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Well, just got back from Truck 12, cold soaking wet and tired! Ok, there was some decent music, but what the fuck has happened to the festival? I have been going to truck for two years now, (this is my third) and the past two years it has been organised and managed brilliantly. But this year? What a shambles!!! Nobody knew what was going on or where anything was, the toilets were absolute crap (pardon the pun) and nowhere near enough of them, the site lighting was terrible (my girlfriend fell over because of the bad lighting), stewards were useless, things werent ready or finished on time - need I go on?
What went wrong this year that was different to the past two years? Can anyone tell me? I did speak to the landowner about it, and apparently, in their infinite wisdom, the prats who run the festival decided to get rid of the guys who have been running it for the past few years. Well, all I can say is they've shot themselves in the foot if this year's fiasco is anything to go by. Who was running it this year? A bunch of retards?!! If it carries on like this, I and the rest of our group won't be back.
From: Rob, Katie, Marc, Paula, Cazzar, Amish, Beth, Soltar, Stefan, Van, Max, Sasha. |
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Weird, but I actually thought that on balance this was one of the best organised festivals I've been to. Things running on time, no big queue at the bar, bog roll in every toilet. Never had to queue for more than 5 minutes for anything. Darkness was easily dispelled with a torch. Plus the staff were laid back and cheery and if you have to go and find out a few things for yourself then isn't that half the fun?
TIM |
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| yeah like everything you said that was wrong with it I either didn't notice or disagree. I thought it was fantastic, I went with a girl who's only been to larger festivals and pretty much everything that was wrong with those ones was right with truck. And yeah toilet paper situation was incredible! |
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| I can't believe that the original poster was at the same festival as me! This was my 7th Truck festival and the best by far IMHO. Line up was great, tents were all reasonably easy to get into, portaloos were incredibly clean and always had loo roll and had cleaner, the only queue all weekend was for the curry stall, lighting was the same as it always was (nd in fact, for the first time ever I didn't fall down a hole in the car park!), getting in on Saturday was a breeze, getting out on Sunday wasn't exactly hard, stages were all running more or less on time, the odd delay here and there but that has to be expected. All in all a fantastic weekend! |
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| Yeah I agree. This was my first Truck but I've been to most of the big festivals. I loved Truck, it's small, good cheap food and beer, hardly any queues and everything seemed well run IMO. The Market stage was even running early yesterday |
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Didn't see any major issues myself. Organisation was the same for past 5 years? Only big change was the real ale stall moved and the main stage field was wider...
And maybe a few less loo's in the camping field? (but more at the main field).
A couple more urinal loos would be good. |
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| Apparently it's not the same people running it. I've found out that the original organiser was Simon Holloway, who has organised it for for the past 11 years, and S-FX Productions, who have done it with him for the past 3 years. They were dropped this year in favour of the people who did it this year - INevents. Personally, I think that "if it ai'nt broke, don't fix it", so why they changed I don't know, as it was so well run in previous years. I understand that the landowner - Alan Binning - is most annoyed at having Simon dropped from this event, as he was one of the Truck instigators and has worked with Alan since Truck began. Apparently they (Truck ) didn't even tell him that Simon or S-FX Productions were dropped!! I think this might come back to bite them on the arse!! |
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| It's sounds to me, Neddone, that you must have some kind of personal axe to grind - you seem to know a hell of a lot of background stuff that your usual festival go-er wouldn't know or be interested in. You sound a lot closer to it all than your usual music fan. |
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Hi.Also just got back from my fifth truck and I have to say that your post seems a little strange. In terms of nobody knowing where anything was,as far as I could see everything except for the market stage was in pretty much the same place it has been for the past few years so if you have been before it seems a little strange that you couldnt find things.Also theres always a map in the program which if you didnt want to pay for,you could always ask someone with one or ask at the info stall as that is pretty much what its there for.
As for the toilets,there never seemed to be queue of more than a few people and they were cleaned fairly regularly and re filled with toilet paper.In fact the females in my group were singing the praise of the quality of toilets.Now I dont know what other festivals youve been to but anyone who has been to bigger events, Reading for example, will have experienced what really bad toilets are all about.
Lighting I thought was pretty good too.I was camped in the back corner of the festival and could find my way round fine and as someone previously stated a torch is usually a good idea as at the end of the day you're in a field and I dont really think you can expect it to be perfectly flat.
In regards to stewards,youve got to remember theyre volunteers so they arent going to know everything and hence once again why there was a clearly marked information point with people with all the information you would need.I would also recommend buying a program as its only 3 quid and its got all the info you could really need in it.Changes to stage times and things not finishing or being ready is also all pretty much standard at festivals and gigs in general.Anyone whos put on or played a gig will tell you that things always dont go to plan so delays are inevitable.In fact if anything I thought this year it was more organised than it has been in terms of things running to plan than it has been before.When there were changes to stages the changes were put on the boards outside each tent (example: the market stage on Saturday) so they were quite clearly publiscised.Just out of interest was in any specific band that you were referring to?
