! came with the most anticipated moment of the night. She flew! Strapped into a harness, P!nk was raised up into the air and launched around the stadium making sure every single fan in that venue got a chance to see her. It was so surreal that she looked like a doll being flown around!
It was an absolute pleasure to experience P!nk’s Summer Carnival and we’re so glad that she started the tour off in Cardiff!
Here at We Are Cardiff, we love hearing about new businesses and ventures thriving. Tracer Booking Agency are newly in town, and we had the chance to speak to the founder. Read on!
Introduce yourself
Hi, I’m Rich, a music promoter, musician and freelance venue representative from Birmingham, living in Cardiff.
I’ve been in the music industry for around 15 years as a musician, promoter, and fan. I am the guitarist in Cardiff based Hyper-Fuzz band Death Cult Electric, and previous ticketing manager for Orchard Live, as well as working freelance for Sŵn Festival on multiple occasions.
What was your motivation to start this new venture?
I’d been out of the promoting world since January 2023, where I was running Tone Deaf Creatures promotions (along with my business partner Ethan John who now runs HMG promotions. Shout out to Ethan!) and I felt now was the time to get myself back into doing what I love, bringing my favourite bands to Cardiff and try to run the best events I can.
I was working for Orchard Live, working on the biggest and best events Wales had to offer. These included Queens Of The Stone Age and Bryan Adams in Cardiff Castle throughout 2022/23 and I’d learned a lot from my time there from everyone I came in contact with. I felt I needed to put all of this into a project of my own.
Why did you choose the name ‘Tracer Booking Agency‘?
The name had been on my mind for a while, but had recently changed its meaning. The name represents tracing over everything I have done and learned in my 15 years of being in the music industry. Start with all of that expertise and skills I have picked up and then build a bigger picture from there.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself
I have actually ‘Hassled the Hoff’ in a very bizarre situation including an angry taxi driver and a card company awards ceremony. That’s all you’re getting on that!
Any future plans for expansion?
I intend to move into artist management once I have a few more shows under my belt as Tracer Bookings, but I am always happy to offer advice to any musician or artist who needs it.
We will be expanding the team also, looking to bring in another person who has a passion for booking artists on tours and big support slots. Watch this space!
Any exciting upcoming gigs?
I’m super excited to be bringing one of my favourite bands, and good friends of mine, JOHNNY FOREIGNER to Clwb Ifor Bach on 12th June. Support comes from Cardiff favourites MY NAME IS IAN and Math-Pop newcomers GOOD THINGS (featuring members of SAMOANS, ROUGH MUSIC and MATTERS). Tickets are on sale via GIGANTIC and CLWB.NET.
We are working behind the scenes on some exciting shows at a venue I’ve been looking forward to be working with for some time, but you’ll have to wait for that!
How can people get in touch with you?
We are on Facebook and Instagram, and you can email us with you EPK or any press releases on TracerBookingAgency@gmail.com. I always love discovering new bands, so if you’re noisy, shouty, or have good riffs, please send them over!
Alright kids. There are a couple of COOL THINGS happening this weekend around Cardiff, so I’m doing a mini events guide. This is by no means exhaustive so please ADD YOUR EVENTS IN THE COMMENTS THANKSBYEEEEE.
A great chance to visit the “new” location on Barrack Lane (okay not so new anymore but I haven’t been there yet, soooooo). Anyway. A great independent venue, go along and support – this is a FREE EVENT supported by Cardiff Council. Yes you heard!
Perennial classic which launched Danny Dyer directly into the hearts of the British public after his fabulously awkward wanking scene. Go watch it and lament miserably over how you saw it when it came out and how are you nearly 50 now??
HOFFI 4 – LUCAS ALEXANDER / MACE THE GREAT + GUESTS @ BUNK HOUSE
Some of you might remember the Bunkhouse on St Mary Street running banging nights in their basement waaay back in the day. They closed off the basement to non-residents for years, but suddenly they seem to be smashing out massive grimey nights again. Lovely little underground venue with a great line up, go headbutt the speakers and have a wonderful bubble.
I know Jacobs are getting a double entry but what you gonna do they’re a total gem in the city. If you’ve not seen it, this classic retains its claim as the quintessential Welsh film (buy yer own feckin glue). Go buy a ticket NOW.
