NOW THAT THE DUST HAS SETTLED, I’VE GRABBED SOME ZZZ’S AND THE HANGOVER IS FINALLY WEARING OFF, IT’S TIME FOR OUR ROUND-UP FROM TRUCK FESTIVAL. IT WAS AN EXCITING WEEKEND FOR US HERE AT ROCKSTATE AS IT WAS THE FIRST FESTIVAL WE’VE OFFICIALLY COVERED - WE’VE HIT A FEW GOALS THIS YEAR BUT THIS ONE HAS CERTAINLY MADE MY YEAR SO THANK YOU TO TRUCK AND THEIR PR TEAM FOR SORTING US OUT WITH THAT!
TRUCK; A HAVEN FOR INDIE FANS, A RESPITE FROM WHAT EVERYONE HAS BEING GOING THROUGH OVER THE LAST FEWS YEARS, GOOD TIMES WITH YOUR BEST MATES, A BEER IN HAND AND MUSIC SWIRLING ACROSS THE GRASSY FIELDS OF OXFORDSHIRE. SOMETHING WE HADN’T SEEN FOR THREE YEARS BUT SOMETHING THAT WAS 100% WORTH WAITING FOR. THE SUN SHONE DOWN ON THE FIELDS OF HILL FARM - A BEAUTIFUL SETTING FOR THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RENOWNED TRUCK FESTIVAL. HAVING BEEN HOST TO SOME OF MUSIC’S TOP ACTS, TRUCK FEST CAME BACK KICKING AFTER THREE YEARS WITH ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING LINE-UPS OF THE SUMMER. BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB, SAM FENDER, KASABIAN AND A THURSDAY HEADLINE SLOT FROM BLOSSOMS FOR ALL THOSE EAGER TO ATTEND A DAY EARLIER THAN THE MAIN FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES.
THURSDAY
THE TREK TO THE CAMPSITE - COMPLETELY OUR FAULT - WAS A KILLER BUT THE DAY AHEAD CERTAINLY MADE UP FOR IT. GRACING THE STAGE AND KICKING OFF THE WEEKEND FOR THE EAGER LOT THAT TURNED UP ON THE THURSDAY WERE SOME OF BRITAIN'S FRESHEST ACTS; SCOTTISH INDIE ROCKERS VISTAS, BRIGHTON’S FINEST BLACK HONEY AND THE SENSATIONAL BROOKE COMBE WERE AMONGST THE FEW. THE EVENING WAS TOPPED OFF WITH A VERY SPECIAL SET FROM STOCKPORT’S BLOSSOMS, WHO KICKED OFF THE WEEKEND THE CORRECT WAY - WITH AN UNDERLYING EMOTION THAT HUNG IN THE AIR, BLOSSOMS, IN MY OPINION, ARE THE EPITOME OF FESTIVAL SEASON WITH THEIR SUN TINTED ANTHEMS, ARM RAISING CHORUSES AND DREAMY CHARISMA. PLAYING HITS SUCH AS CHARLEMAGNE AND AT MOST A KISS, ALONG WITH TRACKS FROM THEIR LATEST ALBUM ‘RIBBON AROUND THE BOMB’ AND A DANCE-WORTHY RENDITION OF THE HUMAN LEAGUE’S ‘DON’T YOU WANT ME’ WHICH PERFECTLY WELCOMED THE FESTIVAL GOERS TO ONE OF THE FUNNEST WEEKENDS OF THE YEAR.
FRIDAY
FRIDAY SAW ALMOST 25,000 STOOD IN THE FIELDS OF HILL FARM; ALL READY FOR THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS ACTS. BEFORE WE HIT THE STAGES, WE HAD LOVELY CHATS WITH THE SUBWAYS AND PEANESS WHICH YOU’LL BE ABLE TO READ WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS SO KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED.
BEACH RIOT OPENED UP THE NEST WITH THEIR EXPLOSIVE SET OF FUZZY ROCK AND ROLL TUNES THAT REQUIRE YOUR ATTENTION. THE STAGE WAS ALSO HOST TO ORCHARDS, DREAM NAILS AND PULLED APART BY HORSES. CLOSING THE STAGE WERE HERTFORDSHIRE TRIO THE SUBWAYS WHO ENDED THE EVENING WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF ATTITUDE AND OF COURSE, THE PIVOTAL MOMENT IN THEIR SET CAME WHEN THEY ENDED WITH ‘ROCK AND ROLL QUEEN’ WHICH HAD ARMS AND LIMBS FLYING, AN ERUPTION OF APPLAUSES AND A PIT THAT SCREAMED ALONG TO THE 2005 HIT.
