Bearded Theory 2022

[Pinhead]

Fair play to Wayne for stopping the gig when someone collapsed in the crowd too.

[Pinhead]

The traditional vodka jelly couple didn't seem to reappear this year - anyone else see them?

[amfy]

3 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

The traditional vodka jelly couple didn't seem to reappear this year - anyone else see them?

Yep - we saw him and partook.

[amfy]

1 hour ago, Rumblestripe said:

 

The Headliners were all pretty damnably excellent, with the possible exception of Dreadzone who left me cold (probably just-not-my-thing). 

The frontman of Dreadzone, MC Spee, is currently unwell, and they just aren’t the same without hime. He is a fantastic frontman. I have loved Dreadzone for many years but found them quite flat and aimless without him. When/if he returns - give them another try.

[Pinhead]

14 minutes ago, amfy said:

Yep - we saw him and partook.

Nice one.

Was introduced to Whothers Originals vodka this year too - good stuff.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Pinhead

[DJL]

Appreciated this from the security team on the FB group, particularly about the woodlands queue and capacity.
 

‘Big thanks to you all from myself , our  managers, staff, our close protection team, stage security … and not forgetting our support K9’s for being the best UK festival crowd we have the pleasure of keeping safe. 
This year was big for us as it’s the 1st BT since the pandemic, so we put extra security on to try and keep good order and most important.. the tent thefts low!! Well guess what… 0 reported tent thefts this year… that’s a British record ever for a major festival!! That number will not be beaten again in the history of festival security. I’m so proud of our team and for you for being so vigilant and honest! Refreshing 
Now.. I’ve seen a couple of niggles… toilets… it’s a festival… we use the same facilities as you guys…If you go out in the rain.. your gonna get wet right 😜
The woodland queue. Let me explain.. not that I have to.. but I want to…. Covid - 19.. yes it’s over… but certain areas we had to to be exact and click in and out.. to keep the authorities happy… and we had to keep the woodland capacity down by a tiny percentage That’s my call… on my head…. But I’m telling you something… we will always try and keep you and your children safe! If there’s a queue then that’s a festival… but I’d rather have a few moans about a queue than a Hillsborough or a Manchester arena incident!! Not on our watch! You are to good for us to allow anything like that! Have an amazing year and see you all in 4 seasons #sauk 💙’

[Pinhead]

0 reported thefts is really v. impressive tbh.

[gizmoman]

Not much to add to others comments, Woodland situation needs sorting, get a bigger second stage or put the bigger bands on the main stage and use it for the smaller bands and as a chill out zone. Dreadzone sub-par without Spee, Placebo did themselves no favours by sticking to the tour setlist, should have put in a few older tracks for a festival crowd, Flaming lips ended the weekend well but the standout for me was Patti Smith, seen her a few times over the years but this was probably the best i've seen her, filmed a couple of songs so i've put them up on youtube.

 

[philipsteak]

I was working in the Woodland on the Saturday night. There was still a lot of space inside but I knew security were really controlling numbers, night club style, one in one out with a clicker. Assumed it was a licensing/local authority thing. I started my shift on the queue but had thankfully moved inside later, which meant I avoided the worst of the queueing and got to enjoy the music! I know my colleagues outside were taking some shit from people. Sounded quite bad at one point.. Appreciate people were frustrated but that's not on. It's not the steward's fault/call. They're volunteers. It won't change the situation. You've chosen to stay in the queue. Like I said, thankfully I didn't get any of that and got to experience the usual festival/Bearded loveliness from people, on and off shift. But hearing about it left a bad taste in the mouth.

I also had a night shift on the Woodland too. That was very dull. Essentially just the odd person walking down to use the toilets. Which meant we had 5 minutes (10 if they were really drunk) warning as they walked towards us down that drag. Bit weird for them and us.

[philipsteak]

9 hours ago, amfy said:

Yep - we saw him and partook.

Judging from the number of times he came back in with a refilled tub, he was having a great weekend.

[Pinhead]

56 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

 

I also had a night shift on the Woodland too. That was very dull. Essentially just the odd person walking down to use the toilets. Which meant we had 5 minutes (10 if they were really drunk) warning as they walked towards us down that drag. Bit weird for them and us.

I've done that overnight Woodlands position b4 as well on my own and nearly went crazy - started playing hide and seek with myself....

[philipsteak]

21 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

I've done that overnight Woodlands position b4 as well on my own and nearly went crazy - started playing hide and seek with myself....

Things didn't get that bleak thankfully. There were two of us (or was there? maybe he was my version of hide and seek) and at one point a response steward turned up. Not entirely sure what he was responding to but he stayed the rest of the shift. And we had the quiz to keep us going. 