A full day of fun on the water and fun out of the water! Live music from Live Lounge, local food from the Farmers Pantry, coffee from Coffie Pass. This year’s Paddlefest features the first ever Welsh Championships Kayak Cross (an event that will make its Olympic debut in Paris this year) alongside the GB SUP and GB Canoe Slalom races. If you’re going along for the day, there’s a load of taster sessions for you to book – Indoor Wave, Air Trail and SUP Tasters. The white water will be flowing all weekend.
MONDAY 5 MAY
CARNEDD OPEN DAY @ Ty Wilcox, Dunleavy Drive, CF110BA, Cardiff; 12:00-21:00
If you, like hundreds before you, ever temped for Cardiff Council in the 90s or 2000s, chances are you might have humped printer paper around or spilt tea pon de replay while wearing ill-fitting brown office shoes somewhere around the maze of dim corridors in Ty Wilcox. Today, this empty monument to 1980s instant coffee Welsh brutalism has been reimagined as a CREATIVE SPACE FOR GIGS. No really. The Carnedd collective is holding an open day there on Monday 5 May (the collective comprising of SHIFT, tactileBOSCH, Umbrella, and Dyddiau Du). Thanks to Xavier Boucherat’s Through the Night newsletter for the tip on this event).
Is your Cardiff street like my Cardiff street? Littered with an assortment of kebab wrappers, empty baggies, and recycling bags stuffed full of actual waste that your neighbours keep leaving out? Keep Wales Tidy have got you.
They’re arranging Spring Clean Cymru on 15-31 March 2024 – and calling on people across Wales to join forces to collect and safely dispose of litter from our streets, green spaces and beaches.
The plan? Join in and pledge to pick up as much litter as you can during the campaign. You might choose to pick up just one bag, or you could set yourself a goal of collecting as many as you can.
Last year, an incredible 7,000 #LitterHeroes collected more than 4,000 bags of litter and recycling. Can we do even better in 2024? I could probably do that just from my street in Butetown. COME ON CARDIFF WE GOT THIS!
Whether you’re an avid litter picker or this is your first time joining for a community litter pick, pledge to pick up a bag – or more – today!
Nadolig Llawen to all you lovely, lovely folks out there. There have been a couple of useful posts in the Cardiff subreddit this week which I thought I’d share (and pull some info from) in case you’re looking for something to do on Christmas Day, a place to get coffee or food, or if you’re looking for something to eat and you’re on a low income or unwaged.
Here’s what we’ve found:
Lovely lovely Queer Emporium is open 16:30 – 19:00 for a couple of hours, for folks looking for somewhere warm and welcoming
The amazing Pink Kiwi is open and serving breakfast and lunch, coffee and cake free of charge 08:00-15:00.
Another amazing local organisation – Aubergine Cafe – are hosting Queersmas in Cathays, 14:00-20:00 – free to attend but you’re encouraged to book a ticket through their site (link in their Instagram)
Here are the two posts (more info about places that are open tomorrow on there. We also hear the following Cardiff Wetherspoons are open from 11-15:00 – The Ivor Davies, The Ernest Willows, The Aneurin Bevan, The Mount Stuart):
The last place you’d probably expect to find the International Tortoise Association is tucked away in someone’s back garden in the sleepy town of Sully, in the Vale of Glamorgan. And, yet, that’s exactly where it is. The Association and its sanctuary are run by Ann Ovenstone MBE (she is known to friends and associates as ‘the tortoise lady’), and she’s helped along by a team of dedicated volunteers.
A few weeks back, I went along to meet Ann and visit the sanctuary, to make a small documentary Ann the tortoise lady for the BBC (it was shared on BBC One!! I know, check us out!!). You can watch the final piece here, although it’s edited down from about an hour’s worth of chatting and wandering around the wonderful sanctuary…
But there was loads more we discovered on our chelonia tour (chelonia being the generic term for tortoise/turtle/terrapin) than I could fit in the short video, so I thought I would share the rest of the visit here.
The association started in a relatively organic way – Ann got her first tortoise aged around five (it cost six pence from the local market – and she still has it!), and then as she got older had some other friends who also had tortoises. The animals started laying eggs, but no one really knew how to look after them, so Ann started researching … and over fifty years later, has pretty much dedicated her whole life to the care of these weird reptiles.
