GREEN MAN RISING FINAL
Clwb Ifor Bach - 2nd June 2026
Another free gig! Blimey, who said live music was getting expensive? Some background: With the Green Man Festival now generally recognised as the best festival in the UK (sorry, overly-corporate and mainstream Glastonbury, but it's true), it's no wonder that a slot on its bill is highly sought after. Green Man Rising is a competition that recognises up-and-coming talent, with hundreds of artists and bands competing for a coveted slot on the festival's main stage and a recording session with a vinyl release.
This show was the grand final, the top five as whittled down by the various judges. The night was compered by BBC Radio Wales/6 Music presenter Huw Stephens, with highlights being filmed for BBC Wales show Backstage. Each band had a 20-minute showcase slot, so not a lot of time, but more than enough to prove your worth. There was only one band playing who we knew about so it was going to be a voyage of discovery for both MrsRobster and myself.
First up was the only Welsh band on the bill, Cyn Cwsg. They have a typically Welsh sound which, if you're fond of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci or Melin Melin, you'd probably enjoy. Some good tunes in there, but I didn't feel they had that spark that would set them apart from others. I will be checking them out further though.
Glasshouse Red Spider Mite win the award for Worst Band Name, for sure. Hailing from Brighton, they kind of reminded me of late 80s/early 90s American slacker bands like Pavement and very early Grandaddy. I could hear what they were trying to do, but they really didn't come across terribly well, particularly as they felt this was the occasion to play 2-minute tapes of someone talking about spiders between their songs. It meant they only actually played 3 tracks. They blew it by wasting time with that pretentious nonsense.
Next came Kiosk, an electronic duo who, quite frankly, if I never hear them again I'd be happy. Mainly because their bass was so loud, you couldn't hear anything. Both MrsRobster and I actually found it painful and had to fashion ourselves some makeshift earplugs to save waking up in the morning with tinnitus. It was hard to tell if people in the audience were dancing or just vibrating. It didn't help that Kiosk's singer sounded like she just couldn't be arsed. That's when you could actually tell there were vocals...
Tall Child is the performing name of Zha Gandhi from south London. She's of Nigerian and Indian heritage, queer and disabled. I'm not sure why any of that should matter, but it's made clear in her bio. Musically (and most importantly), she sounds very 'now'. Along with her band, she played four songs which evoked the likes of Mitski, if you want a contemporary reference point. She also cites the likes of Radiohead, Arlo Parks and David Bowie as major influences, though doesn't everyone use that latter one these days? To be fair, she has some good songs and, in places, you could hear the potential of her voice. She did sound a bit flat in places too, though, which was a shame. She also felt the need to waste time talking between songs when she would have been better served just playing. Even so, I had a feeling she would win...
Finally, Manchester's The Slow Country took to the stage. And they showed EXACTLY how this sort of thing should be done. No messing, five songs one after the other, BAM-BAM-BAM. And they really were quite extraordinary. A 7-piece who sound like what would happen if you mashed early Arcade Fire and the Waterboys together. Looking around, they definitely had the best reaction of the night from the audience, and they unquestionably gave the best performance of the night, both in terms of their songs, their presentation and their stage presence. Granted, we'd seen them once before, last year when they supported Floodlights, and we could tell then they had something a bit special. On this night though, they'd really ramped it up several notches. Tight, punchy, uplifting and in-your-face. Without question, for both MrsRobster and myself, The Slow Country were easily the best band of the night - they ticked all the boxes that this sort of event needs ticking.
The judges, however had other ideas and announced Tall Child as the winners. I had a feeling they would, but I'm keeping my reasoning to myself. Don't get me wrong, Tall Child could well go on to be very successful and I certainly hope they are, the very best of luck to them. But in terms of what a showcase event like this should be about, there really should only have been one winner. The Slow Country were head and shoulders above the others.
And this is where things like this fall down. Music shouldn't be competitive. It should be based on its own merits. Yes, I'm guilty of it too. At the end of the day, everyone in the audience would have had an opinion on who should win, but the audience don't judge - a panel of "industry experts" do. Who are us mere mortals, us fans, us consumers, to argue? I'm glad I went, but my initial scepticism that the best band would lose out to other factors was well founded.
That is, of course, just my opinion...
For the record, there is no live footage of Tall Child to be found on YouTube. That's the only reason I haven't posted a clip.
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