Truck Festival - Sun 25th July - Discount Tickets

[Two Fivers]

The godfather of the UK's small festival scene" according to The Guardian.

They're offering special tickets with a saving of £20 off the price of an adult weekend pass.
But only 200 - First come, first served.

http://www.gigantic.com/imwiththeband

Mew
Teenage Fanclub
Bellowhead
Mercury Rev
Stornoway

and much more....

[Nick]

Did anyone from here go to Truck in the end?

We missed it as we were off with Sandra for her birthday weekend.

I gather WoollyMummy went. She's not a regular on here but if she's watching, any chance of a review? How did Bellowhead get on in front of a bunch of indie kids?

Cheers

Nick

[firebird]

Some good words about them here: http://neverenoughnotes.co.uk/wordpress/2010/07/truck-13-hill-farm-steventon-oxfordshire-23-25-july-2010/

Which seems to agree with what Two Fivers told me at FbtO 

[firebird]

And here: http://www.thefourohfive.com/reviews/2279

The bit about Bellowhead:

Not my thing at all, but the friends I had come to the festival with told me that Bellowhead are the best live band in the UK. Playing second-top on the Truck Stage, I followed them over to see what the fuss was about and although I wouldn’t go as far to give them that coveted accolade, they were so much fun and the most enjoyable band of the day. A real party atmosphere broke out that had the whole crowd up and dancing, singing along within hearing half a song and frontman Jon Boden had everyone in the palm of his hand, doing whatever he demanded and clinging on to his every word. This is especially impressive considering he was wearing an ill-fitting suit that looked remarkably like it was made out of duct tape. The eleven-piece have so much fun on stage and it’s hard not to be drawn in to their idiosyncratic, unpredictable folk – no band sounds like them and their gusto and passion on stage is not matched by many. In fact, they went down so well it’s easy to say now they could easily, and maybe should, have headlined.

[Nick]

Not my thing at all, but the friends I had come to the festival with told me that Bellowhead are the best live band in the UK. Playing second-top on the Truck Stage, I followed them over to see what the fuss was about and although I wouldn’t go as far to give them that coveted accolade, they were so much fun and the most enjoyable band of the day. A real party atmosphere broke out that had the whole crowd up and dancing, singing along within hearing half a song and frontman Jon Boden had everyone in the palm of his hand, doing whatever he demanded and clinging on to his every word. This is especially impressive considering he was wearing an ill-fitting suit that looked remarkably like it was made out of duct tape. The eleven-piece have so much fun on stage and it’s hard not to be drawn in to their idiosyncratic, unpredictable folk – no band sounds like them and their gusto and passion on stage is not matched by many. In fact, they went down so well it’s easy to say now they could easily, and maybe should, have headlined.

There's always something odd about Jon's suits isn't there   

Other than that, it sounds like they went down ok.

Where next then; Reading? T in the Park? V-Festival? 

Cheers

Nick

[ladydetemps]

Where next then; Reading? T in the Park? V-Festival?  

Ben & Jerrys festival?
http://www.benjerry.co.uk/sundae/
My sister has gone two years in a row...lots of free ice-cream apparently

[firebird]

And another one: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/29/truck-festival

(am I the only person who has google news subscriptions? I don't spend my days trawling the internet for this you know!).

[ladydetemps]

And another one: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/29/truck-festival

(am I the only person who has google news subscriptions? I don't spend my days trawling the internet for this you know!).

"rambunctious" I think that's gonna be my word of the week. lol

[Nick]

I don't spend my days trawling the internet for this you know!).

Actually, I was beginning to worry that you did...   

[Nick]

...and to save you from being the only one to find reviews, here's my contribution:

http://www.morethanthemusic.co.uk/2010/07/29/2010-truck-festival-steventon/

which mentions a short acoustic set at the Merch tent earlier in the day. I got an email from Rapture Records a while ago saying they were planning this but hadn't heard any more. I guess that acoustic set would have been minus drums, brass, cello and oboe though, as certain members probably wouldn't have made it back from 'enjoying refreshments' in Wiltshire at that time 

There's a picture emerging from these reviews though, that Bellowhead have been very well received in an arena that is  substantially more indie/rock than their usual habitats.

Cheers

Nick

[brianleach]

Could that be because they have moved on from "folk".

I always thought Matchin sounded rather like the Bonzo Dog Do Daa Band!!

Brian

[Nick]

The September issue of Oxford's monthly indie music magazine, Nightshift, is now out, with a review of Truck festival...

http://nightshift.oxfordmusic.net/2010/sep.pdf

Here's what they say of Bellowhead's set... (I've included a bit of their write-up of Stornoway too as it puts their opinion in some perspective):

Outside on the main stage STORNOWAY have attracted by the far the largest and most enthusiastic crowd of the day; kids are up on parents’ shoulders ready to sing along to a set of songs that already feel like greatest hits. Stornoway are a chameleon band, capable of expanding or contracting to fit whatever space they find themselves in and subtly change the shade of their songs to match the mood. And so there’s an expansively pastoral feel to ‘We Are The Battery Human’ and the soaring ‘Coldharbour Road’, while ‘I Saw You Blink’ has now reached anthem status. [...]

As it turns out, Stornoway feel like a mere warm-up act for BELLOWHEAD, who tonight justify every accolade and award proffered their way and who throw so many ideas against the wall they have to build another wall. Beneath their astounding virtuosity they’re simply immense fun, taking old folk standards like ‘New York Girls’ and ‘Amsterdam’ and adding lashings of show band pizzazz. In a genre that celebrates revitalisation rather than reinvention Bellowhead are both the biggest and best band around and this set is so rousing, so unbounded, you don’t know whether to dance or march to war.

Make of that what you will 

Cheers

Nick

[ladydetemps]

who throw so many ideas against the wall they have to build another wall.

That's a great mental image.