British Alternative is alive and kicking at one of the UK’s BEST festivals.

 

Truck Festival 2025 review – British Alternative is alive and kicking at one of the UK’s BEST festivals.

Hill Farm, Steventon, Oxfordshire is home to one of the very best festivals in the UK, as 35,000 descended on the Chiltons for Truck Festival -fast approaching its 30^th birthday. This 4 dayer blends indie, alternative, punk, comedy and dance across 8 stages. A family friendly environment with young children and their parents in a safe and fun arena, which also offers circus skills and fun and games in a dedicated children's area should the music get too much.

Truck lineup

 

We set off on Thursday for the rainy drive from Norfolk and was pleased to see no rain at all on arrival, in fact the weather across the 4 days was pretty much perfect. Zodiac Camping is the more “bougie” element outside of glamping and has exclusive entry to the arena, with hot showers, a pamper area and full clean, covered toilets with running water and soap available 24 hours, A much better showing than my last visit in 2023 which saw the “posh” loo’s abandoned by staff after a huge mud build up made them inaccessible.

We made it into the arena to see Slate first of all, perhaps it was the early Thursday late afternoon slot, or the long journey made, but the band lacked any crowd interaction, the 30 minute set slowly saw people drift away from the main stage to explore the arena more.

Making our way to the This Feeling stage and the festival showcases what it’s all about early, with the fantastic 3 piece “The North” hailing from Leeds, a well supported act who ran through a whirlwind of enjoyable indie tunes, I really wished they’d got longer than half an hour to showcase what they are doing.

The Kites were completely unknown to us and a great find! The song “Comeback Kid” about adolescence and growing up being a highlight

Interestingly the Schedulers had included another band called The Slates (on the same day as Slate), Louis, Joe, Jude and Zak rocked the place! Clear influences from the Arctic Monkeys, The Reytons and just a touch of Twisted Wheel, there will be nothing to stop these lads hitting big stages at bigger shows in the future! The stage is presented and curated by Radio X Exposure Host John Kennedy who I managed to speak to briefly, Nice chap with a wealth of musical knowledge.

Twenty One years ago the hype around Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm album saw them find critical acclaim and remains one of the best debut Albums of the 00’s decade, The Thursday headliner played the Album in full on the main stage, Kele Okereke retains the spark and charm that made the band so good and have kept them constantly moving forwards over the last 2 decades, Other hits included Flux and hunting For Witches, I was disappointed not hear “I Still Remember” but this is a rare treat, not on the set list today however.

Friday – Day 2 – the arena opens from 9 am for the cinema tent and children's activities and it’s a really lovely time to take a walk and just soak up the festival vibe before the music starts around 11:30 – with Jorge. Rapper with some soulful melodies, just needed to start the day.

The Nest stage (the BEST stage!) has some of the more punk and harder music of the weekend and Welsh outfit Chroma were entertaining. Northern Ireland has had a fine history of music and CheryM are looking to continue that in some style, Strong beats, Powerful Lyrics, this is a band you NEED to hear, they did well to make it after missing their flight and arriving just minutes before they were due on stage.

A rest was certainly needed after that and it came with the chilled sound of the Big Moon, the hottest day of the year and lead singer Juliet being heavily pregnant, the band ran through some of their hits and a cover of Fat Boy Slims Praise You saw the main stage crowd swaying in the heat in a good way.

The Reytons showed why they are one of the best bands in the country right now, throughout the frenetic 45 minutes on stage they showed why, The band said they’d be back and playing for longer next time… 2026 headliners perhaps? Or maybe that honour could got to Blossoms – the stage made to look like kitsch 70’s décor and the bands fashion to match, they have so many songs that you can sing and dance along to, “Your girlfriend” and “Gary” obvious highlights.

Lambrini Girls are a band I’ve wanted to see for a long time, Their honest account of life and the world fuelled with their punk ethos and grunge sound , They are giving others a voice through their platforms and I, for one, hope they continue to do so for may years to come.

Speaking of Headliners, Truck has got Nothing But Thieves for their only festival appearance of the year, I’ll be honest I’ve always been a little bit “take it or leave it” with their music, and whilst their headline set will have kept their fans happy, it was time to head to the DJ sets and party with the aforementioned Mr Kennedy leading the way. Although something for the organisers to consider, there are no other bands on when the headliners play, maybe another act on one of the other stages for those not bothered by the headliners would be a good move going forwards.