She works with UK Border Force to help identify illegally smuggled species, which can be challenging and upsetting work – she says that some of the largest hauls can contain up to 300 animals, half of which are usually crushed to death in transit.
While a few smuggled animals can sometimes be saved, they can never be returned to their natural habitats, as there is too high a risk of introducing bacteria or germs they might have picked up here. Instead, these animals have to be tagged, and they must be returned by their new owners to be checked every six months, to make sure they havenot been sold on for profit. It’s complicated and time consuming business, but for Ann – who has spent a lifetime in the company of chelonia – it’s worth it.
The Association’s members work tirelessly to ensure the welfare of tortoises, including caring for the sick and injured, rehoming, events, breeding and hibernation programmes. All aspects of the tortoise life are undertaken at the sanctuary and the specialist expert knowledge of those involved ensures that all tortoises who are born, bred and live there receive the utmost in chelonian care.
Although Ann says tortoises are perhaps not the ideal pets (when compared to more interactive animals like cats or dogs), they are definitely full of personality – being in the sanctuary felt a little bit like walking amongst very small and quite nibbly dinosaurs. They especially like painted toenails, as Ann told me they think they’re tiny tomatoes (both of us made the mistake of wearing sandals on the day of filming …).
The sanctuary (aka Ann’s garden) is an overwhelming complex of small runs, sheds, ponds, industrial fridges (to help with hibernation) and warm indoor tanks (to help with incubating eggs). They hold open days throughout the year, and also provide services for members like taking in tortoises to hibernate in optimum temperatures, and incubating eggs to hatch. If you have a tortoise in your life, or are interested in having a weird, tiny, prehistoric looking reptile join your family, then head to one of their open days to find out more.
You’ve probably noticed that we’re big fans of writing over here at We Are Cardiff. We presume some of you are as well. You might even be writers, or just want time to spend on your writing. So … it’s not in Cardiff … but if you need an excuse to head into the incredible countryside of north west Wales, and want some time to focus on your writing, Ty Newydd is the perfect spot.
Ty Newydd Gwynedd
The creative writing centre is run by Literature Wales, and features a series of courses, workshops and retreats throughout the year. Ty Newydd is a pretty sweet place to focus on your work … and Criccieth isn’t bad, either!
The courses for this year cover everything from poetry, to non-fiction memoir, to young adult mythology. View all Ty Newydd’s courses on their site (or scroll to the bottom of this article to go through them all).
We Are Cardiff went along to a Yoga and Writing class that took place in 2017 – a three day course that combines two creative practices that energise one another: yoga, plus writing. There was also meditation, breathing, and movement with writing exercises, added to some Hindu mythology and free time to write in the blissful surroundings of Tŷ Newydd. It was ace to meet guest reader Vivienne Rickman-Poole, photographer, film maker and outdoor swimmer who lives in Snowdonia (we followed her #swimsnowdonia project for some time now – she even took us for an outdoor dip!)
If you love the idea of attending a course at Ty Newydd, but aren’t sure you can afford it, Ty Newydd also offer bursaries and financial support for people to attend. Find out more: Ty Newydd financial support
It was the sixteenth Green Man Festival this year. It remains a wonderful and immersive experience – free from blaring corporate sponsorships and steeped in the magical Welsh mountains. In our opinion, this was the best Green Man yet.
The Mountain Stage, with Crug Hywel (Table Mountain) off in the background
The Guardian and Telegraph have already given the festival 5/5 stars, which we’d agree with – read on for our comprehensive romp around one of the best blinking festivals we’ve ever been to!
The fact that Green Man sells out – year after year – should tell you something about what happens to people that come to this festival. This year was my eighth Green Man, and as far as I’m concerned, the best yet.
Even when not adorned with miles of bunting, walkabout performers and stages large and small offering up musical wonderments, the Glanusk Estate is a beautiful environment. The Mountain Stage sits at the bottom of a grassy amphitheatre, with stepped ledges allowing for maximum relaxing while you’re listening to music waft up the hill, while Crug Hywel (the Table Mountain for which the Table Top area is named) dominates the backdrop.
