Friday arrived with the glorious sun still shining, and we had a bumper day we wanted to catch. The first stand out performance today was Girl in the year above who performed on the main stage, will definitely try to catch them again. They mentioned they’d sang a song for Peaky Blinders which was a cover of Massive Attacks ‘Teardrop’, which had the whole field stop what they were doing and take notice. A fantastic set full of energy. Next up on the main stage was Eighty Eight Miles who graduated from headlining the This Feeling tent last year and attracted a big crowd, including some young kids whose dad asked me to take a photo of them at the front proudly standing with their flag.
Back over in the Market Stage it was played early on by The Slow Country, who were surprised when the lively Truck audience created a circle pit for the song ‘Fundementally Fu*ked’, not usually a moshing song, but the Truck crowd does what they want. Next up big hitters in the form of The North, where chants of ‘Billy, Billy’ rung out from the crowd towards the lead singer before a healthy run of The Lilacs, Good health, Good Wealth, and then one of the sets of the weekend from Getdown Services, who brought there brand of fun & audience participation to Truck.
Back over on the mainstage, something different in the form of Brooke Combe, who is single handedly keeping soul alive this weekend at Truck, before a run of The Cribs into Primal Scream got the crowd growing larger by the hour. The Jarmin brothers looked like they were enjoying themselves with tracks like ‘Hey Scenesters!’ and ‘Mans needs’ rolling back the years, where they also enjoyed telling stories about playing The Barn stage previously in 2004 (where I think I actually was as well, but my memory lets me down). Before the headliners took to the stage Bobby Gillespie and Primal Scream took to the stage, exuding class that has seen their journey span decades, and it's clear to see why with a finale of ‘Movin' on Up’, ‘Country Girl’ and ‘Rocks’ - worthy of any indie playlist.
But the night belonged to The Maccabees, back on the farm after a long hiatus, and instantly looking at home on the main stage. Fronted by Orlando Weeks, and backed by key members including Felix White who almost acted as a hype man all night, moved effortlessly through their back catalogue, with Felix loving every second of it. Introducing songs, explaining how they were feeling. Playing all the songs you’d want, and ending on ‘No Kind Words’ and ‘Pelican’ with a sea of people on shoulders was the perfect way to end the day.
Check out our other reviews of Thursday, Saturday, Sunday.
Photo Credit: Russ Fujak
