Well, actually it was my first time at Truck but that’s not how the song goes.

Unbelievably busy with preparations of a secret nature (announcements very soon, promise), so here’s just a list-based rundown of what Roseanna and I liked at Truck 13:

• Something Beginning With L
• Thomas Truax
• Bats
• Chapel Club
• Fonda 500
• Fists (my Truck discovery)

Roseanna’s favourite (and her Truck discovery): Bellowhead

Anna’s favourites: Islet and Pulled Apart By Horses

(no surprises there, although I did manage to be right at the front for all of them and not rip my dress!)

We managed to catch a tiny bit of Blood Red Shoes before our departure and I was properly gutted to miss Unicorn Kid, Piney Gir, Mercury Rev, 65 Days of Static, Fucked Up and Zinc (due to stupid queuing system).

We saw loads of other stuff but my Mum told me if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all.

Anyone at The 1234 or High Voltage, both of which clashed and I was gutted to miss, please feel free to leave comments about good stuff to make me jealous!

With Welsh blood flowing through my veins and a passion for stormy weather, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go to THE  super-cool music festival in Cardiff curated by none other than the Prince of Wales himself Huw Stephens (Adam W, you’re the king of course and Bethan can be whatever she likes cos she is a goddess).

Because I basically have NO time at the moment at all and the memories of swn festival although will stay with me forever are not as clear as they were when I got back last Sunday, here is a very brief summary and links.

Winners:

Islet – This Cardiff based band with near to no web presence and a retro view of mailing lists (they are sending out a paper newsletter!) are brilliant. The four-piece have superb musicianship and a real hard-to-find chemistry on stage. I loved them and would travel far to see them play again. They also curated the night under the banner of their own indie label and have truly eclectic tastes. This was an amazing start to the weekend. I am now a massive fan of them. Some guys have set up a fansite which is here.

Envy – lovely Envy. This young star rapper is brilliant. She has sponteneity and confidence far beyond her age. Her lyrical flow and ability to improvise and adapt will make her one to watch in the coming years. I was really looking forward to seeing her play and was disappointed when the set was messed up by timings and by lack of a proper audience. Despite these issues, Envy did two storming sets and her energy on stage was not effected.

Soft Toy Emergency – I caught this really great band between Envy’s two sets. They are freakin’ awesome. Proper good rock band with a girl frontwoman, something we don’t really see that often at the moment. I didn’t catch their whole set but I loved their performance and the tunes I heard were really good – I will definitely look to see them again some time soon, (especially since having a look at their online stuff which is quite heavily styled not in a good way, they are surprisingly good live).

Chris T-T – as you know, I am biased when it comes to Chris’s stuff. I can say though, that this was the best I’d ever seen him as a solo performer. He appeared calm and collected (without losing the lovely down-to-earth bimbly personality that his fans admire). He used two guitars and a keyboard which all gave the set a variety not usual for a solo act. The new songs are really really good and my favourite was Nintendo.

Gideon Conn – I really liked this guy, he’s quirky and his songs are good. It took me a while to warm to him as his onstage character appeared to be a bit ‘mannered’ and a bit false. I would have liked to have spoken to him in person to see whether this was a genuine portrayal of himself and he was just nervous or whether it was a ‘put-on’ caricature. A friend who had had a conversation with him previously assured me that he was genuinely a bit weird, which is great!

Internet Forever – this band is definitely gonna be massive soon. I love their quirky rocky keyboardy masky fucked up sound. They could definitely have mainstream success and draw big crowds. I couldn’t hear some of the vocals and I’m not sure if this was the sound they were going for or whether it was technical issues. I’m gonna check them out again. They seem really likeable and really talented.

Pulled Apart By Horses – definitely would have been amazing had I seen them properly. The tiny room was rammed full and the energy from the stage emanated in waves. Unfortunately we were right at the back behind a whole load of tall people who were not dancing and didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves. I was quickly frustrated at not being in the heart of the action and at not being able to see the band so we didn’t catch much of the set.

Meh or Unsure:

Girls – we were some of the lucky few who managed to get to the end of the rainsoaked queue to see this much-hyped band. I hadn’t heard any of their backstory or anything and to start with the music sounded a bit too much acid-60s/70s -throw-back for my tastes. However, the drumming was some of the best I’ve seen and as the set progressed the music developed into more Spiritualized-esque white noise sounds which was great. Due to some good songs and honest-looking stage awkwardness by the lead two members, this band came across well and are clearly very good at what they do.

Los Campesinos! – I love a couple of their songs and the energy was of course brilliant for their headlining set. The room was so hot we had to sit down and fan ourselves (not very rock n roll) and the bars were not kitted out with the right booze and were impossible to get to. The band were good. Having not seen them before I’m glad I went but I heard that they had been better at other gigs. Hilarious stage dives and guest spots from the other bands added to the fun but I was gutted I had missed my last opportunity to see Broken Family Band perform as the timings clashed.

Losers:

I didn’t like Johnny Foreigner, I have to be honest. I thought they were unoriginal and derived, mostly from early 90s indie. This was evident in their songs as well as their stage performance (and even their hair). I sulked until my friends agreed to leave during their set.

Allo Darlin’ – I could see the appeal of this female-led folky/poppy group doing quite sweet twee songs. I didn’t really like it and thought that some of the songs could have been better written.

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A massive thanks to Hannah and Mr and Mrs Pagan Wanderer Lu who were lovely hosts and looked after us even when we rolled in at 4am very drunk.

I’ll definitely be at swn next year – one way or another.

x