THE MARKET STAGE SAW ACTS SUCH AS OSCAR LANG AND CASSIA TAKE TO STAGE. A PHENOMENAL PERFORMANCE FROM THE LEEDS QUARTET YARD ACT WAS A DEFINITE HIGHLIGHT; THERE HAS BEEN A MOMENTUM SURROUNDING THIS BAND FOR QUITE SOME TIME, ESPECIALLY DUE TO THEIR NOW MERCURY NOMINATED DEBUT ALBUM ‘THE OVERLORD’. THEY SHOWCASED THEIR INVENTIVE AND CAPTIVATING TAKE ON POST-PUNK AND LEFT WISHING THEY HAD A ‘FOUR HOUR SET’ INSTEAD.
WE CAUGHT CHESTER TRIO PEANESS HEADLINE THE V&V STAGE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE BBC INTRODUCING STAGE) WHERE THEY SHOWCASED THEIR FUZZY TUNES THAT TOOK US ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF THEIR TWENTIES; LOVE, HEARTBREAK, GROWING UP - A COLOURFUL SOUNDTRACK WITH A LINGERING SENSE OF REALISM. LAURAN HIBBERD, SPECTOR, SIGRID AND SEA GIRLS WERE JUST SOME THAT WALTZED ONTO THE MAIN STAGE. BUT BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB BLEW THE CROWD AWAY WITH THEIR CONFETTI STREWN SET OF INVENTIVE INDIE BANGERS - A BRILLIANT WAY TO FINISH DAY 1 AND JUST A GLIMPSE OF WHAT WAS YET TO COME.
SATURDAY
HONESTLY SATURDAY HAD TO BE MY FAVOURITE DAY. SPORTS TEAM CAUSED A LITTLE CHAOS WITH ALEX RICE CLIMBING UP THE STAGE, JUMPING INTO THE CROWD TO THE SOUND OF FANS SCREAMING BACK AND ROLLING AROUND THE FLOOR WHILST REELING OUT THEIR VERSES. IRISH POST PUNKS THE MURDER CAPITAL CREATED A BROODING ATMOSPHERE AT THE MARKET STAGE WITH THEIR COMPELLING PRESENCE AND THEIR EVOCATIVE POETRY. TO MY SURPRISE, 2022 WAS THE DEBUT FROM BRIGHTON BAND THE KOOKS. ARMED WITH A NEW ALBUM THAT CAME OUT THE DAY BEFORE THEIR SET, THE QUARTET REVELLED IN THE SUNSHINE AND PLAYED CLASSICS SUCH AS SHE MOVES HER OWN WAY AND OF COURSE NAIVE TO A CROWD OF HAPPY FACES. ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES OF THE WEEKEND CAME FROM LEEDS’ VERY OWN DINOSAUR PILE-UP. AS SOON AS THE OPENING NOTES OF THRASH METAL CASSETTE WERE HEARD, THE PIT FORMED AND THE SWEAT FEST BEGAN. THE CROWD WERE RILED UP FROM START TO FINISH, NO BREAKS, NO FIVE MINUTES TO CALM DOWN, PURE RAUCOUS ENERGY AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE LIKE TO SEE.
IT WASN’T UNTIL WE WERE STOOD IN AMONGST A CROWD OF LIKE-MINDED MUSIC LOVERS WAITING FOR SAM FENDER TO OPEN WITH THE BEGINNING WORDS OF ‘WILL WE TALK?’ THAT THE EMOTIONS REALLY HIT. SPIT OF YOU, SATURDAY AND THE BORDERS WERE JUST SOME OF THE HITS WE GOT TO HEAR - THE CROWD WITH HUGE GRINS ON THEIR FACES, THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. SPENDING TIME WITH YOUR MATES, A CAN IN HAND, SINGING ALONG TO SOME OF THE BEST ACTS AROUND. THE HYPERSONIC MISSILES FRONTMAN STOLE THE SHOW, DESPITE MORE OF A LAIDBACK PERFORMANCE DUE TO THE SHOW BEING STOPPED SEVERAL TIMES DUE TO A FEW CROWD INCIDENTS, PROVING HIS WORTH AS A FESTIVAL HEADLINER WITH THE EMOTIONALLY RAW, HEART-ON-SLEEVE PERFORMANCE FROM THE GEORDIE SINGER-SONGWRITER.
