The Green Man generally started as it meant to go on, with an array of fine acts, heavenly elixir, and sunshine that remained pretty consistent till the last night. On the first day at The Green Man pub a survivor of the Britpop years was on stage...

Martin Carr was once the primary songwriter of the slightly maligned Boo Radleys, and following their demise relocated to Cardiff and started releasing records as bravecaptain. Initially gorgeous (track down 'Tell Her You Want Her' which suggests he would have made a better singer than Sice in the Boo Radleys) - the work became more glitchy and obtuse and gave critics the fear (...ironically as Radiohead got revered for being glitchy and obtuse...).

You wonder if Carr is living off the royalties of 'Wake Up Boo!' as Cornershop have been propped up with 'Brimful of Asha' - whilst he's been quiet since bravecaptain glitched into the night, Carr has split into two. There is more experimental music with the Black Serpent Choir and more songwriter based material as a solo artist - clearly Carr has a bit of backlog as a second solo album is imminent.

Carr's solo debut Ye Gods (and little fishes) is probably his strongest songwriting since Wake Up - an LP that when you forget the big-hit and obvious singles ('Find the Answer Within', 'It's Lulu') had as many great moments as the once-revered Giant Steps. Carr and colleagues breeze through the album - which is perfectly pleasant for a lovely sunny day, the aforementioned heavenly elixir, the smell of fine food in the air, and the sight of the divine Caitlin Moran (who replaced Badly Drawn Boy as the 'celeb' most spotted during the weekend!).

However, the sound was pretty weak - which is a problem of The Green Man festival in general - though seeing a few other acts on this stage later in the weekend (e.g. Golden Animals) it seemed a bit louder. Carr seemed a bit lost in the chatter and delivered the material up pretty straight - some Julian Cope-style silly costumes might have made the difference.

Sadly, Carr didn't bother with any chestnuts from his past - either Boo Radleys or bravecaptain - a shame, as there are some fine songs there which folk might need to be reminded of from time to time (I was hoping for 'Lazarus' or 'The White Noise Revisited'). I'm sure I wasn't the only person to do a double-take at the "wake up"-line in 'Bear Lake' - though perhaps playing that hit single would be too easy?

Today's performance like Carr's debut was perfectly pleasant - though I hope the second record is a bit more expansive and he doesn't turn into a one trick pony like Noel Gallagher or the aforementioned Badly Drawn Boy. Possibly not groundbreaking and nowhere near loud enough, but a reminder of a talented songwriter marred by the Britpop years...