Glastonbury Festival - The Best Band You've Never Seen

The Best Band You've Never Seen

26 Jun 2004

Von Trolleyed Above is the best band I have yet seen at Glastonbury this year. I can only tell you three things about them: they are called The Von Trolley Quartet (that may not be the correct spelling), they used to be called Toast and, despite the name, there are three of them.

Take a close look at the picture and you will notice that two of them - the drummer and "guitarist" - are playing what appear to be toy instruments. Bolstered by an electric bass, they somehow create a mighty racket which is strange but wonderful.

Here, you see The Von Trolley Quartet playing at an obscure bandstand tucked away in a hidden corner of a field close to Avalon. The music they made is very difficult to describe, but would make a great soundtrack for the film "Oh! Brother where art thou?". Think of a mix of bluegrass, vaudeville and Ukrainian folk, if you can.

The Von Trolley Quartet aren't just about the music, however. The two, ahem, older gentlemen in the band - the ones playing the toy instruments - punctuate their manic strumming and beating with a clown-like schtick which conjures up images of Laurel And Hardy, Marcel Marceau and The Marx Brothers. Backed up with the sort of kipper ties that clowns wear, which flip up when a string is pulled.

They were playing in such an obscure part of the site that a crowd of only around 50 people witnessed them. But all those people were visibly in the grips of hilarity. If you're still out there, Von Trolleys, come and find us - we want to know more about you.

Steve Boxer

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