If I had any criticism of the festival this year it would be that the sound in the barn was a bit iffy for some bands. But at the end of the day its a barn so its not designed to be used for gigs so its to be expected and the sound guys did what they could.
Overall I thought Truck once again put on a quality festival and I think some of your criticisms,although obviously true to you,didnt seem to be shared amongst the people I spoke to at the festival. I dont want this to come across as being some sort of rose tinted glasses defence of Truck as theres always something that everyone will feel disappointed with,but in comparison to other festivals its a lot better organised and friendlier than many of the other festivals out there.
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| Hi. It's not a case of 'knowing more than the average festival goer'! What a bizarre thing to say. I'm an intelligent person, who decided to 'ask some questions'. I tried to speak to the Bennets but were told they were busy, so ended up speaking to the landowner instead and getting the gen off him. Anything wrong with that? I suppose the fact that I'm an investigative reporter on a national newspaper helped! So, I'm merely reporting the facts as told to me by one of the most important persons on the site. |
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| Hi Neddone, I would say that your criticisms appear more 'bizarre' when you consider that your experience seems so wildly different to everyone else's - add that to the bitter and personal tone and it just doesn't sound impartial, genuine or credible to me - (but I guess that never stopped an 'investigative reporter from a national newspaper' before!!) |
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| Weird I got home at 3.15am after unplugging the light (sorry) & taking down the inflatable lion. 175 miles, tired yeah but happy & dry (dress for it)
Funnily enough after consuming copious amounts of alcohol have always been able to find my tent or anything else for that matter. Everything is still more or less where it has been for the last 10 years.
Its not EXIT - people speak English - Its about as friendly a festival as I have ever been to - 8 of us had been to Glasto together and all agreed that the luxury of washing your hands after not queuing for the clean loos was a serious plus.
The Vegeburgers, Banana milkshakes, Cheese scones, Donuts & Pasta salads were amazing (and cheap) - Service with a smile & a laugh.
Perhaps you were consuming too much or something you shouldn't because you certainly missed the point of the festival.
Robin & Joe are not responsible for the weather - they had a lot of heavy showers last week but still everything was in place which may be related to the hard work that the hundreds of people working for charity put into the weekend.
It has got a lot bigger - perhaps its become necessary to have larger organisations involved in the running of the event - I found the security to be alert & helpful (they were the people in blue) The orange t-shirts are all helpers, volunteers & local teenagers (possibly attending their first festival) Why should the Vicar or somebody’s mum, brother, sister or dad tell you when a band are on if things are running late? neddone I find the tone of your posting insulting and would like to say thank you to everybody at the festival who made it a pleasure for me my family and friends.
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At Neddone - Im sorry but I disagree with you and agree with everyone else.
This was my 7th Truck and it was as good and well organised as ever! Your comments are totally wrong. Are you sure you were at the some Truck Festival as the rest of us?
May I suggest that your main problem is that your girlfriend fell over and she has now made you complain!!!!
Also: Quote: "Who was running it this year? A bunch of retards?!! If it carries on like this, I and the rest of our group won't be back"
Good riddance I say. Truck doesnt need comments like this from you. If you dont like it, dont go. Simple as!! |
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It's weird how your experience seems so different to everyone elses!
I though this years was the best so far (and no i don't think that every year) this is my 7th Truck and after every year i think of an improvement and by the next year it is done! for example in 2003 the toilets were awful truly awful but by 2004 there were more toilets and they emptied them more often i now actually have no problem with the toilets at Truck, other things were, better camping layout, more food choices, more market stalls, better lighting, family camping area, more security. If you think 2009 was bad you would have hated 2003!!
If you can be bothered please can you elaborate on the below:
"Nobody knew what was going on or where anything was" who? I think the only people who are expected to know stuff are the people at the info tent.
"toilets were absolute crap (pardon the pun) and nowhere near enough of them" I am almost certain that there were exactly the same amount of toilets as last time.... 2 lots in the camping section and 2 lots in the main section, usually there is just 1 lot in the main section but i think this time it was the same amount of toilets just split up.
"the site lighting was terrible (my girlfriend fell over because of the bad lighting)" Surely everyone knows to bring a torch to a festival!! you don't really expect the whole place, inlucing the campsite to be fully lit...do you??
"stewards were useless" what did they do wrong? as someone else said they are just local people who are helping out and doing what they are told....I wouldn't expect them to know much unless it was something they were actually helping with/actively involved in.
"things werent ready or finished on time" any examples??
