While a lot of Nottingham's musical attention was focused on the Splendour Festival at Wollaton Hall, local faves Kagoule were down in rural Oxfordshire, performing at the Truck Festival.
The 20th running of the Truck Festival saw an increased capacity and a step-up in the level of headliners with Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines and The Vaccines all playing. It also saw rain. A lot of rain. So, who better than a band whose name in a homophone for a waterproof jacket?
Playing on the Market stage, the three-piece benefitted from attracting a larger than expected audience as some of the crowd were under the tent to shelter from the weather as much as they were to listen to the music. They were far from the only band over the weekend to make the most of that though.
Kagoule's punky/grungey music goes down really well at Hill Farm. Best song Blue harnesses the dynamic between the loud-quiet juxtaposition in the same way that the Pixies did while their next single has a touch of Placebo about it. We're also treated to some new tracks from the forthcoming second album, including It's Not My Day, which is sung by Lucy and bodes well for the LP when it is finally released. Their energy is infectious as a circle put breaks out during the last song of the set, demonstrating that they've won over a lot of those who were just in the tent to stay dry.
And with that they were off to the (presumably) less wet and less muddy backstage area while the audience headed back out into the rain and the attendant quagmire underfoot, happy to put up with the pain of the rain in order to experience the pleasure of the music.
Kagoule played the Truck Festival on the 22nd of July and their second album is due out later this year.
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