For those attending the Bearded Theory Festival back in 2024, it was a historically wet weekend which appeared to be as close to being cancelled as possible. The River Trent which snakes through the Catton Hall Grounds was within an inch of the top of its banks. I only mention this to compare the weather pendulum swing to the opposite extreme for this year, it seems the weather for this event is predictably unpredictable….

The essential requirements were water and sun screen, with possibly little else needed to get through to the other side, time to enjoy the sunshine and the increasing temperatures from Thursday through to Monday. With the usual wide ranging menu of musical delights to dive into there was as usual a lot of fast walking between stages.

It was good to see what appeared to be a busier Thursday and Friday, maybe the festival goers were keen to get to site early this year to make the most of the weather and avoid the customary Friday travel congestion. 

This review is in essence photos of primarily the artists involved at the Festival running in day order. There were many highlights, I will give thought to that and hopefully add my personal top 5 at the end. If you were there, these will serve as memory joggers or you may realise what you didn’t get to in time!

Thursday 21st May

Liines

Split Dogs

Bloodworm

A Certain Ratio

Venus Grrrls

Venus Grrrls

Venus Grrrls - Woodland Stage

BCUC

The Leisure Society

Big Special

Big Special

The Unthanks

Lambrini Girls - Rough Trade Signing

Lambrini Girls

Lambrini Girls

Lambrini Girls

Lambrini Girls

Friday 22nd May

Adult DVD

Westside Cowboy

Westside Cowboy

Westside Cowboy

Better Joy

Better Joy

Better Joy

Girl Scout

She's In Parties

The Molotovs - Rough Trade Signing

The Molotovs

The Molotovs

The Molotovs

The Molotovs

P.W.E.I

P.W.E.I

P.W.E.I

Panic Shack

Panic Shack

Chalk

Chalk

Chalk

Sprints

The Damned

The Damned

The Damned

The Damned

Getdown Services

Saturday 23rd May

The Pale White

The Pale White

Little Grandad

Amelia Coburn

Pet Needs

Pet Needs

Pet Needs

Pet Needs - Their Photographer

Pet Needs

Jon Spencer

Jon Spencer

Jon Spencer

Katacombs

Opus Kink

Opus Kink

Opus Kink

Idlewild

Idlewild

Idlewild

Idlewild

Bad Nerves

Bad Nerves

Bad Nerves

Bad Nerves

Bad Nerves

Bad Nerves

Bad Nerves

Heartworms

Heartworms

CMAT

CMAT

CMAT

The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present

The Pixies

The Pixies

The Pixies

The Pixies

The Pixies - On The Main Stage

The Pixies

The Pixies

The Horrors

The Horrors

The Horrors

Sunday 24th May

The Pallet - Main Stage

Lawnmower Deth

Newdad

Newdad

Newdad

Temper Trap

Miki Berenyi Trio

Neville Staple - From The Specials

Neville Staple - From The Specials

Everything Everything

Everything Everything

Honeyglaze

The Wildhearts

The Wildhearts

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage

Garbage - On The Main Stage

And so another Bearded Theory Festival has come to a close.

I promised my top 5 acts of the weekend and they are as follows:

5 - Adult DVD

4 - Jon Spencer

3 - The Pixies

2 - Idlewild

1 - Bad Nerves

All photos in this Review by Dan Reddick