I am not dismissing your above points as i know not everyone will agree that they had a lovely time, however i think the bit below really is just down right rude and offensive.
"What went wrong this year that was different to the past two years? Can anyone tell me? I did speak to the landowner about it, and apparently, in their infinite wisdom, the prats who run the festival decided to get rid of the guys who have been running it for the past few years. Well, all I can say is they've shot themselves in the foot if this year's fiasco is anything to go by. Who was running it this year? A bunch of retards?!!"
you sound bitter and like you are trying to cause trouble and cause bad feeling towards Joe and Robin.
"If it carries on like this, I and the rest of our group won't be back."
and as for this bit......i don't think we will miss you mate. |
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Reading your response to my points Neddone I found it more bizarre that you chose to interpret the smallest amount of what I actually said as opposed to responding or elaborating upon your original points. I didnt really imply that it was a case of knowing more than the average festival goer,what I actually said was that if youve been to Truck twice before then you pretty much know what its about so I was simply comparing it to other festivals that you may or may not have been to.It wasnt a case of knowing more than the average festival goer, it was simply a case of a valid comparison to other festivals which I dont think is bizarre and is entirely in context. Also having been to Truck twice you surely therefore have festival experience and understand the working of Truck if nothing else.
I especially find it truely bewildering that you obviously put a lot of effort into finding out a lot of information about the organisation of the festival from the land owner but couldnt quite put as much effort into finding out things like alterations to stage times and general info and instead decided to save this until you got back as something to complain about. This was information that was far more readily available in a whole variety of places as referred to in my original post. I cant help but feel if you had of put this level of effort in then maybe it would have helped you to resolve some of the issues you had with the festival at the time.
As for the Bennets being a bit too busy to talk to you,they were in the middle of running a festival at the time so to be fair I think you could maybe forgive them for being busy.If you had wanted to speak to them in the context of your job then would it not have been a good idea to have arranged a meeting with them as you would anyone else you wanted to day to day?Its the equivalent of me turning up at your paper unannounced and asking if its possible to speak to the head of the paper.My guess is the answer would be a no as theyre busy.If you had wanted to speak to them generally then I quite frequently saw at least one of them round and about the site so its not like they were totally unavailable and untouchable and im sure if you had approached them and spoken to them they would have been happy to talk to you. In fact I did speak to them and congratulate them on the festival,on the Sunday night at an impromptu sing along in the boxford area and found them to be very friendly and I wasnt alone in my appreciation.As a comparison point, would you go to Glastonbury festival and expect to speak to Michael Eavis?Granted its far bigger than Truck but its still the organiser of a festival and im sure none of us would really expect this as we know theyre busy.
Speaking to the land owner was fair enough but at the end of the day it the land owner was so disgruntled with the organisation of the event this year then why did he let it go ahead on his land?Im sure there were endless discussions whilst organising and eventually the decision lies with the land owner to give a yes or a no for the festival to go ahead on his land so he must have been satisfied with the proposals put to him. Also hes been saying yes for the past 12 years now (albeit as you pointed out with a different team organising) so the Bennets are clearly doing something right.It may be next year it will be in a different location if he was unhappy this year but I wouldnt be surprised if its in the same place.
Overall though the facts that you point out are the opinion of one man,albeit a fairly important man in terms of organisation,and being an investigative reporter im sure the notion of balance is something you deal with every day.Therefore do you think it is a balanced view to dismiss the Bennetts as disorganised retards (as you so eloquently put it) based on the opinion of a slightly upset farmer against the views that have been overwhelmingly expressed on here?I am also an intelligent individual and as I originally pointed out in my first reponse to you, your personal opinion is your opinion and if you had a bad festival then thats a shame but its fair enough. But it felt like you were implying that the whole thing was a fiasco from start to finish which you seem to be alone in your thinking. |
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| Something I missed earlier ... how come you were soaking wet? Okay, so it drizzled a fair bit on Sunday night but I've been at far wetter festivals ... and anyway, isn't getting wet all part of it?! |
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Oh dear!!
what an idiot with a stupid girlfriend as well!
I'm glad you got wet, didn't like the loos, couldn't find out what was going on, fell over, got lost etc.
STAY AWAY LOSER!
I stayed in a B&B and was wonderfully refreshed and clean.
Forward planning - try it! |
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Hi neddone , you don't speak for me or my friends. In the words of Cat Martino " Trucks the holy grail". Have you ever been to Glastonbury or Reading, once you've been herded through the gates there, then you really are on your own. On Sunday I dropped my burger on the floor immediatley after I'd paid for it and had to bin it (unfortunately you can't employ the 5 second rule in a muddy field) I suppose that was the rotary clubs fault for putting too many onions in it? or maybe it's because , as you so eloquently put it, I'm as "retarded" as the organisers. grow up you unscrupulous hack! |
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