Bearded Theory 2023

[Johnnyseven]

42 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Best food for me anyway was the Greek Gyros place left of Pallett - 4 quid for a sack, yes a sack of the best fries ever prob about 3 potatoes worth.

After Primal Scream they were giving away food for free instead of wasting, we were stood right next to them so all got something nice to eat.

[Pinhead]

Sound trader then.

[Paul ™]

1 hour ago, Pinhead said:

I think they were all in the Glasto font as well?

Yup, the person also does them for Glasto

59 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

On some of the gates there was a handstamp in the shape of the Bearded 'puddle' logo used this year.

Yes that's the one, they were non-purchasable tickets, so freebies and guests.

[Nobody Interesting]

11 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

Yup, the person also does them for Glasto

Yes that's the one, they were non-purchasable tickets, so freebies and guests.

I reckon there were lots of people then on the Sunday getting in with that stamp. From extra chairs and cars it was noticable.................. but it was still the best festival ever anywhere and I need to be back again soon.

[FrogStupid]

On 5/29/2023 at 2:02 PM, Flaminglippy said:

Think so much of the Primals set is down to what mood Bobby is in. Bit of a strange set list for the first 40 minutes (but still good) then ended with the bangers. They were pretty sh*t the last time we saw them, much better last night. 

50/50 if they will be brilliant/sh*t at Beautiful Days

I love Primal Scream with all my heart, but I was a bit worried about where this set was going. I think Bobby often feeds off the crowd, and I felt the first half of the setlist meant that the responses were a bit subdued. He made a comment - I think it was before they went into 'Big Jet Plane' - something like "This is off our 'Give Out But Don't Give Up' album... hope you like it." He sounded a bit downbeat. I recall him berating the Glastonbury crowd a few years back - calling them "F*cking hippies" and "so complacent". And I was at Leeds in 2000 when he told the crowd "This is 'Higher Than the Sun'..." then he paused, shook his head, and said "You don't deserve it."

I think it picked up when they got into the 'Greatest hits' section - Country Girl, Movin' On Up, Rocks, Jailbird, the famous I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have remix, etc. The crowd got into it and Bobby seemed to be enjoying himself, but I was concerned after the first 25 minutes we were going to get a Glaso/Leeds-style tantrum out of him. 

Anyway, this was my first BT - in fact my first festival for a few years - and I had a great time. 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by FrogStupid
muddled words

[Beerqueen]

Agree with others that the food had good and bad - the Sri Lankan place was extremely good.  The burger grill place in the pallet area very disappointing - a frozen burger - I should have walked away as soon as I saw it being cooked.

The Indian place near Mau Waui was also very disappointing - loads and loads of rice with a small amount of lentils and chick pea curry - considering lentils are so cheap there's no real excuse for that.

[FrogStupid]

I had a plant burger by the Pallet stage that was absolutely delicious. The best veg burger I've had since turning veggie. Why can't they all be like that? I can't remember if it was the burger grill place, though?

 

[Johnnyseven]

2 hours ago, FrogStupid said:

I love Primal Scream with all my heart, but I was a bit worried about where this set was going. I think Bobby often feeds off the crowd, and I felt the first half of the setlist meant that the responses were a bit subdued. He made a comment - I think it was before they went into 'Big Jet Plane' - something like "This is off our 'Give Out But Don't Give Up' album... hope you like it." He sounded a bit downbeat. I recall him berating the Glastonbury crowd a few years back - calling them "F*cking hippies" and "so complacent". And I was at Leeds in 2000 when he told the crowd "This is 'Higher Than the Sun'..." then he paused, shook his head, and said "You don't deserve it."

I think it picked up when they got into the 'Greatest hits' section - Country Girl, Movin' On Up, Rocks, Jailbird, the famous I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have remix, etc. The crowd got into it and Bobby seemed to be enjoying himself, but I was concerned after the first 25 minutes we were going to get a Glaso/Leeds-style tantrum out of him. 

 

I think that's how they plan their sets these days, a mate saw them at Glasto last year and it was the same format.

[Gnomicide]

2 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

I think that's how they plan their sets these days, a mate saw them at Glasto last year and it was the same format.