Add in 20,000 glittering, tie-dyed people of all ages, the option of a full week of activities through the Settlement camping beforehand, and a whole beer festival within the actual festival – and you’re getting closer to the spirit of Green Man. There’s no corporate sponsorship anywhere – no Carlsberg tent, or Volvo spa area. Pints of beer and cider – all independently produced – are reasonably priced. Considering some day festivals in London charge £80 a ticket and £6.50 for a can of Red Stripe, and you’re starting to wonder why people would bother when you can come here instead.
Revellers in the glow of the Mountain Stage
The ‘man’. This year, the Green Man sported a very natty pair of horns, and is covered in written wishes that all go up in flames on the Sunday – delivering them to the universe!
General camping opens to the public on Thursday morning at 10am, and so after a hearty Wetherspoons breakfast en route (don’t judge) we rolled into the campsite. As there were a few of us this year all squeezed into my tiny car, we opted for a pre-erected tent rather than hiring a bigger vehicle to hold all our tents. And I must say, if there’s a few of you, or if wrangling tents just isn’t your thing, the Tangerine Fields campsite is brilliantly located at Green Man – directly behind the Mountain Stage, meaning you still feel totally embedded in the action even when you’ve just popped back to get a jumper.
Once our minimalist camp was set up, most of Thursday was spent doing a lap of the site, and trying to find somewhere open early enough for us to get our first cider on. The ever-reliable Chai Wallahs opened earliest, with the Diplomats of Sound DJs serving funky beats and the bar serving whiskey coffees (a recommended mid-day pick me up). The rest of the day was spent puzzling over the popularity of Jimothy Lacoste (an old editor of mine once said if you’ve got nothing good to say about an artist, don’t say anything at all. So it’s best I say silent on this one, but I can at least convey some facts: 1 – he mimes, 2 – the kids seem to love it); enjoying a quick trip to the Cinedrome tent (which can provide a welcome respite from the weather and noise outside) for a screening of Anorac, Huw Stephens’ documentary film about the Welsh language music scene across the country (well worth catching if you can).
“I would like to think that our nationalism, our Welshness, is defined by something bigger than just historical oppression”
We then headed up to the Far Out stage for Thursday night’s closers. We enjoyed bouncy Scot The Pictish Trail, then ended the night with a rousing and spine-tingling Public Service Broadcasting show. Their last album Every Valley took listeners on a journey down the mineshafts of the South Wales valleys, and although the purpose of the record is to shine a light on the “disenfranchised working class in this age of turmoil”, there was something particularly haunting about hearing the music just a few miles from the heartlands of the Welsh coal mining industry. Also, they brought the Beaufort Male Voice choir onto the stage. No, you’re crying. Blep.
On Friday we were up early and back up to Table Top to catch the “official” druid opening of the festival. This year Archdruid of Glastonbury Rollo Maughfling performed the opening solo (some other Stonehenge druids were on their way but had got lost …). We wished for peace throughout the whole world, chanted a bit, and then having blessed the festival, gave a large round of applause and went about our day.
Archdruid of Glastonbury Rollo Maughfling blesses the festival
Finding critters
Nature activities for big and small kids
We lazed in the sunshine and enjoy the shiny pop of Amber Arcades followed by the spacious ditties of Eleanor Friedberger, before deciding to explore the festival a little more.
The Nature Nurture area is where to head to if you’re looking for something for your body, your mind, or a bit of both, with the area offering every massage you can imagine, nutrition from a vegan cafe, or even shamanic journeys or gong baths, if you’re so inclined. After wandering the area for a while, I decided on some inversion – being strapped to a board and hung upside down for ten minutes, which is supposed to reduce pressure on your back and neck, allowing it to stretch out and recover from all that sitting on hard ground and lying on lumpy camp beds. (I enjoyed it so much I went and did it again on Sunday).
Having a good stretch
For the rest of Friday, we enjoyed the psychedelic noodlings of Beak>, aka Geoff Barrow of Portishead, the weird rnb/indie pop of Dirty Projectors, and then it was back up to the Far Out Stage, where the programming was a bit skew-whiff. Firstly it was Floating Points live, which felt like a very Berlin style minimal set you’d expect at 4am in a weird dive bar down some hole in Alexanderplatz, followed by one of my festival highlights, Mount Kimbie. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them – the last time was a very different kind of ‘live’ gig at Cardiff Arts Institute in 2010, which you can listen to here: Mount Kimbie Live at Cardiff Arts Institute 2010). This was full live band, with pounding intensity and great upbeat tunes. And then, what we were waiting for – the main event for After Dark – John Talabot. What we were expecting was techno – but what we got was some weird cheesey rnb disco. It wasn’t until some time later after we’d all left Far Out, somewhat confused, that someone in Chai Wallahs told us John Talabot had pulled out due to illness, and it was in fact a Floating Points DJ set.
