We returned to the sunny Hill Farm in Oxford after a great opening day, for the Saturday of Truck Festival; which boasted a paint fight, more killer live music and the phenomenal Basement Jaxx.
We headed straight to the main stage where we saw King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys, who were an odd choice for Truck, playing a mix of swing, blues and jive, but their afternoon set totally worked, drawing in a huge crowd and starting a conga line around the site. Summer Camp followed them bringing their indie cool to the main stage blasting through their back catalogue, finishing with the mighty ‘Keep Up’.
Rae Morris put on a stunning set in the Market Place. Fluidly running through tracks from her debut record, Unguarded, her gorgeous vocals flew elegantly over her slick bands accompaniment; completely captivating and humble, it was an enchanting watch. Lucy Rose appeared next, with her self-proclaimed “best gig of 2015”. Taking us through tracks from her recently released second album Work It Out, like ‘Our Eyes’ and ‘Like an Arrow’, the crowd ate up every note, with older songs like ‘Bikes’ and ‘Middle of the Bed’ also receiving roars of enthusiasm from hard-core fans in the audience.
On the main stage Public Service Broadcasting took over with a dynamic set of their eclectic back catalogue. They were then followed by Temples storming the stage like something straight out of the 60s. However it was Basement Jaxx that everybody at Truck was anxiously waiting for, and they didn’t disappoint.
Opening with ‘Good Luck’ the energy was constant for the next hour as they stormed through an extensive back catalogue of huge hits, with a plethora of guest vocalists and dancers from the Jaxx live band who alternated on each of their tracks. Basement Jaxx are one of those groups that when you see live you realise quite how many anthems they have in their back pocket. Tracks like ‘Red Alert’, ‘Romeo’ (which featured a stripped down acoustic introduction), ‘Never Say Never’ and ‘Oh My Gosh’ had the small army of punters singing along to every word. Just when you thought they’d run out of huge bangers, the opening chords of ‘Where’s Your Head At’ crashed, accompanied by confetti, for their finale. Although I was unsure of how Basement Jaxx would have fitted at a festival where the rest of the line-up is fairly rocky, it was the best ending I could have imagined.
Truck once again proved why it is a key player during festival season. Totally unpretentious, with a stellar line-up and friendly atmosphere; if you’re considering a festival for next summer, make it Truck.
