Oxfest****

The soaring temperatures helped as did the fans, who gamely waved their hands in the air and whooped as the young singers and musicians took to the stage.
A strict cut-off denim shorts dress code was shared by band members and teenage followers alike.

Billed as a festival by young people for young people it was no surprise the covers included a fair sprinkling of Lily Allen, Katy Perry, Adele and Amy Winehouse but overall the event was inclusive and varied enough to keep everyone’s interest. I suspect some rifling through dad’s CDs or mum’s vinyl collection was responsible for such classic gems as I’ll Be There, Touch Me In The Morning, Your Song and the Sounds of Silence.

Queen’s School pupil Sarah Sharp warmed things up with a couple of show tunes and ballads, followed by Emily Barwick and Isabelle Day demonstrating their vocal skills on tracks such as Catch Me by Demi Lovato and The Other Side of The Door by Taylor Swift. Emily Forrester and Sadie displayed a more knowing repertoire with Bones by Oxfordshire singer songwriter Lewis Watson and rapper Ed Sheeran’s You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.

Changing tempo Ben Henley Washford went down well with his set of classic ballads; encouraging the audience to sway along to the likes of Imagine.

Then came Villiers Arms duo Josh Golga and Holly Rolph who rocked the afternoon up a notch with a good batch of original numbers. After that Chloe Pamplin, Jack Grand and friends kicked in with some guitar-led rock, including a rousing rendition of Satisfaction and the crowd went wild before Mucky Tuppence rounded things off with their smooth saloon blues.

Robert Venning and Ben Saint on the sound desk dealt well with the changing line-up and backing tracks while OVEG’s Ben Atkins did a great job as master of ceremonies. “Ox or Crox?”, he asked the crowd in response to last week’s Sound Advice column. The answer from the floor was resounding – all hail to the Ox.