One of the acts that I had been keen to see at Green Man this year was Sharon Van Etten. Her past two albums have made a lot of waves in the indie world and I have really enjoyed listening to the second of these, which was released earlier this year. It has to be said that it hasn't gone over too well with everyone in the household (described as "a bit droney" on one occasion by N).
Her 8pm slot on the Saturday fitted with our movements around the festival, and it was a really enjoyable set. Her between song chat worked in a similar way to the way that E's lightheartedness between songs can add a bit of contrast to the sometimes heavy Eels tunes. Definitely up there with the best of the festival, a final song guest appearance by Hamilton Leithauser really made it for me. I smile to remember it.
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| Leithauser, right of stage. |
II
Not only did GM have a rough trade shop this year, they also had a tent displaying and selling those gig art posters. Have you seen this type of thing before? I think it started up in the US, artists would be comissioned to produce one-off posters for venue/city specific gigs on a tour that would then find their way on to the merch table as a unique piece of art that had only been produced for that evening. These guys had an exhibition of these and some for sale
Here are some links to the folks that were exhibiting there..
A picture of the team at the tent
The UK poster art website
One of the artists exhibiting (more of which later)
There were actually two posters that had been designed for performances at the festival. One for Mercury Rev's headline set on Saturday and one for Sharon Van Etten's Saturday evening set. (I sense you may be jumping ahead of me here on where this blog post is going).
III
The Rough Trade people organise various signings and appearances in their tent and it so happened that Sharon Van Etten was calling by after her set. So, freshly acquired poster in hand, I went round to say hello. Very friendly lady, took time to talk with all the people there and kindly signed the poster.
IV
For a man who loves a ltd ed, this was a freaking great evening- great music, friendly chat with singer and fine bit of art to hang on the wall. I was so chuffed, it made my weekend. And here is the poster..
