Feist - Green Man Festival 2012 review

'A softly paced, sedated set'

Kai Jones - 20 August 2012

Feist's headline performance at Green Man is an unusual affair. A softly paced, sedated set that draws on the more intimate and delicate songs of Leslie Feist's career, rather than the raucous end to a weekend you would have expected to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this great, unique festival.

That doesn't mean Feist doesn't charm. Her appeal is in the intimacy of those wondrous songs, and while many may have expected a more raucous performance, this feels more like a gathering round the Green Man fire.

It's a beautiful, mellow set that concentrates more on whispers and hushed harmonies than Feist's more, well, feisty output. So, as much as the crowd will plead, there's no '1, 2, 3, 4'. Instead we get an emotional 'Anti-Pioneer', Leslie wrapped up in the song, like only her and the hymn exist. And while 'My Moon, My Man and I Feel it All' tick crowd-pleasing boxes, they do little to raise a party.

"We've experienced 12 hours of Green Man and we're forever changed," is how Feist introduced herself to the crowd at the beginning of the set. She teases throughout that the songs she is performing have been freshly written backstage, inspired by events as the afternoon's downpour. You can't help but wonder if the spiritual Green Man has affected her more than she lets on.

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