Yep, I watched them at Glastonbury too, described as a game of 2 halves by someone on the way out. Give Up But Don't Give Out is by far my favourite PS album so I was delighted with the choice to go deep on that.

[kerplunk]

To add to the high praise for an excellent Bearded Theory 2023, I really enjoyed photographing it this year - that is apart from stereotypically overdoing it on thursday and twisting my knee in the woodlands!

Pics now online here:

https://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/beardedtheory/2023/galleries.shtml

[Skelts]

16 minutes ago, kerplunk said:

To add to the high praise for an excellent Bearded Theory 2023, I really enjoyed photographing it this year - that is apart from stereotypically overdoing it on thursday and twisting my knee in the woodlands!

Pics now online here:

https://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/beardedtheory/2023/galleries.shtml

Some great photos there, thanks for sharing. Can’t believe it was only this time last week!

[Nobody Interesting]

31 minutes ago, Skelts said:

Some great photos there, thanks for sharing. Can’t believe it was only this time last week!

The good thing about how fast that last week went is that there are now only 51 more to go til BT 24

[Gnomicide]

Some of my photos from this year...

[Jackie Daytona]

Two things:

 

1. Does anybody think that the congestion problem for the Woodland was solved or made less of a problem by the debut of the Meadow Stage? I thought Saturday was quite congested, but that may have been a combination of the Beans On Toast Takeover fest being a big hit and people needing the tree shade from how hot it was for most of the day. 

 

2: Is anyone else formulating a lineup for next year in their head already? In particular with acts that have never performed at BT before or are trying to see if they're touring the UK or Europe next year for it to link up well?

[Nobody Interesting]

32 minutes ago, Jackie Daytona said:

Two things:

 

1. Does anybody think that the congestion problem for the Woodland was solved or made less of a problem by the debut of the Meadow Stage? I thought Saturday was quite congested, but that may have been a combination of the Beans On Toast Takeover fest being a big hit and people needing the tree shade from how hot it was for most of the day. 

 

2: Is anyone else formulating a lineup for next year in their head already? In particular with acts that have never performed at BT before or are trying to see if they're touring the UK or Europe next year for it to link up well?

1) Yes it sorted it - not aware of any queue problems for the Woodland.

2) Not looked at tours etc but do have a mental image or artists, like Siouxsie, on the Pallet.

[kerplunk]

Great review, by David Vass.

https://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/beardedtheory/2023/bearded-theory-festival-review-2023.shtml

 

[kerplunk]

....albeit wrong about Interpol 😄

[ciderbus]

2 hours ago, kerplunk said:

....albeit wrong about Interpol 😄

About right on Interpol, not so sure on "Panic Attack"😁. 

I felt more positive about the festival overall but an interesting perspective and decent read. 

Edited June 2, 2023 by ciderbus

[Gnomicide]

6 hours ago, Jackie Daytona said:

Two things:

 

1. Does anybody think that the congestion problem for the Woodland was solved or made less of a problem by the debut of the Meadow Stage? I thought Saturday was quite congested, but that may have been a combination of the Beans On Toast Takeover fest being a big hit and people needing the tree shade from how hot it was for most of the day. 

Definitely sorted it. The only queues I saw (which obviously doesn't mean it didn't happen at other times) were as I was leaving after Beans early set. There may have been others but there have been for years for the headliners, this sorted it for the rest of the day as far as I could tell.

[Paul ™]

Left site today, back to grass now....

And now at Download for 11 days.... 👀

[Jackie Daytona]

6 hours ago, Nobody Interesting said:

1) Yes it sorted it - not aware of any queue problems for the Woodland.

2) Not looked at tours etc but do have a mental image or artists, like Siouxsie, on the Pallet.

