Event – Truck 10
Cost – £55
Location – Steventon, Oxfordshire
Verdict – Truck-tastic.
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After the lack of a summer and extreme flooding, Truck Festival was unfortunately cancelled. However, it was rescheduled (with a slightly tweaked line-up) to September, so this meant I would have my holiday after all, hurrah! With the trusty tent secured, massive can of beer in hand and the programme in my back pocket I set off to sample the musical delights.
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I had seen Nottingham’s I Was A Cub Scout [1] last November and their guitar-electro-emo was something I was keen to see again. Unfortunately, on arriving at the at the Trailer Park tent I was greeted with what sounded like someone beating a washing machine to death with a baseball bat. The sound was practically unintelligible and made my brain scream in pain. I left in disgust. Disappointing, with the right levels they could have been one of the most enjoyable bands of the weekend. Note to the Cub Scout boys; turn the amps down slightly, yeah? We all actually want ears by the end of the weekend. It didn’t help that the beer tent was blasting out uncomfortably loud Bloodhound Gang tracks either.
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Due to this set back, I steered clear of any other indoor areas and headed towards the Main Stage to see Monkey Swallows The Universe [7]. With a name this awesome, I pictured a 4 guitar-strong doom-rock pummelling of the senses. I was pleasantly surprised however to witness one of the best and most twee-est bands of the entire festival. Although their indie-twee-folk mix wasn’t perhaps my usual daily dose of musical enjoyment and their impromptu Ronnie Corbett car-crash joke proved more shocking than funny; but they were bloody brilliant. Instrument swapping, handclaps, tambourines and smiles they were the perfect festival band. They even had a song called “Jimmy Down The Well.’ Lovely stuff!
I left the Main Stage feeling contented and decided to head into the Trailer Park tent and caught the last 20 minutes of A Scholar and A Physician’s [8] set, quite by accident (i.e. I was standing quite close to the tent and wandered in looking bemused.) Their eclectic mix of dance, indie pop, electronica and hip-hop was a refreshing and positive experience, strengthened by the fact they slipped a cover of “Do The Bartman‘ in at the end of their highly enjoyable and fantastically upbeat set.
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A Scholar and A Physician – ‘Do The Bartman’ sample taken at Truckfest 10, Saturday
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After failing to re-enter the tent to see Blood Red Shoes (this was perhaps a good thing, as the sound had started to resemble the ‘washing machine-baseball bat noise’ again) and being turned away at Foals, I headed back to camp for some well needed rest and to get more alcohol. Unfortunately, I caught the end of Buck 65’s [3] set on the Main Stage and without earplugs, my brain felt as if it was being used as a basketball. I fled the field. After taking a time out, I dashed back to the Main Stage to watch Brakes [8]. They didn’t disappoint; with tracks such as the scathing “I Heard About Your Band‘, the 10 second blast of “Cheney‘ and the infectious “All Nite Disco Party‘, they were on fine form. Despite only knowing a quarter of the tracks they played; the general atmosphere and feel of the group was exhilierating and their no-bullshit attitude stood out.
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I then spent the rest of the evening dancing like a twat at the disco shed, whilst consuming cans of cheap lager and taking numerous bizarre photos, before rolling into my tent at about 3 in the morning and promptly passing out. Bring on Sunday!
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Words/Photo/Video – Ross Macdonald
Lizard Hips
Junior Vice President of Keep It Fast. In other news: I work in social media, talk about dinosaurs, run a book club and have amazing facial hair. I am also a male man who is still not dead.
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