Teddy Rocks Festival proved once again why it’s one of the best small festivals in the UK. Over three days it saw some of the best bands the country has to offer and it raised in £83,742 for children’s cancer, a cause that has raised over £250,000 since it began.
It was a really chilled atmosphere from the start as we managed to check out Scottish Pop Punk band Woes on Friday at the Vocalzone stage. They played tracks from their new EP Self Help as well as other songs such as Real World. These lads really knew how to put on a show and it was certainly a great start to the evening. We then check out the fourth acoustic stage where I was intrigued to see such talent and we caught Kez Hinton who played such such songs as Life is a River and Sweetest Flower.
What was good about Kez that he didn’t actually play many covers and was original in how he performed each and every song. Kez also had another show that evening which just shows how committed this singer is.
After this, we managed to catch a bit of the brilliant Press to MECO who never fails to entertain. They played tracks from their latest album Here’s To The Fatigue as well as older tracks and the Vocalzone stage was well and truly packed out. Foo Forgers were also playing on The Greyhound stage also which we checked out as they played all of Foo Fighters classics brilliantly and certainly got the party going with some fantastic energy.
So with Friday evening over, we went back to the camping area where again it was a nice chilled atmosphere, perfect for families and small groups. Saturday saw the likes of Towers and Dream State on the CheckaTrade.com main stage as fans were enjoying the glorious sun in the afternoon. I managed to catch up INK.’s set that included former McFly member Dougie Poynter and this certainly attracted a lot of people to the main stage.
The band played songs such as Heaven and Fever which went down really well considering these songs would have been played very often to a live crowd. It seems like Dougie is enjoying life and when I met him backstage he had a massive smile on his face and was a really down to earth.
After this was Blinked 182 at The Greyhound stage as they played all of Blink 182 classics such as First Date and Rock Show. It was a really authentic show and I enjoyed every minute of it. We caught Mallory Knox on the main stage also and beforehand we managed to interview Joe Savins and James Gillet which you can check out below!
Mallory Knox were of course without former lead singer Mikey Chapman however they still sounded brilliant as a four piece. They played their hit songs Shout Out The Moon and Lighthouse as well their latest track Black Holes which also went down well with the crowd. This is simply a new chapter for Mallory Knox as they look to continue becoming one of the countries hottest properties. Finally, we caught Saturday’s headliners Feeder who started off with a real hit of theirs which was Feeling a Moment and the atmosphere was insane with the stage area packed out. The band also played such songs as Lost & Found, Figure You Out, Universe of Life before they played their last song Buck Rodgers where the whole crowd was just elated to hear it. Feeder then played three more encore songs including Just a Day which was a perfect way to end a perfect headlining set.
Sunday afternoon was once again had another chilled environment and the day saw The Bottom Line absolute kill their set on the Vocalzone stager with festival founder Tom Newton among the band. Before these, however, saw the likes of Dead! and Milestones on the same stage which added to the awesome line-up throughout the day. Sonic Boom Six were awesome and certainly got the party started once again as they provided Ska Rock at its finest. This band has been going for more than 15 years now and they certainly knew what they were doing up on stage.
The main stage saw the likes of Hightown Parade, The Bad Flowers and of course the brilliant InMe. We caught up with Angela Gannon and Michele Stodart of The Magic Numbers, who played on the live stage, as they talked about the festival, latest music and more!
The Magic Numbers provided a superb set and gave it their all as they played tracks from their latest album Outsiders that included the brilliant Ride Against The Wind.
This certainly set the scene for the headliners Ash who finsihed the festival on a massive high. We caught up with Ash before their set as they talked about the festival, latest music and more!
Ash certainly treated fans as they sang a cover of fellow Northern Irish band The Undertones which was the brilliant Teenage Kicks. They also played Buzzkill from the band’s upcoming album Islands which is out this Friday! Other songs on the night included Girl From Mars and Sometimes.
As festival organiser Tom went to the stage after an encore and announced how much the festival raised for charity, Ash came back on once again and played Burn Baby Burn. In my opinion, there was no other way to end a festival on. As the fireworks began to launch and the confetti still coming down, you couldn’t even begin to imagine how proud the organisers must have been to watch the festival end for another year and see what they have achieved.
There is no doubt that Teddy Rocks 2019 will return bigger and better!