Teddy Rocks Festival proved why it’s quickly becoming one of the biggest medium sized festivals in the UK with the likes of The Darkness, The Zutons and Toploader all performing over the weekend earlier this month at Blandford’s Charisworth Farm. With it all starting in 2011 in a pub called The Greyhound in Blandford, founder and The Bottom Line member Tom Newton truly knows how to put on a show. With the festival being all for charity and a very close cause for Tom, Teddy20, it just had that real community feel to it.
Back in 2011, the festival raised £400 when Tom’s brother Ted Newton was lost, aged 10, to Ewing’s Sarcoma – a very rare bone cancer. Teddy Rocks Festival raises money for Teddy20, a children’s cancer charity. This year, Teddy Rocks Festival 2019 made over £100,000 and it was just amazing to see everyone getting involved and chipping in.
The festival was kicked off at 5pm on Friday with Trevann Franthorpe starting the proceedings on the Merry Woodland Stage.
As Flames Rise then quickly followed on the Vocalzone Stage as they well and truly ignited the festival!
The band played one of their latest track New Beginnings which was a real banger and you could just tell that everyone was enjoying their set. As Flames Rise are certainly one of those bands to look out for in the future!
Stiff Bizkit later entertained The Greyhound Stage as the Limp Bizkit tribute act certainly pulled out all the stops as they performed classics such as Rollin’ and Break Stuff. Lounge Kittens and Dream State then both ruled the The Greyhound Stage and Vocalzone Stage respectively before Our Hollow, Our Home headlined the Vocalzone Stage in great style. The Southampton band certainly put some real heaviness in the festival as they started with //Denial and In Moment.
Other tracks in the killer set included Hartsick, Loneshark and Karmadillo as they finished on Feast for the Crows as their encore.
There was still entertainment left in the evening with the tent Teddy Raves turning the festival into a night club and Who’s Next performing all The Who classics! Friday was a great night to kick things off and with The OnBuy main stage to open on the following day, you could this weekend was just going to get bigger and better.
Saturday saw Saints of Sin open up the main stage in great style after Wolf Culture put in a great performance at The Vocalzone Stage. Black Orchid Empire and Southampton based Sean McGowan both followed Saints of Sin as they warmed up the crowd superbly. Over at the Vocalzone Stage again and Youth Killed It done exactly what their name says as they certainly killed their set in amazing style.
The real standout band of the day had to be Press to MECO however as their set provided lots of smoke, fire and pyro! The trip started with Familiar Ground which was followed by Itchy Fingers and A Quick Fix. There was even some confetti as they finished on Affinity and Here’s to the Fatigue. A relatively short set but these lads have bags of potential and they’re only going to get bigger and better.
The Dirty Youth followed on the main stage as they played songs such as Fight and The One and an amazing cover of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name which went down a real treat with fans. Blinked 182, Tanacious G and Dookie all performed just like the real deal on The Greyhound Stage throughout Saturday brought smiles to plenty of people. The Bottom Line also performed amazingly and you could just tell that this set meant a lot to Tom as the band played Reasons, Like The Movies, In Your Memory and I Still Hate You to finish off.
Phil Campbell and Bastard Sons also performed on the main stage as the former Motörhead lead guitarist perfectly taught his three sons to perform to suit his style of music.
With three Motörhead covers on the cards including Rock Out and Ace of Spades, it was always going to be an amazing set but they also some great originals such as Freak Show and High Rule.
With Stone Broken performing amazingly on the Vocalzone Stage it left Suffolk legends The Darkness to headline the main stage on Saturday. Justin Hawkins was polite as ever throughout the set as the band began with Givin’ Up. While wearing a David Hasselhoff t-shirt and performing in a very Freddy Mercury style, Justin and the band continued with Open Fire and Growing on Me. The whole band was very engaging with fans and you just knew they were the perfect band to headline this festival! A premiere of Live Till I Die which was last performed over 15 years ago followed which was a real treat for fans as they also played songs from their upcoming album Easter is Cancelled.
With plenty of flames throughout, the set certainly warmed fans up as they played One Way Ticket and Friday Night. The crowd sang throughout the set which as great as Justin even done a handstand while clapping his legs while on stage. The band also played the likes of Solid Gold and Get Your Hands Off My Woman. The Darkness finished on their classic song I Believe in a Thing Called Love which really got the crowd going before festival founder Tom went on stage revealed that they had made £85,000 on just Saturday alone! The encore included just one song ‘Love on the Rocks with No Ice which was a perfect way to end an amazing set!
The evening saw comedians such as Harry Garland before a Free For All Jam that lasted until 1.45am for people who just wanted that little bit extra!
Sunday saw plenty of action with Laika starting The Greyhound Stage despite their set being cut short and having to play it later in the evening. San Marlo and The Franklys both opened the main stage as Towers and Cold Years both ruled the Vocalzone Stage. King Nun and Indoor Pets also performed on the Vocalzone Stage as fans really were spoilt for choice.
A real highlight of Sunday was when Toploader took to the main stage as they played their classic cover track Dancing in the Moonlight originally by King Harvest. Also Toploader played another banger by Elton John as they performed Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time). They also performed originals such Time of My Life which really summed up the festival for me!
Louis Berry and Lionstar both performed great sets on the Vocalzone Stage and The Greyhound stage respectively before Sunday headliners The Zutons took to the stage. The Liverpool band started with Zuton Fever as they began to really get the crowd going with tracks such as Dirty Dancehall and Valerie which was arguably made more famous by the late Amy Winehouse who covered this song. Songs Confusion and Pressure Point were also included within the set before they ended on Moons and Horror Shows. The Zutons also had an encore which included Hello Conscience and finished on You Will You Won’t which was a nice way to end the festival.
Despite the main stage ending, the night still had a few tricks up it’s sleeve with the Foo Forgers playing all of the Foo Fighters classics on The Greyhound Stage and Matt Black provided a superb comedy musical experience over at the beautiful Merry Woodland Stage.
Overall it was an amazing few days and proves Teddy Rocks Festival is just going to get bigger and better raising more and more money for an amazing charity!