 

Moving to day 3 and 72 year old Mr Motivator – a main stay of Truck – puts a smile on everyone's faces with some light hearted and easy to do dance exercise. 

 

Heading to the Nest again for former waitress, Mackenzie, with songs about Heart break, Break ups and coming back better, nods to Avril Lavigne and Taylor Swift, if this is the sound for you make sure you check her out at Tramlines, Victorious, Kendal and Y-Not festivals this summer.

 

If ever there was “proper festival music” then Tasmin Stevens, TTSSFU the stage name, gave us it. On stage with a full band who I thought they filled they gap left by acts such as Anteros and with a sound of Wolf Alice and the Pixies, This is some of the best alternative music around right now.

Fans of Delilah Bonn might like Luvcat, and fans of the aforementioned Lambrini girls (and lets be honest, who ISNT a fan!?) will do well to check out The Pill, once again the pro Fem sound is strong, Representation is hopefully moving the right direction in music now -lets shout loud to ensure this continues and bands like The Pill can be main players in doing so.

 

She’s in Parties, from Essex with Irish born frontwoman Katie Dillon looking fab in a suit- I think there’s slight nods to The Cure and the Cocteau Twins, I enjoyed them.

 

The day ends with some non stop dancing with Brogheals Scottish folk, Scouting for girls upbeat melancholy.

The Last Dinner Party sub the main stage, Abigail looks and sounds a lot like Kate Bush live. It’s clear the band have worked so hard for what they’ve achieved and it was genuinely very enjoyable to sit and watch. The day ends with Kasabian, who headlined in 2023 and blew the place away. They were even better this time and Serge is one of those frontmen you just cant help but be engaged by.

With aching knees (I am getting old!) we make it to day 4, bit cooler weather wise so time to check out the merch stalls for something warm to wear, I also head to the on-site music store, where you can purchase CD’s, Records and the cassette from some of the weekends performers as well as clothing and some pretty cool pin badges. I settle for a Hoodie which is £40, then head to the Charity food tent, which has raised nearly £200,000 over the years for good causes all over the UK and the world. Cheaper than some other food places, it was Pizza time! There’s a smaller bar here too which is often quiet as people tend to miss it. Fast service indeed.

Local lads Cheap Suits kick off the This Feeling stage and of course, being so close to the City of the Dreaming Spires there’s a great gathering on fans, I thought the set was good but did feel it was missing something to really stand out, again this might have been due to the early start, and whilst I enjoyed what was on show, I wasn’t sure it was anything different to what’s already out there.

Some sound issues affected the next bend, Gents and Ginger, a 5 piece Male/Female Funk Rock band with a strong Jazz overtone, a really exciting act who are doing it differently and unashamedly so! There’s always one act that puts a smile on EVERY face and these sure did, Readers local to this blog (Norfolk) might know of a band called Pleasure Inc and G and G are certainly a similar sound and vibe.

Talking of Local, its Suffolk Brother and Sister combo Esme Emerson, now with a full band. I was lucky enough to photograph them when they supported Vista’s at Norwich Waterfront, now with the extra band members, they can certainly push their music in a different way. A nice sound to them, with a good mix of vocal harmonies and strong mix.

 

We reach the end, Scottish Rockers Franz Ferdinand give the England Lionesses score (with a Wry Smile from front man Alex!) as well as play songs from all of their albums, new music has recently been released too.

 

Finally, the headliners, The Courteeners…. To cut a long story short, the reason this very blog exists and the reason I got into music Photography (although at Truck without the camera) is because of seeing the Courteeners at Reading Festival in 2012, keep an eye out for up upcoming YouTube channel to hear the full story my journey to here so far….

 

Liam Fray is such a good songwriter and the Courteeners are a very good band, Hanging off Your Cloud really works as a live song with the pianos courtesy of birthday girl Elina Lin and an acoustic cover of Labi Siffre’s “it must be love” were 2 of my favourite moments of the weekend. The bend end with the Iconic “Not Nineteen forever” and “what took you so long” before Liam announces they’re all off to get pissed! Not us, Liam, we’ve got a review to write up!

 

A really enjoyable festival which over previous years has sometimes failed to hit the mark, of course no show is ever perfect but over all this was a great weekend of discovering new and enjoying old. Check out as many acts we’ve mentioned here as you can – support your local scene, buy merch and go to your local venue’s to ensure shows like this can continue.

 

We’ll see you in the next review.