The Joy Formidable - Show the family friendly festival a few new words!!!

July 19th 2013

Oxford, Truck Festival, UK

***1/2

Rockin' the bad language!

The Joy Formidable ***1/2 (Truck Stage) if you thought you would not hear any bad language at this family friendly festival then you are wrong because The Joy Formidable singer Rhiannon 'Ritzy' Bryan swears like a trooper during the set shocking all the young children in attendance. When I first saw this band at the Reading Festival a few years ago I was really impressed by how much they rocked.

Today is a good set but it does not come close to the energy I witnessed when I saw them before and Rhiannon just seems a little over the top at times. The Truck set is a collection of songs off their first album that was released in 2011 'The Big Roar' and the new album'Wolf's Law' which both did really well for the band. They open the set with 'This ladder is Ours' which from start to finish has a good riff which reminds you of a cross between Ash and Hole, this is a very good track that gets the set going to a good start. This was a good track to pick to open the new album with and is one of my personal favourites by the band.

The good thing is the crowd seems to be really into them so when they get to the second track 'Austere' everyone is already haveing a good time. This song is perfect for crowd participation and it starts off slow and builds up as it goes on. The Joy Formidable really works well in the sun and they are playing to a audience that is perfect for them, so this is the festival they were born to play so by the time they get to 'Cholla' you know it's a good day for the band personally.

I think this is a band that will get bigger and bigger over the years and do more interesting things so well worth keeping an eye on and a must for Hole or Daisy Chainsaw fans and if you like 90's Grunge / Indie you will love them. They are growing on me all the time and I look forward to their next release.