On the opening night of Green Man, the BSL interpreters are having to dig deep. “What’s ‘Fenian cunt’ in sign language?” Kneecap’s Mo Chara asks them. “What’s ‘off my head on ket’”? As European festivals ban them, the finest one in Wales – arguably the UK – has kept the Irish trio on the bill, and their combination of druggy lairyness, larky republicanism and very serious pro-Palestinian solidarity, combined with mic technique a jungle MC might envy, makes for an explosive start. Some of the hip-hop numbers are corny – a sort of Fresh Prince of Belfast – but over trap and rave they’re peerlessly thrilling.
Their set gives Green Man an undeniable shot of vitality, as does a set by CMAT as the Irish star enters pop’s stratosphere, off the back of TikTok virality and a euphoric Glasto set. Namechecking Welsh legends Catatonia, Shirley Bassey, H from Steps and Tom Jones, it feels as if she needs a Jones-style TV variety show to house her entertainment prowess: the songs have country homeliness but Stevie Nicks-style arena mysticism; her banter is silly but topped with political spikes as she passionately celebrates Wales’s preservation of their national language. It all earns her possibly the biggest main stage crowd this festival has ever seen.
