Truck Fest returns to the muddy fields of Oxfordshire for 2023
The sprawling fields of Hill Farm in Oxfordshire welcomed yet another flurry of indie bands to show us all that guitar based bands are still very much at the helm.
Photo: Where The Horn Blows
The weather didn’t dampen spirits over the late July weekend, with Saturday becoming a total wash out, the momentum was high throughout the fields. The Wombats opened the first night and were met with much excitement from those first night highs. Their set included all the classics across their impressive six studio albums, marking the start of Truck Fest 2023!
Day two saw the rest of the site open up fully getting the festival well and truly started! Early evening, ones to watch Wunderhorse filled the market stage and you could sense the anticipation before their set. Opening up with the highly acclaimed Leader of the pack to infectious roars, Friday night was now in full swing. Cornish indie four piece The Velvet Hands closed the This Feeling tent with a set full of high energy getting the crowd ready for the music soaked weekend ahead. This is a band that knows their craft, after being across the bills of festivals for a fair few years now; you can tell they know how to work the crowd.
The rain began to pour for day three but as us UK festival goers do, we just made the most of it and got stuck in (mostly in the mud that is!) Saturday made for another day of clashes between the stages and wrestling your way between the mud to make it in time! New Zealand based The Beths picked up the energy with an electric set fronted by their main songwriter Elizabeth Stokes. Again, their high octane performance boosted the morale of the crowd before Saturday evening kicked in.
A lot of the bands on the line up this year were impressively mostly fronted by women and it was refreshing to see, especially on a major festival billing. Northern grunge four piece The Crawlers closed the Nest stage on Saturday, and their set proved they have all the elements worthy of being a future headliner. Pure unfiltered rock n’ roll made for a slice of escapism in between the torrential downpours outside the tent.
Aussies DMA’s warmed the main stage up before Alt-J’s headline set before the sun was setting across Hill Farm. Lead singer Tommy O’Dell captivated the crowd with his vocals and paraded across the stage, very reminiscent to many a 90’s Britpop frontman. Their anthem Silver had the crowd blissfully singing along in between the short bursts of rain. And one track they consistently cover and to the crowd’s enjoyment — Cher’s Believe — resulted in many arms over shoulder sways and emotional belting.
Onto the headliners of the Saturday, Alt-J celebrated ten years of This is All Yours across the weekend and what better way to celebrate than at Truck Festival with an audience that is very much on the celebratory train! The lighting and stage set up magnified the moody aesthetic of the show allowing the visuals to add an extra depth to their set. Although, Alt-J’s performance brought a sense of calmness to a headline act, you could argue that was very much needed after a hectic mud soaked day that allowed us all to enjoy them for what they are: very talented musicians.
Sunday made way for even more up and coming new acts and a personal highlight was Liverpool band STONE, a raucous live force not to be reckoned with. Frontman Finley Power provided everything you could possibly want; climbing the amps, creating pits and just generally getting rightly involved. You know these guys are on to bigger and better things — and I’m looking forward to seeing what this will be for them. Gengahr brought the raucous energy down a notch (which is no bad thing on a Sunday when the festival is towards the end of its ride) — the chilled vibes were welcome judging by the big crowd that they brought in.
Then it was straight over to the main stage to see the festival close out with chart-toppers The Lathums, Self Esteem & Royal Blood. Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem wowed the crowd with a woman lead choreographed routine all whilst the sun was setting on Hill Farm. Rebecca was also seen wearing a tie with 97% written across it, referencing the 97% of young women who have been sexually harassed in the UK.
The emotional energy exchanged from this set radiated across the crowd and with the mud finally more settled, people were free to dance again without the restraints of having their boots stuck!
To close off Truck 2023 and capture the last few bouts of energy the crowd can muster was Brighton duo, Royal Blood. As always, the duo were just as powerful as a full band set up, with their impressive set of anthems capable of making just as much noise as a four piece. As their set drew closer, fireworks launched into the night sky marking the end of yet another well organised Truck Fest.
Next year, seeing some females top the bill would be more than welcomed after noticing the all male line up for headliners this year and, through all the other sets across the site, it’s proved that females are still very much dominant in this industry. But through all the mud, the pits, the endless dancing, the runs to the bar and the end of the night ear ringing, Truck still hails as one of the best indie led festivals in the UK, proving that rock n roll really isn’t dead.
See you in the fields for 2024!