My list is pretty exhaustive, but I've tried to take into account the need for the usual Bearded standard genres (Punk, folk, alternative), whilst trying to keep the lineup as fresh as possible with some unique big names that aren't necessarily on the gig circuit for that year or even have gigs that year at all! These are: (stage included too)

Yes (Pallet) 

Dropkick Murphys (Pallet)

Idles (Meadow headliner)

The Big Moon (Pallet)

The Human League (Pallet)

Sparks (Pallet)

Toyah Willcox & Robert Fripp (Woodland)

SL2 (Magical Sounds)

Tide Lines (Meadow)

The Avalanches (Meadow)

Heaven 17 (Woodland)

Fontaines DC (Meadow)

John Otway (Woodland)

The Dead South (Woodland)

Big Joanie (Meadow) 

Jehnny Beth/Savages (Pallet) 

The Longest Johns (Maui Waui)

Pip Blom (Pallet)

White Town (Woodland)

LARRY PINK THE HUMAN (Woodland)

Orchards (Meadow)

Jollyboat (Maui Waui)

Andrea Kenny (Something Else)

Orville Peck (Convoy Cabaret headliner)

Cassyette (Pallet)

Kitten Pyramid (Maui Waui)

Let 3 (Meadow)

Go_A (Meadow)

The Poxy Boggards (Maui Waui)

[onemoresolo]

17 hours ago, kerplunk said:

....albeit wrong about Interpol 😄

Agreed albeit they made a mistake putting them opposite Echo and the Bunnymen. I’m a casual Interpol fan but thought they were great.

Some good shouts in the above but imagine Fontaines would be a Pallet act these days. If Interpol can headline they definitely could. IDLES headlining the Meadow would be great but rammed I imagine.

[Jackie Daytona]

25 minutes ago, onemoresolo said:

Agreed albeit they made a mistake putting them opposite Echo and the Bunnymen. I’m a casual Interpol fan but thought they were great.

Some good shouts in the above but imagine Fontaines would be a Pallet act these days. If Interpol can headline they definitely could. IDLES headlining the Meadow would be great but rammed I imagine.

The sound engineer for the Pallet stage was playing Fontaines a lot between sets this year which sounded pretty insistent tbh! Not that I mind, I want them there too and yeah, they could be a headliner of either Pallet or Meadow. It would make Fontaines the most current from their debut to headline BT, which I don't know if it would alienate some of the older casual crowd who want to see a popular legacy name headline, but would be a gutsy move from the organisers.

I know I've gone indulgent with a number of them! Yes, Let 3 and Go_A are Eurovision acts, but they're damn good Eurovision acts with engaging back catalogues, not just the songs they've sent to the competition. Jollyboat seem tailor made for Maui Waui and I would love to see those Edinburgh Fringe regulars there!

[Nobody Interesting]

1 hour ago, onemoresolo said:

Agreed albeit they made a mistake putting them opposite Echo and the Bunnymen. I’m a casual Interpol fan but thought they were great.

Some good shouts in the above but imagine Fontaines would be a Pallet act these days. If Interpol can headline they definitely could. IDLES headlining the Meadow would be great but rammed I imagine.

IDLES headlining Meadow would leave whoever was on the Pallet playing to a field of empty chairs.

51 minutes ago, Jackie Daytona said:

The sound engineer for the Pallet stage was playing Fontaines a lot between sets this year which sounded pretty insistent tbh! Not that I mind, I want them there too and yeah, they could be a headliner of either Pallet or Meadow. It would make Fontaines the most current from their debut to headline BT, which I don't know if it would alienate some of the older casual crowd who want to see a popular legacy name headline, but would be a gutsy move from the organisers.

I know I've gone indulgent with a number of them! Yes, Let 3 and Go_A are Eurovision acts, but they're damn good Eurovision acts with engaging back catalogues, not just the songs they've sent to the competition. Jollyboat seem tailor made for Maui Waui and I would love to see those Edinburgh Fringe regulars there!

Blossoms headlined a few years ago after just one album so they woudl remian 'most current' - but that matter not....... Fontaines into IDLES would be rather superb though preferably on 2 different days cos the body canny take it no more.

[Jackie Daytona]

1 hour ago, Nobody Interesting said:

IDLES headlining Meadow would leave whoever was on the Pallet playing to a field of empty chairs.

Blossoms headlined a few years ago after just one album so they woudl remian 'most current' - but that matter not....... Fontaines into IDLES would be rather superb though preferably on 2 different days cos the body canny take it no more.

IDLES would have to headline Pallet one of the days and Fontaines headline Meadow another. I'd still feel for whoever headlines Pallet on a Fontaines day, even if it was The Proclaimers! Oh yeah, there's another suggestion for a legacy act!