This years Bearded Theory festival started off on the wrong foot for many, with Woodstock style traffic Chaos that had vehicles backed up onto the A38, I was waiting in ques for 4 hours to cover just 2 or 3 miles, not a great start to the weekend, but one soon put to the back of our minds by the arrival of Reverend and the Makers on the main stage. I`ve sort of watched this band in previous years, but never really paid attention I guess, well I couldn’t have, otherwise I would have already known what a treat I was in for. Great song writing, punchy, ballsy rock, and above all, something that many bands overlook, the ability to work an audience.
Following the perfect sunshine of Thursday, it came as a bit of a shock to find parts of the arena swimming in water the next morning, and the rain didn’t let up until the afternoon, but the forecast was good for the rest of the weekend and nobody was really getting upset about it.
Fridays line up included Jesus Jones, Sleeper, The Coral, The Jesus & Mary Chain, and finished with Mercury Prize nominated, Album chart topping synth-popsters Blossoms going down a storm to finish the main stage.
This year’s festival seemed busier than ever before and there was a lot of extra stuff around the site than in previous years. The fairground appeared bigger than I remember, there were bars and cafes on the campsites, more trade stalls, the “One Big Showcase” stage, the “Hurly Burly café”, increased volume (that could unfortunately be heard pretty much everywhere until 3 am!) at the magical sounds tent, Comedians and Circus shows at the Convoy cabaret. It all added to the general buzz and made it feel like a festival that was growing way past the first Bearded Theory I remember.
Therapy? sent the Woodland stage into overdrive on Saturday night, during, for many, the biggest set time dilemma of the weekend…Therapy?, or on the Pallet stage, Robert Plant
Saturdays Pallet stage headliner was pure class, and one of the biggest names a festival, particularly of this size, could’ve wished for. Robert Plant, former front man to one of the coolest bands in history, who’s reputation and repertoire just seems to get bigger, a man who refuses to live on his back catalogue alone, and already had one of the tightest bands around, before the addition of fiddle supremo Seth Lakeman. Re-worked Led Zeppelin classics such as an almost country sounding “Gallows Pole”, interspersed a set of more recent tunes, to the classic crowd pleasers at the end, and got a whole lotta love from the audience.
As well as many of the big named hit machines playing here over the weekend, such as Sleaford Mods, Fun Lovin Criminals, The Coral, Jake Bugg and Sleeper, people who know festivals will be familiar with many of the other names on the line up, Tarantism, 3 Daft Monkeys, Dub Pistols, Eliza Carthy, Dan Donnelly, but this place has such a wealth of talent available, even on the tiny stages, that every effort needs to be made to give anything a listen where possible. Dobioza Kolektiv rocked the Pallet stage on Sunday, the Pinns, Pattern pusher and Urban Voodoo Machine all getting rave reviews, but Random Hand win my award for the most entertaining and energetic performance of the weekend (no prizes given).
Sunday just seemed full on in every way, Keith’s big Uke jam attracted a massive audience, with perhaps a hundred or more Ukulele players joining in to Jam along with songs from Beardy Keith’s song book, while dodging the puddles from Saturday nights thunder storms.
The woodland stage is one of the things that really sets the festival apart from many of its rivals, it is beautifully lit by night and gives protection from the sun on sweltering days, its intimate and has an atmosphere like no other that I’ve experienced, However, it can get hectic, and none more so than when the Barsteward Sons of Val Doonican arrive, their Sunday lunchtime performances here are already legendary, it was at capacity before the band hit the stage, with disappointed faces & be tank-topped figures queuing right back to the main arena in the vain hope they might get a glimpse of Yorkshires finest.
The festivals final big name was Jimmy Cliff, closing the show on Sunday night with dream back catalogue to choose from. “Many rivers to cross”, “The harder they come, the harder they fall”, “You can get it if you really want”, “Wonderful world, beautiful people” to name just few, a genuine legend, a pioneer and brilliant performer.
Aside from the change of venue a few years back, this year I felt the most noticeable difference I can remember at Bearded Theory, the acts were legendary, the site was busier than ever, and it generally had the feel of a festival evolving, moving up a league, which can be hard to control from an organisers point of view and there were a few small gripes this year, but I know this isn’t a corporate event, the kind that’s hell bent on making money at any cost, and the small team that run Bearded Theory deserve massive credit for putting on another great weekend.
Published on 30 May 2018 by Keith Dennelly
