* NEWS of the first tranche of bands for this summer’s Truck festival have been received with a massive thumbs-up.

Headlining, and making their Truck debut, are Essex garage rockers The Horrors. They will be joined at Hill Farm, Steventon, on the weekend of July 19-20, by Ash, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip; and Rolo Tomassi. Oxford talent will be represented by former Supergrass star Gaz Coombes, pictured, now a solo artist.

Other local names to get decent billing are Gunning for Tamar and Lewis Watson.

If you missed the announcement, acts booked so far also include Tall Ships, Crash Of Rhinos, Stagecoach, Axes, the Social Club, Salvation Bill, Jack Martello, Toy, Placebo drummer Steve Forrest, The Bots, Ady Suleiman, Brother & Bones, The Computers, Wet Nuns, Arcane Roots, Max Raptor, The Physics House Band, The Family Rain and Fight Like Apes.

Friday’s headline act remains a closely guarded secret. Or perhaps they just haven’t found one yet.

Tickets for the weekend cost £74 from www.truckfestival.com or from the Truck Store in Cowley Road.

* ROMANTIC souls Stornoway celebrate Valentine’s Day this evening with the first of two shows at Oxford Town Hall.

The Cowley folk-pop band will treat the crowd to songs from new album Tales from Terra Firma. Tickets for both nights have sold out.

* ONE of the week’s highlights is likely to be tomorrow’s set by Steve Rodgers – the son of both Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers – among the greatest vocalists in rock history. Steve himself is a great artist, attracting compar-isons to Jeff Buckley, and Ray Lamon-tagne.

He plays The Bullingdon. Tickets are £6.