Charisworth Farm, Blandford, Dorset
Success stories don’t come much bigger than the “Teddy Rocks Festival”. Starting in 2011 a small gig was put on by Tom Newton and his family after the family lost his 10-year brother Ted to a very rare bone cancer.
Since then the festival has continued to grow each year raising over a quarter of a million pounds. This has helped to make a huge difference to the lives of hundreds of children and their families who have been affected by this tragic condition. In 2016 the three-day festival moved to its current larger site on Charisworth Farm Blandford in Dorset, boasting four stages and a line-up to rival any festival out there.
This weekend’s weather forecast was thankfully dry and as this is one of the first festivals of the summer season it can usually be quite chilly. The Friday evening is usually a fairly chilled start with the three stages offering a host of attractions before the main stage opens on Saturday. Things kick off in earnest on The Greyhound Stage with Bournemouth’s Cherry Lotus who confidently start with their new single “Fake Leather Attitude”, a huge tune which features a big atmospheric guitar sound that really suits the surroundings. The band make the most of the large space they have around them, pulling plenty of energetic shapes and deliver a host of great original tunes that thoroughly entertain. The handy planner on the Teddy Rocks website is a fantastic way of keeping track of who’s on when. So; after a quick check, it’s over to the Woodland Stage to catch Hope & The New Flower Generation, who with just a piano and some delightful female harmonies bring some early sophistication. They add a completely new dimension to their tunes by inviting rapper “Jose” onstage who really enhances things.
Hope And The New Flower Generation
If you like your tribute bands then you cannot fail to be entertained by a string of top quality soundalikes here tonight. There is Stiff Bizkit a tribute to Limp Bizkit, the Manchester swagger of Oas-is and Who Next who perform classic songs by Roger Daltery and Co. Over the past couple of years no festival has been complete without a performance from The Lounge Kittens – three ladies; Jen, Zan and Timia who sing beautiful three-part harmonies of popular reworked songs. The girls after their recent UK tour seem in a really playful mood and whip up the crowd with a Pop/Punk Medley, as well as a Slipknot cover and a medley of 90’s Cartoon soundtracks. You cannot help but sing-a-long and smile to their infectious top class performance.
Bournemouth 4-piece Soulhole give the audience a mash-up of funk and blues with a great collection of original tunes like “Fools On Parade”, “Bag of Fun” and a well-worked cover of Talking Heads “Psycho Killer”. The music stops briefly with a fire show from the very daring Pantheatrix, with them all looking like extra’s from a Mad Max movie they astonish and amaze with a host of crazy fire stunts. You cannot help but be impressed by the obvious hard work that has gone into creating this show. Also, the fire has the ability to take the chill from this, particularly cold evening.
The first moshpit of the weekend is starting on the Vocalzone stage with Southampton metalcore band Our Hollow Our Home, while the ever-popular skiffletastic Quinns Quinney pull a large crowd “Merry Woodland Stage” which has been expertly put together by ever smiling Mischa Weston-Green and his team . They have the ability to take well-known songs and trample all over them, putting in unforgettable new lyrics. Tonight they mix Elton John’s “Rocket Man” with B*Witched’s “C’est La Vie” and Abba’s “Waterloo”, changing the lyric hilariously to the appropriate “Portaloo”! The seven-piece which includes the multi-talented percussionist Julian Leon (Pachango/Bomo Swing) play well into the night, fully entertaining the lively audience. Well, that’s Day One over – I better pace myself as it’s a long weekend with plenty going on, time for a well-earned rest.
Our Hollow Our Home
Quinns Quinney
Video
Read all our teddy Rocks 2019 reviews – Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
Article written by David Chinery with help from the Rock Regeneration Festival Team
Jon Musselwhite, Ross A. Ferrone, George Fullerton, Joshua Chinery and Lynn Burt.
