Truck Festival - July 2010

[Simon]

A fab weekend at this small festival in Oxfordshire. This was 'Truck 13' so whilst small, it was evident the organisers had, over the years, learned how to put on a good event. The site comprised a Main Stage, a Barn stage plus two further inside stages in good sized tents. A few local bands played Friday night, but like most people, we arrived Saturday morning (oddly a weekend ticket did not include Friday night).

The main attraction for us bandwise were Saturday night headliners Mew. Unfortunately the sound was poor for this set so it fell short of expectation; but there were more than a few other great music moments that made this a wonderful weekend.

I'll post a list of bands and write-ups separately, but top acts were:

1. Pulled Apart By Horses
2. Steve Mason
3. Morning Parade
4. Chapel Club
5. Dead Jerichos
6. Darwin Deez

Other stuff:

Good points
- only 5000 people
- Fantastic line up
- easy parking and short walk to camping area
- plenty of room in camping
- stages all within 3-4 mins walk of each other
- loos were spotless and well stocked with loo-roll, sanitiser
- many of the food/refreshment outlets were run and staffed by local Rotary Club so loads of very nice people all very well organised
- all purchases very reasonably priced (water 50p a bottle, tea £1, cake 50p - or for £1 you could have a piece of chocolate brownie the size of Wales)
- Real Ale on sale
- you can take own booze into the arena

Not so good points
- sound on main stage was ok most of time but sadly, poor for headline act Mew
- food choice was a bit limited
- Real Ale ran out both days
- the line-up gives a strong nod to local acts who seemed to feature on Main Stage, leading to a couple of questionable stage selections (we couldn't get into the c800 capacity Barn for 65 Days Of Static; should perhaps have been on Main Stage? Likewise Darwin Deez's show should have been delivered to the Main Stage audience, albeit the Barn was fun!)

This is NOT the festival for your Glasto-goer who goes for Scissor Sisters, Stevie Wonder, U2 etc; but for anyone who is happy with a couple of 'medium sized' headliners and loads of new interesting stuff this is definitely a recommended one for the calendar.

Si & Sally

[Simon]

To follow up my festival overview, here is the list of bands we saw over the Truck Festival weekend:

SATURDAY

Ace Bushy Striptease, Barn Stage - Blasted everyone in The Barn with their very loud punk/metal songs. Each number was only 1-2 minutes

The Fixers, Barn Stage - frontman looked and sounded a bit like Elton John. Sweeping inie anthems

Thomas Truax, Main Stage (Truck Stage) - Off the wall as ever. His well-constructed songs are dark yet very humorous. The crowd was a little sparse so he took the opportunity to leap the barrier and conduct an acoustic number while walking through the crowd - a wandering troubador turning pied-piper as members of the audience followed him round the sound-desk tent and back to the stage.

Morning Parade, Barn Stage - this is a 'must listen to' band. Saw them earlier this year at Dot-to-Dot festival and they stood out that day. Full soundscape indie tunes reminiscent of The Boxer Rebellion in places.

Good Shoes, The Pub Tent - Inevitably the crowd was pretty raucous during classics Morden, Photos On My Wall and We Are Not The Same, from their first album. But truth is, their old songs are still the best. Great to see this band continuing to throw heart and soul into it and enjoying it at the same time.

Steve Mason, Truck Stage - Deserved more than the sparse crowd that gathered before the main stage. His set got better and better as it went on. His songs a blend of everything from the north west: Coral, Elbow, Doves.

Y, Pub Stage - Why ?

Darwin Deez, Barn Stage - a highlight of the day, and whilst a pleasure to be part of the crowd jammed into the barn, this set really should have been on the main stage, Not having seen this band before we just weren't expecting anything beyond delivery of their fab album. Their set was a complete 'performance'. Dire Strait's Money For Nothing heralded the band onto the stage and this set the tone for a great set which comprised their excellent songs interspersed with disco/cheesy classics between songs that the band danced to in a line across the front of the stage. Great fun.

Boat To Row, 'in-store' in the Merch Tent - Smiley indie tunes, acoustic.

Bellowhead, Truck Stage - Is this what they like around here? Rooted in English folk/morris-man music it seemed this was the act everybody was waiting for; and as the band got into their stride so did the crowd - suddenly everyone seemed to think they were Michael Flaherty. A highly amusing spectacle - not our cup of tea, but a great reminder that this a broad church; and it was great to see so many happy people enjoying themeselves.

Mew, Truck Stage - This was billed as Mew's exclusive UK Festival appearance (and the deciding factor in us getting tickets). This band are awesome, and their first two prog rock inspired albums were followed with a third fabulous album 'No More Stories....'. Unfortunately the sound at the front of the stage was poor, and despite moving back a little it still wasn't great. But looking past that, the band delivered their usual high-class wall of sound set. Shame most of the set was built around numbers from their first two albums as their latest offering has more than enough strong songs.

SUNDAY

Dead Jerichos, Bob Harris Introducing Stage - an excellent local Oxford band. 3-piece guitar based tunes, in the Foals mode. One to watch out for !

The Cedars, Bob Harris Introducing Stage - this was more in the Bob Harris country-style mode, and accordingly rather one-paced and uninspiring for our taste.

Islet, Barn Stage - these are crazy f**kers! Fantastic songs belted out while each of the band members bangs out synchronised (sometimes not so synchronised !) drum beats. Makes your head spin trying to make sense of the competing time signatures. A superb 30 minutes entertainment.

A Silent Film, Truck Stage - Mum n dad indie rock n roll with pleasant melodies. I'd forgotten how much I like their 'City That Sleeps' album. We saw this set sitting next to Danny Wilson (of Danny and The Champions Of The World) and his family. When he asked me for a light after the set we had a nice few minutes spinning Glastonbury stories with him

Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou, Truck Stage - Beguiling, tuneful folk harmonies, sharing one mic,

Common Prayer, 'in-store' in the Merch Tent - did three songs on the small stage. They had opened the Barn Stage the previous day. Not sorry we missed their whole set, though they delivered some interesting acoustic songs.

Chapel Club, Barn Stage - this band just get better and better. A great guitar band with fantastic melodic tunes. As well as honing their stage craft they've learnt how to deliver their songs in a way that makes their set build to an excellent crescendo.

Pulled Apart By Horses, Barn Stage - I've seen them described as the best live band around at the moment - it's hard to disagree. Their goth/metal songs are delivered with the utmost energy, with frequent forays into the crowd, and climbs onto the amps. Top notch!

Blood Red Shoes, Truck Stage - more 'poppey' than I remember them. From edgey punk/metal beginnings this duo have adopted into a melodic style, enjoyed today by the festival crowd.