Truck stop

As my local festival - and one I very much enjoyed last year - I really hope Truck continues to prosper. But, despite a weekend of glorious weather, the various eyewitness accounts I've had of this year's event haven't been too encouraging.

The line-up - a whole procession of solo acts divorced from their bands (ie their main selling points) - left me non-plussed, seeming very samey and one-paced, and so several attendees have said it proved. While a stage curated by Blessing Force may have helped to showcase the best of Oxford to a wider audience, again it was (I gather) very much of a muchness, only Rhosyn sticking out for daring to use string instruments. Where was the variety, the catholicism, the dynamic range apparent even last year, when (for instance) Fucked Up were succeeded by Teenage Fanclub? A consequence, you might think, of the fact that the second stage has had to move out of the Cowshed and into a tent. But no, the stages (if not the bands) were louder than ever, apparently.

Having moved to being a fully-fledged three-day festival, too, the organisers need to do more than just putting on a few more acts. Like the food, for instance - surely there would be scope for more than just the Rotary Club's burger stall, a curry place and a premium-priced gourmet nosh tent?

It's also worth saying that ticket sales were slow, whether because of the bill or other reasons, and in the organisers' desperation to fill up the site they ended up flogging off weekend tickets for around £40, less than half the face value, in the run-up to the festival. Fair enough they needed to recoup extra cash to help cover costs, but the decision is likely to have two significant negative consequences: firstly, it will have pissed off all of the loyal regulars who shelled out the full £100+ to secure their places early on, and secondly, it'll discourage anyone from buying tickets early in the future, because people will be more inclined to hold off in the hope that prices will be slashed again. A vicious circle, and one that needs some careful thought to address.

On a happier festival-themed note, here's a great student video from this year's Glastonbury...