anika in london

I saw that my friends Darwin Deez were heading to Truck Festival this year, so I asked if I could pop along too. I had also noticed Holly Miranda was there on the lineup which meant it was definitely a good idea indeed.

I got there around lunchtime and stumbled into a little tent with New Yorkers Savoir Adore inside playing:

They were poppy and charming and I enjoyed their set. They are a trio and the two front people both sang, which was lovely because they did some overlappy vocals. I love overlappy vocals. Listen to them here.

The festival is only small. There were four stages, none of them were super big. It had a similar sort of atmosphere to the endlessly sweet End of the Road festival. I took a wander around and there were folk around doing stuff like this:

I decided I better see more bands than just Darwin and Holly Miranda, so I meandered over to the main stage where Thomas Truax was playing. He seemed to be a bit of a nut. He had a crazy contraption that made percussion noises for him. He played on the stage a bit before deciding to play in the audience. He walked around the field before heading back to the stage:

It wasn’t long before it was time for The Silent League. I had caught them playing in the week, when their set was hitched with technical problems a plenty. But not today!

At Truck they were super tight and sounded wonderful. The band is made up of frontman Justin, joined by a lovely string trio and the band Maps on guitar/bass. They do a really great cover of ‘Texico Bitches’. I had a great time watching their set and I’d definitely recommend heading to a show and checking out their music.

There was a pretty eclectic crowd to watch them playing. Firstly, there was this dude swinging his hips along at the front. Jason and Alex (of Justin’s brother’s band Common Prayer) came along and watched at the front. They are sweet people and have good songs. And there was also this kid:

He was running around at the front and came and stood next to me and compared his feet to mine before trying to stand on my toes. Cute/bizarre.

After this there was a bit of a gap before it was time for Holly Miranda. I managed to find Greg Deez, Cole Deez and Darwin all scattered around the festival. I went and camped out by myself at the front for Holly Miranda like a giant nerd. I only had a guest pass, not a photopass, so I had to take photos from the audience.

Holly was not center stage, which meant the best light fell on Timmy (who took up base in the centre), so my best photos are actually of him. I wish lighting folk would light stages evenly, I feel bad only being able to get nice shots of the singer/whoever is in the best light.

So. I saw Holly Miranda in January and did an interview with her and generally fell a bit head over heels for her live show (I love ‘The Magician’s Private Library’, so hearing those songs live is a massive treat).

Holly is a phenomenal singer. Her voice is completely and utterly wondrous; so compelling and hypnotic.  Totally beautiful and filled with soul. They played songs from the album as well as a couple of new ones and a cover of Yoko Ono’s ‘Nobody Sees Me Like You Do’. I’ve had a good two days to calm down after this, but I couldn’t help but smile at just how brilliant they were. I was doing big swoons and sang along. I was so hugely excited.

What’s so excellent about Holly’s live show is her band. I can’t express enough how great they are. Timmy had some bells that he jangled which I especially liked; he’s a brilliant guitarist too. The bass and drum parts are perfect. The bass gives all the songs a beautifully dark tone and feel, and the drums rock. Holly was amazing.

After the set I was a bit blown away and gushed some praise at a friend before realising I was just repeating myself and babbling and so maybe I should go outside and sit down and be calm.

After Holly I saw Esben and the Witch. I enjoyed their set, it was pretty chilled and relaxed. Next, DARWIN DEEZ!

I have so much love for Darwin and his band. They are all lovely people with such kind hearts and it makes me so happy to see them playing to adoring crowds like this:

They loved it. The band were as fun as ever, and the dancing was top. Brilliant performers.

After the pure joy of Darwin and Holly I was pretty festival’d out and decided to catch a lift home, to avoid having to do the train again. I had a really wonderful day. A sweet and lovely festival.