I was very drunk and belligerent by this point (apparently all I said for an hour was “where’s the f***ing techno” until my second brandy chai, where I lost the ability to speak completely). We headed for the ferris wheel, which often has the most banging tunes of any venue on site – no jokes, you get on there and get whizzed up and down, and then see if you’re not screaming with glee while they play Whitney Houston’s ‘I wanna dance with somebody’ followed by DJ Zinc’s ‘Wile out’.
Luckily, the Walled Garden is on the way home from the top end of the site, meaning we got to stumble into the brilliant Heavenly Jukebox, where I’m pretty sure we stayed for about an hour, although the only song I can definitely remember was something by Lionel Ritchie? Anyway, big up to Jeff, Diva and the crew who mercifully I didn’t go and talk to, because I was beyond speech and no one except my nearest and dearest should ever had to deal with me in that state.
After such a heavy Friday night, I think it’s fair to say everyone in the tent cursed me at least five times when I woke them all up at 8.30am with the bright and breezy news that ‘WE’VE GOT A HOT TUB AT TEN AM GUYS!’. Bathing Under The Sky have been bringing their wood-fired hot tubs to Green Man since 2015, and although it might not seem like it, there’s nothing better for sorting out that hangover than slowly boiling in hot water, then submerging yourself in a freezing cold plunge pool, and repeating for two hours.
Saturday morning hot tub
It’s a luxury that’s worth investing in, although one member of our party was so hungover all he managed was five minutes in the hot tub (he did also vom in one of the bins right in front of the Mountain Stage on the way back – yep, the bit where all the kids play – just as Sweet Baboo struck his first chords to open the stage on the Saturday). “GREEN MAN! YEAH!”
After depositing our worse-for-wear tent mate, we headed back out into the festival, feeling fully refreshed, where Westerman was playing in the Walled Garden, and we picked up our first cider of the day (my drink of choice throughout the whole festival was a nice half of the Mortimer’s Orchard English Berry cider. Mmmm).
Westerman in the Walled Garden
Walled Garden in full swing
The black hole for all my cash on site, the Rough Trade stand
After that, the afternoon was a haze of sax-lead jazz from Nubya Garcia and crunchy guitars and huge trousers from Bo Ningen.
Bo Ningen
After that, we waited around Far Our for another one of the other acts I’d been really excited about seeing – north Walian nu techno kween Kelly Lee Owens. Instead, some gal with a guitar took to the stage … again, with no announcement about the line up change, but we did find out from a steward she also had pulled out due to illness (techno flu must be going around). I wasn’t drunk enough to be livid this time, but did bemoan the lack of screen outside Far Out notifying people of line-up changes. The night still ended on a high as I had a spiritual experience to the magnificent John Grant (who is 50! Can you believe he’s 50??), followed by Simian Mobile Disco with the Deep Throat Choir playing their latest album, Murmurations.
Although I didn’t spend any time at the Green Man Rising Stage this year, the fact that Deep Throat Choir were headlining the Far Out stage is a testament to the stepping stone that Rising plays in the careers of so many acts – I first saw them on the Rising Stage in 2014. But there’s so much to do every year … it’s impossible to get around to doing everything …
Bubbles
So when Sunday rolled around, and I realised it was our last day (last day!), we rolled the picnic blanket out in front of Xylouris White and enjoyed some wonderful jazz by way of Crete and Australia, before I decided to go and hang myself upside down in the Nature Nurture field one last time, and then topped up the wellbeing with a half hour massage. Well worth the investment, you could have poured me out of that field back into the festival.
Another area of the festival I’ve not mentioned yet is the Back of Beyond – the performance area, with an aerial rig for trapeze, hoop and rope performances (right next to a flying trapeze you can have a go at if you’re feeling brave!). This year the hosts of the afternoon entertainment were the usually NSFW Mr and Mrs Clark, who brought much merriment and shenanigans to the stage.