SUNDAY
BY SUNDAY THERE WAS A SUBTLE SENSE OF BROODINESS IN THE AIR, KNOWING THAT THIS WAS THE FINAL DAY OF LIVE MUSIC AT TRUCK FESTIVAL UNTIL ITS 2023 RETURN. BUT THE ARTISTS MADE SURE IT ENDED WITH A BANG. JADE BIRD TOOK TO MAINSTAGE WITH GUITAR IN HAND, PLAYING TO A CROWD OF 25,000 REVELLERS WITH SUNSHINE PROVIDING HER SPOTLIGHT. NEXT UP WERE INHALER, AND THERE’S NO HIDING THE FACT THAT I’M A HUGE FAN OF THE BAND SO IT WAS DEFINITELY A PERSONAL HIGHLIGHT FOR ME. FROM START TO FINISH I HAD A GRIN ON MY FACE AND I’M SURE THE PEOPLE AROUND ME DID TO. STARTING WITH ‘IT WON’T ALWAYS BE LIKE THIS’ AND FINISHING WITH THE TRACK THAT STARTED IT ALL FOR THEM - ‘MY HONEST FACE’ - THE IRISH ROCKERS WERE UNSTOPPABLE. THE NEST HAD TO BE THE STAGE WITH SOME OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES FROM THE WEEKEND. THE LIKES OF ENOLA GAY, THE HARA AND TIKTOK SENSATIONS CRAWLERS OWNED THE TENT FOR THE DURATION OF THEIR SET - ATTITUDE, RIFFS AND SWEATY CROWDS. CLOSING OFF THE EVENING WERE THE VERY ENIGMATIC LONDONERS SORRY. PLAYINGS HITS FROM THEIR DEBUT RECORD 925 AND THE RECENTLY RELEASED LET THE LIGHTS ON, THE SELF-ASSURED FIVE-PIECE HAD NO PROBLEM REELING IN A CROWD, CREATING AN ATMOSPHERE UNLIKE ANY OTHER ACT, AND PLAYING THEIR VERY INTRICATE FUSION OF GENRES.
CLOSING THE WHOLE NIGHT ON MAINSTAGE WERE NONE OTHER THAN INDIE LEGENDS THEMSELVES - KASABIAN. THE LEICESTER MAESTROS PERFECTLY ENDED THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL WITH A SET JAM PACKED WITH CLASSIC HITS SUCH AS III RAY (THE KING), UNDERDOG AND YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH A PSYCHO. AS SOON AS THE BEGINNING NOTES OF CLUB FOOT WERE PLAYED, EVERYONE - AND I MEAN EVERYONE - WAS UP AND MOVING. A SEA OF ARMS IN THE AIR, HUNDREDS ON SHOULDERS, AND THOUSANDS WHO HAD WAITED A LONG TIME FOR THIS MOMENT ALL SINGING BACK TO SERGE WHO HAD THE CROWD WRAPPED AROUND HIS FINGERS. THE NIGHT CAME TO A CLOSE WHEN SERGE AND CO RETURNED TO STAGE TO RECITE THE SONG WE’D ALL BEEN WAITING TO HEAR, THE SONG THAT HAD SOUNDTRACKED A LOT OF THE REVELLER’S SUMMERS - FIRE. THE FLARES WERE LIT, THE FIELD SCREAMED OUT ‘TAKE ME INTO THE NIGHT AND I’M AN EASY LOVER’, AND THE SKY SHONE AS A FIREWORK DISPLAY BEGUN. IT’S A SET WE WON’T BE FORGETTING FOR A LONG, LONG TIME AND IT’LL CERTAINLY BE HARD TO BEAT NEXT YEAR.
TRUCK FESTIVAL, YOU WERE A DREAM AND WE CANNOT WAIT FOR 2023!
IMAGES: CAITLIN MOGRIDGE, GETTY, GAELLE BERI
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