Never Enough Notes e-zine // reviews + interviews + music

The community spirit of Truck Festival is a force to be reckoned with. Rolling up in Steventon, a small village just south of Oxford, the surroundings were stunningly perfect. Large fields of wheat swayed in harmony with the gentle breeze, it’s hard to think of a more picturesque setting. But Truck has always been different to other festivals. From the friendly stewards greeting us to the chilled out vibe and the numerous children running around in brightly coloured ear protectors, it stands out.

After pitching our tent and getting a pint of festival cider, the music was ready to start. The first band on in the Clash tent was Gaggle, perhaps not the best act to start with. I wouldn’t so much call them a band, rather a collection of terribly angry, shouty girls in tribal makeup. The NME may have called them “innovative” but I have a suspicion that it was in the same manner that my mum says “interesting” when she really means “horrific”.

After a shaky start the festival improved significantly with Deer Club kicking off the main stage with a lovely mixture of sweet, folky, soul-hugging melodies and a few catchier upbeat songs. As they finished their set with a brilliant rendition of “Take the Skinheads Bowling” I knew this was definitely a band to check out and a great beginning to a great weekend.

Next up was Pete Molinari (possibly the coolest man ever) with a great set in the sun on the main stage. Dressed as a Victorian ready for the beach (only in jeans instead of those weird short things…) and armed with a guitar, his rolling refrains enraptured the crowd with his mixture of rock, country, blues and gospel.

The hunk of the festival, Johnny Flynn was welcomed to the stage with a tremendous amount of screaming from his apparent female teenage fan club. His set was good, but not fantastic. He didn’t seem to have much stage presence and the choice of songs wasn’t spot on. His best-known songs (‘The Wrote & the Writ’ and ‘Tickle Me Pink’) were impeccable and the duet of “The Water” he did with his sister was faultless, but it was the songs in between these that failed to captivate the audience.

When he finished we headed to the main stage to see the headliner, Bellowhead, whose set had already started. The stage was crowded with musicians with a variety of orchestral instruments, but was quite unlike any orchestra. The sense of joviality and community spirit on stage was evident and effortlessly infected the crowd with their dancey traditional folk shanties. There’s a reason their latest album is called “Hedonism”, you can’t stop smiling while watching them. I didn’t realise that it was possible to headbang while playing a violin, but apparently it is. Who knew?!

Saturday was set in motion by James Walbourne, an incredibly accomplished musician playing a mix of folk rock and country. He had some great, witty love songs and he’s definitely an act to pay attention to. Roddy Woomble’s soft beautiful voice was the next that floated over to our welcoming ears. The frontman of Idlewild really captured the chillaxed vibe of the whole festival with his perfectly crafted songs, the ideal soundtrack for lying back in the beaming sun with good friends and a pint.

The evening arrived and we decided to go to the Wood stage, the stage which is the furthest away and possibly the festival’s best kept secret. Sitting on hay bales, the tender voice of Ireland’s own Heidi Talbot was met with a great reception. For me, a mark of a brilliant band is how well they entertain the crowd even between songs whilst retuning instruments; Heidi and her band were faultless with witty little stories – from baby sick to stalkers.

The headliner on Saturday was Gruff Rhys who, surprisingly, didn’t draw a terribly large crowd, but was not deterred and continued to entertain the audience between songs as well as during them. Everyone sang along, although not to the Welsh language songs. He did explain their meanings but they probably made less sense after that; however, I really admire his campaigning against the fading of the Welsh language and culture.

The music continued into the next day with the little known ODC Drumline playing their tribal hearts out on the smaller introducing stage. It was a slightly surreal performance but nevertheless brilliant and perfect for the Saturday night when people were up for a bit of a dance.

Having partied a little too hard (if there is such a thing) the night before, the tranquillity of the Sunday morning was embraced with open arms (as was a colossal burger and a hearty portion of chips – thank you Didcot Rotary Club). By the time the delightfully serene sounds of Caitlin Rose’s wonderful voice reached us I was fully recovered. She is the force behind one of my favourite albums ‘Own Side Now’ and was a pleasure to behold. She seemed nervous on stage but this only made her more endearing to the mob of people watching.

After a few more calming folky bands we headed to see some of the comedy. Highlights for me included a hilarious song about Harry Potter by newcomer to the scene Rory O’Keefe (who is definitely a name to look out for in the future), headliner Richard Herring’s hilarious anecdote about Ferrero Rocher and Rachel Parris’ great musical gems.

The evening headliner was The Dreaming Spires, a band formed by the organisers of the festival Robin and Joe Bennett. They were great but nothing compared to what was to come.

The ultimate highlight of the festival for me was the secret performance of the Fleetwood Mac classic album ‘Rumours’ by Truck All Stars. A collaboration between many of the ‘celebs’ of the festival, Robin and Joe heading it up with help from the Magic Numbers, Saint Etienne and many more. It even included backing dancing from the infamous Truck Monster and the bar stuff.  It was a performance so good that I couldn’t get the album out of my head for a solid three days (just ask those around me). There was such a sense of joviality from those on stage and those watching that it was the perfect way to round off what is such a community orientated festival.