Mr and Mrs Clark
And here’s Mrs Clark, leading the crowd in some festival yoga.
Mrs Clark
The Kitsch n Sync ladies…
Other highlights of Sunday were the totally demented Nine-Inch-Nails-psych of Follakzoid, smooth r’n’b stylings of Curtis Harding, the huge lung capacity of Anna Calvi, and then the Mountain Stage finale – epic rock-n-roll from The War on Drugs, who I was expecting little from, but really enjoyed. It’s familiar and huge-sounding – much more engaging and demanding than the band are on record.
Once the headliners had finished we ambled up the hill to watch them burn the Green Man from the safety of the large safety perimeter fence. A lot of people use the burn as their festival watershed, but I felt revived after hanging upside down and getting pummelled earlier in the day, so wandered over to Far Out, where High Contrast challenged everyone to bring their best bass face and smashed out some incredibly dark drum and bass to finish the weekend off.
Stumbling around the site, I decided to do what I always do at the end of the festival, and do one final victory lap. The Deptford Northern Soul Club were still going strong in the walled garden, full of an energetic audience filled with plenty of cross-dressing (did anyone else notice that as a thing this year?), tie dye, and plenty of biodegradable glitter.
It’s impossible to round it up in a sentence, other than to say the bands were wonderful, the food was great, the weather held out – and it’s still, by a long way, one of my favourite festivals. The lack of corporate sponsorship and the beautiful setting makes for a special experience – where you really do feel like you’re immersed in a completely different, magical world. Long live Green Man – mark out the 15-18 August 2019 in your calendar, and make sure you follow Green Man on all their channels for early bird tickets.
To see our full round up of Green Man photographs and see all the We Are Green Man festival portraits from this year, head to the We Are Green Man Facebook page!
I recently spent a few hours lost in the internet when I came across Nick Sarebi’s wonderful photographs of Cardiff in the 1980s. I messaged Nick who kindly agreed to let us publish them, and even did a mini interview with me, which I present, here, for you. Do enjoy this wonderful dip into the archives, back into Cardiff in the late 1980s and very early 1990s. Over to Nick …
Nick: I originally came from London. I lived in between Grangetown 1988 – 95, although I was still working in London for much of that time. I always thought Cardiff was a lovely city.
I was doing a City and Guilds photography project at the time. I loved the sense of history that the Docks had, and obviously it was just on the cusp of change. I wish I took more photos back then, but it was before digital.
I lived in Pentrebane Street in Grangetown. I remember my neighbour saying that she knew Shirley Bassey and went on a works outing with her, where she sang, but then again everyone claimed to know her at that time! I think there were still close-knit families in Grangetown then, which was changing at that time. The neighbours were all very friendly. The house was covered inside with Artex when I bought it. It took ages to scrape off, I must have been mad!
The Docks
Cardiff docks, taken around 1990
Imperial House, which disappeared sometime in the 1990s
The dry dock, photographed in the 1980s. The dry dock is still there, but the shed has long since been demolished.
Cardiff Docks, taken in 1990
Nick: I loved wandering round the Docks at that time, before it was all developed. It was pretty much deserted at the time. I also remember visiting the Sea Lock and some other Docks pubs. I wanted to go into the clubs down there but was a bit wary as an outsider. The Sea Lock was definitely stepping into the past. The main bar was closed and they only had a tiny bar left open. They frowned on women going in there alone! It was demolished soon after, I think. The publicans were really friendly. I recommend Trezza Azzarardi’s The Hiding Place – it’s a brilliant take on Tiger Bay. It conjures up Tiger Bay so well for me I had to go back and take another look. It was criminal how the knocked the place down. It can still be seen in the classic film Tiger Bay, which you should watch if you haven’t seen already.
There’s a nice interview with Neil Sinclair here, talking about the story of the place that inspired the Tiger Bay musical that was out year …
I remember meeting Neil Sinclair, who is at the start of Tiger Bay talking with Hayley Mills. We met at a nice pub which was on the Bay front and was very isolated, out on the way to Penarth. This was before they built that flyover. I forget its name, I think it must have gone now.
