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| Shoe Cups |
There was far too much to write about so here I have
included a few of my favourite moments and acts of the weekend.
Enjoy!
We arrived on a very hot Friday afternoon stocked up with
beers, ice and all the water we could fit in to Tommy’s van. As we queued for our passes at the box office
I could hear Candy Says beginning their set.
I was gutted to be missing it but the queue was long. Luckily we could
hear them loud and clear from our slow moving line. I whistled along to Melt into the Sun as I started to melt in the sun...
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| Happy Truckers |
Once we were in we grabbed a beer. I decided to try the strawberry cider which was
initially refreshing but then left a strange aftertaste in my
mouth. It was easily fixed though by the
famous Rotary Club Donuts. I’ve missed
these guys! It was great to see more foodie choice in the form of The Food
Hall. Pizzas and smoothies, noodles and ice cream. And “SUSHI”, which was hard
to forget as it was shouted at you each time you walked past. I decided the only sensible thing to do was
to shout “Sushi” back and punch the air
in a kind of raw-fish appreciation cheer.
We (temporarily) escaped the sushi obsessives and headed to
The Saloon Bar to watch Empty White Circles.
The Saloon Bar was incredibly authentic and immediately became my
favourite stage. Small glass
chandeliers swung from the corrugated roof and the bar stools were made up of
blocks of wood topped off with a horse saddle seat to rest your weary butt in.
Amazing! I’ve heard a lot of good things about Empty
White Circles and I have to agree that they are a great
band. They totally rocked the small
stage in The Saloon and although the heat was rising that didn’t put them
off. I feared for the Spasm band in the
evening, how would they cope in their suits and fine headwear?
Then I had to take a nap.
I’m a little gutted to admit it but it was just too hot to carry on and
the novelty cider had sought it’s revenge on my pounding brain. I overslept but managed to race to the Virgin
and Veterans tent just in time to catch the end of Ags Connolly. As I listened to his sweet country songs I
felt somewhat soothed; I should have chosen to nap in here instead.
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| Huck & the Xander Band |
There was nothing much left to report on the Friday apart
from a great bit of nosh at the ‘Appealing Food’ stall run by the lovely Rotary
Club staff. The ‘Trucker’s Meal’ of
lentil dahl, flatbread, bahjis and never-ending supply of sauces and chutneys is Truck
tradition! Easy on the lime pickle
though, folks. After a couple of beers
and little bit of Spiritualized we had built up enough stamina to enter The
Saloon Bar which was heaving with people enjoying The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band. There are a few new
additions to the band since I last saw them including a sax player who looks
like he was on loan from the mafia.
Everyone was gyrating to the beat and the mix of music and heat must’ve
been taking affect as one woman was
wildly dancing wrapped up in a full fur coat. Sweaty. The floor was vibrating, the floorboards
creaking, and I wasn’t sure if the Saloon Bar would withstand the entire set as
more people piled in through the swinging doors, but who cares if the floor
falls in when the music is this good.
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| Salvation Bill |
Hello Saturday and no hangover. All that hydration did the trick
and by 11.00am I had the energy of a young kitten chasing its tail (well, almost). We headed to The V and V tent for The Holy Orders who were a great start to the day and then headed towards the main stage
for iced coffee, more donuts and The Arrows of Love.
These guys were incredibly captivating and are currently 'making waves' in
London. They were great on this stage but I imagine a more enclosed venue would
really show off the full intensity of their set. Someone book them for Oxford please! Next we quick-marched to the Barn Stage for
Salvation Bill. Already a big fan of Ute
and Old Grinding Young I was excited to see Ollie’s new 5 piece band. I didn’t expect to be so blown away as I was
by it though and their set became one of my favourite of the entire festival. The 5 part harmonies are dramatic and the
songs are clever, witty and loud. This
is definitely the best line-up Ollie’s had and I hope this composition is
around for the long run. I also enjoyed
the taxidermy crow sitting on Ollie’s shoulder that appeared to head band as
Ollie and the rest of the band rocked out. Crawk!
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| The Epstein |
Next was an incredible set from Swindlestock who got the
room dancing and proved that you can
fit more than 8 people on the Saloon stage.
They were followed by Huck and the Xander Band. You already know how
much I like them and it was great to see them get a spot at Truck in a venue
that seemed incredibly fitting to Huck’s songs about a young boy’s move from
Texas to NOLA. After a mostly overcast day the
sun finally came out and the audience stood to attention and stomped their feet
(mostly) in time to songs of forbidden love in an evangelical State. Afterwards we basked in the evening sun and
watched Co-Pilgrim in the V and V tent which fitted our mellow and chilled-out mood
perfectly. They were shortly followed by
Thomas Truax, a true Truck veteran, and he told us tales of why dogs howl at
the moon and kidnapped butterflys with the aide of The Hornicator. The guy in front of me seemed
a little put off by Truax’s comment “have you ever shaken hands with an unborn
child?” but then he also seemed put off when Truax sang about the time he took
his dog out for a picnic and the ants came and made mustaches on their
faces. The rest of the audience loved it
though and by the end we were all howling at the moon with Truax and the
primitive beats of Mother Superior.
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| The Epstein |
We mingled around catching bits from each stage in
anticipation of the The Epstein who were the final act in The Saloon. You’ll notice from this blog post that The Saloon bar was
my favourite stage but that’s is also because it showcased some of the best and
local bands of the weekend. That is
mainly down to some great bookings by PinDrop who co-curated the stage on the
Saturday. The Saloon was now more packed
than the previous night and the sweat factor was high. As the band fought through the crowds to get
their kit on stage a masked couple poured each other gin martinis with a
cocktail shaker and olives for garnish. Very impressive and a sign of the madness to come. The Epstein have already had a great year
with a number of tours in the Netherlands and recently signing with Zawinul Records. The
crowd was with them for the entire set singing along to such favourites as
Calling Out Your Name and I Held You
Once; the atmosphere was euphoric. They
played songs from their new album ‘Murmrations’ and it was an incredibly tight
set. Not only that but you could see how
much the band enjoyed playing together.
At the end Olly unplugged to sing Leave Your Light On and the audience
gave him their full attention, eager to sing along with him and share this
moment in what had been an incredible performance. I caught the end on camera and have posted it here. So that was it.
We drank the bar dry of whisky and doesy-doed our partners until we spun
out into the night. Another great Truck
Festival bites the dust.
