Hellen's Garden Festival

                 

Out in the beautiful Hellen Manor the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. With exhibitors and speakers aplenty there was so much to see and experience; Not to mention a wide variety of performers over the weekend that provided some much needed summer time vibes. 

The first was Lila J, a great friend of ours here at Ragged Moon. She had the rather daunting task of waking everyone up with her music at 11:30 in the morning! We loved her sound which was a fabulous mix of sultry and smokey vocals that really showcased a variety of her album tracks. 

Following on from such a solid performance was the winner of Ecotricity’s Got Talent competition, Archie Scott. He was a very down-to-earth performer who had the crowd in the palm of his hand with his engaging stage talk and even more captivating array of covers and self penned numbers.

After playing Hellen’s Garden Festival last year and hot off her latest performance at Wychwood, Sophronie returned to entertain the crowds. This time however she had a band, an EP and a debut album all under her belt. It was awesome to see how far she had progressed as an artist in the past year. Especially good was hearing her recently re- released single “Eyes Wide” being played live. Make sure you look out for her next release coming this Autumn entitled “Last Day Of Summer."

Clyde Jefferson was the penultimate artist of the day and he brought out all the prog-rock stops to keep the summer vibes going strong.  With twenty years of performing behind him he knew how to get everyone fully involved for the entirety of his act. His laid-back set provided the perfect backdrop for the glorious weather.

Thee Ones rounded off the day with a high-octane set that literally left the audience wanting more. Seriously they had to be dragged off stage at five despite the pleas and demands of the crowd. Loved their entertainment value and exhilarating up-tempo style, what a way to end the day!

Sunday

To kick off the Sunday morning, David Ireland reprised his appearance at the festival. This time around he played under his new alias, Casimir Greenfield alongside our very own Mike Cooling. Casimir certainly got the crowd warmed up with a wonderful selection of tracks including some exclusive songs from his upcoming album. Look at for his newest single “Immortals” to be released on June 12th.

To contrast Casimir's diverse range of ambient psychedelia Peeky Blinders brought their pop-grass style to switch up the ambience. Its clear to see they have an incredible dynamic between them both, most noticeably through their hauntingly beautiful melodies. With an extensive repertoire of covers played throughout it made for an entrancing listen.

Between sets of Peeky Blinders and Alchemists Wardrobe there was a rather impromptu but all the while riveting performance courtesy of Oogoo Maia, Joe Carey and Paul Boniface. Teaming the bossanova with Oogoo's native Portuguese created such an authentic and inviting feel to their sound. It just goes to show that the unexpected can prove to be just as impactful as the planned.

Alchemist Wardrobe had quite the trouble making it to the festival. After playing festivals throughout the weekend they encountered a calamitous traffic jam on the M5. But when they did make it they threw themselves into the music with gusto.  One stand out track in particular was the "Wicked Women", Lara's stunning vocals took center stage and made for an incredibly memorable moment. 

Speaking of busy bands, Ragged Edge had certainly been doing the rounds over the weekend. You wouldn’t have guessed they’d travelled 26 hours by car all the way back from Italy by their exuberant stage presence. Supplying the crowd with cover after cover Ragged Edge certainly lived up to their reputation of being a good-time, funky soul band.

All in all we had a weekend jam-packed with great people, exceptional music and surprisingly beautiful weather. Thoroughly entertaining and we hope the festival raised lots of money for charity. Thanks for having us Hellen’s Garden festival! 

By Melissa Tucker