Oxfordshire’s Truck Festival is 20 years old this year and they have got the music line-up to celebrate. It was founded in 1998, after its immense success in 2015, the festival added an extra day to their weekend, welcoming families, teenagers, adults, newcomers and their loyal fans. This year, the organisers have gone above and beyond and introduced early entry, making the event a four-day affair! Already completely sold out, Truck Festival is already proving to be an event to remember.
Ticket holders for Thursday have the thrill of enjoying a few thrilling acts to themselves on the Market Stage this year. Here to celebrate with us is Jaws, an indie pop band making a rise in the industry with releases such as ‘Right in Front of Me’ and ‘Gold’. They have been ‘hotly tipped’ as the ones to watch, so they will inevitably bring a great start to Truck Festival this year.
Thursday is definitely an indie day, with the main act Peace, an indie rock band from Birmingham, also playing on the Market Stage. With great rock releases such as ‘Bloodshake’ and ‘Power’, they are bringing their very original and individual opinions into indie rock music. Frontman Kossier describes their new releases as having “no Instagram filter”, so for the lucky Thursday ticket holders, Truck Festival will clearly be starting with exciting, new music.
Friday night has a clear indie and dance theme, with headliners Friendly Fires taking the Truck Stage. Fan favourites are hoped to make a return such as ‘Jump in the Pool’, as well as new releases like ‘Love like Waves’. Guaranteed to get the crowds jumping, Friendly Fires are ones to watch this year, emerging in many medium sized festivals across the UK this summer.
Supporting Friendly Fires also on the Truck Stage is the returning Circa Waves! Having already proven to rock Truck Festival in previous years, this indie rock band is here to make our summers better. Circa Waves have released great summer songs, with fan favourite ‘T-Shirt Weather’ and have proven to continue going up and onwards with their music. Not to be missed on Friday night.
On the Market Stage also on Friday is new and upcoming band, Pale Waves. This indie band was recently signed by Dirty Hit and released the amazing single, ‘There’s a Honey’, which should be on everyone’s summer hit playlists this year. They have been described as a “pop-goth hybrid you didn’t know you needed”, so I cannot wait to see the performance Pale Waves puts on this year at Truck.
Saturday night is all about those singer-songwriters. Headlining the Truck Stage is the sound of summer, George Ezra. The folk-rock singer has recently rose to fame, hitting the charts with hit songs ‘Budapest’, ‘Shotgun’ and ‘Paradise’. There is no doubt that George Ezra will be received well by the crowds, this could possibly be the performance of the weekend.
Another singer-songwriter hitting the Truck Stage next weekend is a personal favourite, Jake Bugg. Having performed here before, the indie rock artist is back with his unique and loved sound. His album ‘Hearts that Strain’ has become a fan favourite, so we hope to hear some of those new releases as well as other classics from his much-loved album ‘Shangri La’.
Joining these highly-anticipated artists is another singer-songwriter who has reached the charts this summer, Tom Walker. With his new hit release, ‘Leave the Light On’, which can be heard on radio stations everywhere, Walker will be a new one to watch. His music has been described as “heartfelt”, with Walker stating he has only ever been interested in music.
Truck Festival is clearly loving the indie-rock scene this year as the headliners for Sunday are Courteneers. The indie rock band has been compared to the Smiths, the Stone Roses and Oasis. A few favourite releases of mine and many of their fans are ‘Are You In Love with A Notion?’ and ‘Not Nineteen Forever’, which will be highly anticipated on The Truck Stage, Sunday. They are a very experimental band and like to draw on 80s influenced sounds, compared to the very solid indie headliners previously. It will be interesting to see how the Courteneers close the event this weekend.
Besides the main Truck Stage and the Market Stage, there are many different places to go and listen to your favourite music this year. There is the Palm City stage, which is the place to go for all your dance music, day and night. Some great names are playing this weekend from Shy FX to Barely Legal.
They also have the newly introduced Rockin’ Chair stage from 2017, which includes live comedy and cabaret if you fancy something different! They have the locals, The Oxford Commas, as well as Horn Division, Massaoke and more. For fans of louder, harder and more thrilling music, Truck Festival have The Nest, where they will be hosting The Big Moon, We Are Scientists and so much more. There is something for everyone at Truck, you really cannot go wrong.
There are many other amazing bands and artists playing at Truck Festival 2018, including Everything Everything, Moose Blood and Rat Boy. With only a week to go and a handful of tickets left, make sure you’re there.
Truck Festival will be held from 19th-22nd of July 2018 in Steventon, Oxfordshire.
For ticket info and more, check out their website here – https://truckfestival.com/
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