Catch the Truck

It’s not just Oxfordshire’s best festival of rock, pop, country and alternative music, but one of the best-loved music events in the country. Truck has been a fixture in the diary of local music scene fans since the late 90s, and continues to attract the cream of national, as well as local, talent.

This year’s event starts tomorrow at Hill Farm, Steventon, and features one of its strongest-ever line-ups, with space-rockers Spiritualized, Essex garage rock band The Horrors, former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes, soulful country-rockers Treetop Flyers, Patrick Wolf, The Joy Formidable, Subways, Dry the River, Ash, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Rolo Tomassi and Public Service Broadcasting. Among those representing the ‘hood are Oxfordshire acts The Epstein, Gunning for Tamar, Lewis Watson, The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, Swindlestock, The Shapes, Empty White Circles, King Of Cats, Von Braun, Duchess, Ags Connolly, The Gees, The Heavy Dexters, Duchess and Nairobi. A highlight will be the traditional set by musician brothers Robin and Joe Bennett, who started the festival all those years ago, and who will be playing with their country-rock band The Dreaming Spires. Joe will also appear with sublime Americana act Co-Pilgrim.

  • TRUCK
  • Hill Farm, Steventon
  • Friday-Saturday
  • Weekend camping tickets are £78.15 incl booking fee from truckfestival.com

Halfway to Seventy-Five

Like many music-lovers, Will Banks had always fancied staging a festival. Unlike most of us, though, he has actually gone ahead and done it.

On Saturday, jump-jive, blues act The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, surf-rockers The Long Insiders, former Candy-skin-turned children’s songwriter Nick Cope, singer-songwriter Ags Connolly, Empty White Circles, voodoo-blues act Vienna Ditto, rock & rollers Ronnie Ripple & The RipChords, and Australian duo April Mays take to the stage at The Isis Farmhouse, Iffley Lock, Oxford.

Will, 37, has named the Halfway to Seventy-Five in reference to his age. And despite clashing with the county’s longest-established rock and pop festivals, Truck, he has managed to virtually sell out of tickets to the 400-capacity event.

The music enthusiast, who works as Assistant Editor of BBC Oxford, is billing the event “a festival of Americana, roots and good honest music”. It runs from 1pm-11pm on Saturday. People are being advised not to travel to the venue without a ticket.