More about: Truck Festival

Truck is a festival that puts indie music at the forefront, but it’s not all dark fruits and bucket hats. Celebrating their 25th Anniversary in style, Truck festival brought smiles and singalongs of epic proportions to their home of Hill Farm in Oxford.

As crowds started to arrive on Thursday afternoon, they were greeted with a wealth of new talent. Tom A Smith brought his indie tunes with confidence and a cheeky grin. With a presence beyond his years, he proved that he was a more than capable last-minute addition to the mainstage lineup.

Scottish artist Brooke Combe later delivered an outstanding performance with a cool flair. As punters continued to arrive on site, Coombe drew them into the crowd, with tracks like ‘Impress You” having the excited festivalgoers singing along. As slick and stylish as it was catchy, if this performance is anything to go by then we’ll be hearing a lot more from this young artist.

Fellow scots Vistas then took over, quickly capturing the crowd with their indie anthems. Tracks like ‘Calm’ and ‘Retrospect’ sent the first-day-fresh crowd into a frenzy before Black Honey took to the stage for an intense set of impressive, soul-wrenching indie ballads.

Blossoms finished the first day on a high with a crowd-pleasing, career-spanning setlist. Frontman Tom Ogden has a graceful presence on stage as he coolly delivers hit after hit. From fan favourites ‘Your Girlfriend’ and ‘Honey Sweet’ to the equally well-received cover of the Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’, the band really don’t put a foot wrong, delivering a perfectly polished set to bring the first day of the festival to a close.

While many didn’t get down in time to catch Carsick open the festival on Thursday afternoon, the band proved they were not to be missed. Breaking their festival virginity with style, the band delivered another trailblazing set full of angst and wit to a largely hungover crowd at The Market Stage on Friday morning. Taking matters into his own hands the drummer leapt into the crowd to raise the energy levels and get the mosh pit going, producing a strong start to set the crowd up for the day.

The afternoon demanded even more energy as Yard Act arrived for their special guest afternoon slot at the Market Stage. Named as the most booked new music act on the European festival circuit, it’s clear to see why they’re in such high demand. From the moment frontman James Smith saunters on stage he commands the room. From start to finish their set was a high-energy party, with even the more mellow tracks triggering a headbang-worthy response from the crowd.

Over at the main stage, Friday afternoon saw cool kid Lauren Hibbard inject a bit of fun before Noisy took to the stage, bringing their riotous set, with possibly the biggest and most energetic mosh pits of the festival. Covering Fat Boy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ they tell the crowd to “raise your elf bars in the air”. Dust rose from the ground as the crowd jumped and at least three people seemed to emerge with broken noses. From the smiles on their faces though we’re guessing it was totally worth it.

Sigrid delivered a lesson in pitch-perfect pop before headliners Bombay Bicycle Club took to the stage. Despite some technical hiccups with the staging, Bombay’s set was a joyous celebration. Their 2019 release ‘Everything Else Has Gone Wrong’ has somewhat ironically aged well given that they were originally meant to play this slot back in 2020. It’s evident throughout how grateful the band and audience alike are to be back after the festival's three-year-long break due to covid. Tracks like ‘How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep’ and ‘Carry Me’ sounded phenomenal live, and as the band brought the night to a close with their indie classic ‘Always Like This’ it is evident that Bombay Bicycle Club are a band who were well worth the wait.

Saturday morning saw Birmingham band The Nu draw in their biggest ever crowd to the This Feeling stage with a promise of indie anthems and some free Fanta lemon. And it seemed that the sugar rush must have worked, as the crowd matched the band's high-energy performance with smiles across their faces.

Sports Team later brought their usual indie shenanigans to the main stage, with frontman Rice crowd surfing and scaling the scaffolding dressed in a matador costume, delivering a high-octane performance full of excitement and splendour.

The Office for Personal Development brought something completely different to the V&V stage on Saturday afternoon. Bringing a full office décor complete with plants and a roller banner to the stage, the band delivered a feel-good set of electro-pop while they had recruiters with business cards circle the entrance. Like a charming fever dream, it had to be one of the more odd sets of the festival, but there’s no doubt that for some reason it just works.

Kicking off Saturday’s co-headline slot, The Kooks delivered a nostalgia-packed performance brimming with joy. New tracks felt just as heart-warming as those you’ve known for years, but frontman Luke Pritchard still made sure to assure the crowd that “Don’t worry, we will be playing Naïve tonight”.

Anticipation then grew as the crowd expanded, waiting for Sam Fender to take to the stage. From the offset, the crowd were rowdy, completely taken away by the excitement of Fender’s show. This became an issue part way through his set, causing multiple stoppages over fears for crowd safety. Fender then announced that he would have to perform a “more chill” set to accommodate the crowd. Despite the disappointment at this, Fender handled the issues the best way possible, and still managed to leave the crowd very happy, and even spoiled them with a surprise appearance of Barry from EastEnders! Although the hits were delivered in a held-back manner, they’re hits all the same – and they absolutely slapped.

Over at The Rocking Chair, Saturday night was closed off by the weird and wonderful Elvana – a novelty that just never seems to wear off. From the energetic singalongs to the costumes and showmanship, Elvana are everything that encompasses the perfect festival act. However, due to noise level limits in place, some members' mics were turned off completely. Delivering a jam-packed set of anthems all the same, Elvana announced  “Ladies and gentlemen they won’t let us turn our shit up so you turn your fucking shit up”.

While Sunday morning brought festival fatigue and hangovers, they were soon wiped away by the absolute joy that is Mr. Motivator. “Let’s get stupid because life is too short to be anything but silly”, he exclaims. Joined by the truck mascot on stage, Mr. Motivator got the whole crowd moving with smiles beaming from everyone in attendance.

Later on at The Market Stage, Alfie Templeman packed out the tent with his feel-good tunes. Providing the perfect sunny day soundtrack, tracks like “Stop Thinking” and “Happiness In Liquid Form” had the whole crowd up and dancing along.

Excitement built and built for Sunday night headliners Kasabian to take to the stage. After parting ways with frontman Tom Meighan in 2020, Serge has taken over on vocals, and the band appear to have picked up where they left off without missing a beat. To have changed frontman without changing or compromising on your sound is an impressive feat, and as the band ripped through classics like ‘Club Foot’ and ‘Underdog’ it’s clear they’re back sounding bigger and better than ever. As they played the thundering riff of ‘Fire’, fireworks rose to the sky, bringing the festival to a triumphant close.

From paint parties to big bands, there was also a lot of fun to be had beyond the main festival programming. From late-night piano singalongs in the Chari-tea tent to podcast recordings and record signings, it’s clear that Truck festival kicks above its weight with extracurriculars.  

Twenty-five years on from its inception, Truck festival has grown into an unmissable event for any indie-head. From mosh pits at The Oxford Symphony orchestra to singing along to ‘barry-oke’ with Barry from EastEnders, it’s clear that Truck Festival attracts the fun, the wacky, and the outright ridiculous - as well as some of the best acts on the circuit. From a new find to an old favourite, this is a festival with music at its heart and fun at its core, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

See photos below from Katie McLellan-Salisbury:

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More about: Truck Festival