Butetown, Cardiff 1991. This building is now home to Octavo’s bookshop and cafe
The Dockland Mini-Market – which can still be seen on James Street today
This building was preserved in the Docks redevelopment – you can now see it as the entrance to the Waterguard pub
The famous clock from the famous Coal Exchange – which, after years in disrepair, is now the Exchange Hotel
The infamous Casablanca Club, long since demolished
Cardiff docks … taken in 1991
The Norwegian Church, 1990
Windsor Esplanade, early 1990s
Cardiff Bay redevelopment, early 1990s
Cardiff – the city
Nick: Why did I move to Cardiff in the first place? That’s a good question. I wanted to move out of London, as it was expensive to buy a house there (even then!) and it was so big. Of course, no one could imagine that house prices would rise to the crazy levels they are now…
I couldn’t decide on Bristol or Cardiff. My girlfriend at the time lived in Bristol, but we split up just before I moved, so I chose Cardiff. In retrospect, what was mad was not looking for work in Cardiff. So I just travelled thousands of miles up and down the M4!
Eventually after Cardiff I moved to Bristol and I worked there for a couple of years, but was offered a part-time job in London, which went from two to four days, so I started commuting again, from 1997 right through to 2013.
I now look back and wonder why I did that! I spent seven years in Cardiff, but somehow it doesn’t feel that long – it flew by. I arrived in Cardiff only a few months after Lynette White was murdered. Someone wrote a book on it called Bloody Valentine, but it had to be pulped for libel reasons.
Tremorfa, around 1991
Seriously – whatever happened to Mr Sandwich?
Nick: It was a bit ridiculous travelling backwards and forwards to London for all those years I lived in Cardiff. Cardiff was all changing at that time. I studied at the Arts Centre – I can’t remember what it was called now.
I have visited Cardiff a few times since I lived there, walking all round the barrage with my son, and have been to watch my team, Fulham, play Cardiff. It always brings back memories. I’m glad I lived there when I did, and saw the bay before it became “the Bay”.
***
Thank you so much Nick! He has a couple of really great albums of 1980s photography. We particularly love these albums:
Miners strike 1984 (photographs of mining families on holiday in London during the strike)
St Pancras Station 1980-1 (some great portraits of rail workers as well as general shots from around the station)
How is it already time for Record Store Day again?? If you’re looking to go join the queues or catch some of your favourite musical heroes in town, we’ve got the skinny on all the events – from Lauren Laverne broadcasting her BBC 6Music show, to Gruff Rhys and Charlotte Church djing! Don’t forget to check the full list of RSD 2018 releases…
Get out and about and support your local independent music scene, this Saturday 21 April, 2018!
The annual celebration of independent record shops and all things vinyl is happening on Saturday the 21st of April – and alongside the armfuls of exclusive releases, Spillers will be hosting their usual range of DJs and live music to keep you entertained throughout the day – and this year, they’ve got SPECIAL GUEST Lauren Laverne broadcasting her BBC 6 Music show from the store! She’ll be joined by guests Gwenno and Gruff Rhys.
And Lauren’s excited about her visit to Cardiff! She says: “I love taking my show on the road for Record Store Day, but to be going to Spillers in Cardiff – the world’s oldest record store – this year is something really special. We’ll be chatting to the team there and will be joined by Gwenno and Gruff Rhys, with music from Haley. It’s going to be a fantastic show and I’m so looking forward to be heading to Wales’ capital city!”
9am – 6pm at RIP Outpost, in the Castle Emporium (Womanby Street)
Come and join us at The Castle Emporium for a right old knees up to celebrate all things vinyl! Come join the Official-Unofficial Record Store Day 2018 All-Dayer, where there will be :
*BRUNCH SPECIAL
*RIVAL BREWERY BOTTLE BAR
*BANGIN TUNES FROM CRUSH DJS / DRUNK YOGA / ROTARY CLUB / BAN LAB
Vinyl Cruisers and Spillers Records present The Record Store Day After Party! Besides the normal crew there will be Spillers regulars manning the decks. Expect some exclusive tunes for your delight!
If you’re out and about over Record Store Day 2018 be sure to tag us in your pics and we’ll reshare the best! Enjoy! #shoplocal #independentcardiff.
Also shout out to woke Record Store Day sponsor, Friels Cider! Supporting independent music! Give them a big up and tag em in, #FrielsRSD.
We Are Cardiff 