PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Irishman Colm Gray had the honour of opening the main stage today. The planned world false beard attempt was postponed till later in the day so there would be more people around as the mud meant turnout was low this early. Playing to a small crowd he went down well. Tarantism were next with an interesting performance – it’s not often you’ll see someone playing two whistles or wind instruments at the same time, especially while wearing a false beard. It’s an interesting sound from the band – and a catchy one too.
The Beard competition came next and the area in front of the stage was taken over by lots of people in fancy dress with many sporting false beards. After selecting a few finalists, the winners were chosen and won a very nice prize – a pair of free tickets for next year’s Bearded Theory.
The Ratells were next with some indie/alternative rock. It was a good performance that was well worth watching. Duke Special was up next. Duke Special is singer/songwriter Peter Wilson, and he plays piano while singing, and while he’s good at what he does, it didn’t really interest me that much, so I took some time to walk round the rest of the site instead and watch some of the other activities and entertainments going on.
Fishbone were next up, and proved to be one of the most impressive bands of the weekend for me. There was so much happening on stage you were never quite sure where to look as they put in a really high energy performance. With guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, vocals there was also a lot happening musically. It’s a really infectious uptempo sound combining ska, rock and more to make a fantastic unique sound. Definitely a band whose CDs I’ll be checking out soon.
The Blockheads are next up. Originally the backing band for Ian Dury, they’ve been working hard since his death in 2000, touring and playing festivals and keeping those songs alive. Songs like “Sex & drugs and rock n roll”, “reasons to be cheerful” and “Boys will be boys” went down well with the crowd, particularly the older members of the audience.
Next up was originally planned to be Wilko Johnson, but sadly his health problems meant he had to drop out, and so festival goers were left with an unknown replacement, described on the programme timetable as “Special bouncing guests”, a description that led to a certain amount of speculation. When the band were announced moments before they went on stage, the crowd reacted to the announcement of Reverend and the makers with cheers. One of last year’s headliners, there was little doubt that they were going to go down well tonight, and they went all out to impress, putting in a superb set.
Dreadzone are a band I hadn’t seen before but had heard good things about. They’re a hard band to describe – are they dub, reggae or dance? Well the answer is a bit of all of these – they have a sound that can’t be pinned down to a single genre, but what you can say is that they sound great. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable set, and one that really leaves everyone in the right mood for UB40.
UB40 are a band that should need no introduction, but currently do. After founder member Ali Campbell left the band he toured under his own name but now tours under the UB40 name. Unfortunately the rest of the band continue to tour, also under the UB40 name, so there are currently two bands calling themselves UB40 and playing gigs and festivals. Having seen both, I was very happy to learn that Bearded Theory had the Ali Campbell fronted version as his vocals are far superior to those of his brother Duncan who sings for the other UB40. Alongside Ali Campbell in his version of UB40 are two other founder members, Astro and Mickey Virtue. UB40 are a perfect choice for a festival like bearded theory. Not only are they a great fit musically, but they have so many hits that everyone knows that it’s a great band to get people singing along or dancing to, and that’s what happens here tonight. It’s a set packed with great songs, and the band sound great so it’s no wonder the crowd looks to be having a great time. This was definitely one of my highlights of the weekend.
While UB40 were probably my top band of the weekend, as always I left the festival having seen and heard a wide range of bands covering a variety of genres, and having enjoyed the vast majority of them. Fishbone were a real highlight too with one of the most entertaining performances of the weekend. That variety of bands is part of what makes Bearded Theory special, but the most important part is I think the people who attend each year. There’s a real mix of people but everyone is happy and friendly and is there to have fun. There’s never any trouble to be seen, and the fancy dress worn by many people really brightens the day for everyone else. Kids are better catered for here than almost any other festival I’ve seen, and that helps with a real family atmosphere.
Speaking of catering, festival food has a generally bad reputation, and if you go to the big corporate festivals you’ll soon see why – tasteless food with a very limited variety and at extortionate prices. In contrast, Bearded Theory food stalls offer a much more interesting selection, it’s always good quality and tastes great and it’s not too expensive either. For me, the poppadom and pickle selection at Gandhi’s flip-flop was a great choice, and the Indian food stall at the opposite end of the arena was also excellent. Stone-baked pizza, welsh bacon, crepes, whatever you chose to eat was good in my experience over the weekend. It’s great to see such a good selection of food available.
The new site worked very well – the locked in the woods stage was a nice touch and looked great, the site was flat which helps with camping, and despite the mud there were no problems getting around. I think the only problems I experienced were getting in and out of the car park due to the mud, and actually getting to the site on the Sunday – caused by people attending the Bushcraft event nearby parking on the road due to problems with their car parks. Really I was very impressed by how well the event ran in its first year in a new site. I’m already looking forward to next year.
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