[bucko]

Hi all

Great festival again so a massive thank you to all who worked it especially those that volunteer with everything from the build to the day to day running once the gates are open i really don't think it would be the same without you.

i thought the line up this year was the best its been and couldn't fault any performances that i seen.

from the bands I've seen before frank turner was the stand out for me and a close second was ferocious dog.

Out of the artists i was seeing for the first time i really enjoyed nova twins, shame, yonaka, and bob vylan.

The food was good apart from a terrible Greek gyro i had early on thursday.

The negatives from me and the main changes that may be down to the Rock City involvement are the running of the bars and the growth of the fairground.

The Main bars were run a lot more like the more corporate festivals and it doesn't sit well with me how they treat the staff with low hourly rates and the lack of trust they have when the staff handle cash. the staff serving me were always lovely and polite and although a bit rusty on the Thursday they soon got up to speed.

it just doesn't sit right with me that i can't reward the good service with a small tip every now and then for fear that when they finish a shift they are searched and not allowed to have cash on them.

When you think about how this festival has grown over the years and the work that goes into putting on such a wonderful event it truly is amazing.

you cant blame the guys for wanting to pass some of the work load on to a full time promoter i just hope they don't change too much and it becomes just another festival because for me bearded theory is one of the best there is.

Roll on next year.

Edited May 31, 2022 by bucko

[DomDom1984]

On Placebo, it was 8 news songs in 19. Almost half the set. They've never been ones to give a shit about what they're doing when it comes to loading in the new stuff though.

[amfy]

15 minutes ago, DomDom1984 said:

On Placebo, it was 8 news songs in 19. Almost half the set. They've never been ones to give a shit about what they're doing when it comes to loading in the new stuff though.

I literally know one Placebo song (which obviously they didn’t play) so I didn’t know the difference between new stuff & known stuff. I really enjoyed their set.

[idb]

Surprised at the report of zero tent thefts. There were definitely people in Gibbs that has been robbed on Thursday night. I overheard the tent next to use discussing that he’d had his wallet stolen. Maybe they just didn’t report it.

Did anyone that watched The Hives think it felt like they thought they were performing a 30 min set only to be told they had to perform an hour? I’ve been a fan if there’s for years, and I know he’s a great frontman but there was a lot of filler and I got the impression he wasn’t too pleased that they crowd weren’t fully onboard. I suppose saying “come on Birmingham” didn’t help his cause.

[tjamest]

1 hour ago, amfy said:

I literally know one Placebo song (which obviously they didn’t play) so I didn’t know the difference between new stuff & known stuff. I really enjoyed their set.

Exactly the same for me I only know Nancy Boy which they didn't play, but had a great time.

One of the standout suprises for me over the weekend was Billy Nomates. I only knew a few tracks from her album but loved her performance on Sunday afternoon. So much energy from one person on a huge stage.

[amfy]

14 minutes ago, tjamest said:

Exactly the same for me I only know Nancy Boy which they didn't play, but had a great time.

One of the standout suprises for me over the weekend was Billy Nomates. I only knew a few tracks from her album but loved her performance on Sunday afternoon. So much energy from one person on a huge stage.

I liked her too - although she reminded me of an angry Anthea Turner!

[Pinhead]

I knew her from this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKcbSOjIzjQ

[Perks]

What a weekend, had such a good time, nice to be back

Highlights music wise, off the top of my head - Patti Smith, Frank Turner, Jess Silk, Eat Static, Flaming Lips, Zion Train

Wish i'd spent more time in the tea tent, convoy and Maui, but didn't seem to have time... although i did love the indie disco at the pirate ship Sunday, couldn't get into Gaz Brookfield, so headed round there. good dance. although on the video someone posted above, i look like a right berk. haha.

[DJL]

I respect when bands play sets like that (Placebo) as their fans will love it… but they must also know it makes them less attractive to your average festival goer and therefore organiser.

If it is someone like Radiohead, who I personally really like, it’s great but if it is someone like say The Cure or Placebo (who I happen to have more of a surface level interest in) I’ll probably wander off… as I did (and don’t regret it).

[Boomtowner]

Loved it as always, only small gripe was the Woodland queue. If you're going to do it, at least have some food stalls in there.  It was a massive gamble going out to get food as to whether you'd get back in. Missed most of Jess Silk because of this whilst me family were all inside.

Musically I wasn't that interested in much this year. There was only Dubioza and Frank Turner, and he clashed with the Liverpool game, that I was desperate to see. However, I heard some amazing music. Enjoyed Dub Pistols on the Thursday but then realised there was no way we were getting into Woodland for Craig Charles.

I thought Placebo were really boring, I was looking after my grandson so that my son and his parner, who were both massive fans, could see them. They weren't overly impressed either. Glad we went to see the Swingers instead, although I would have loved them to be on even later, they were just my type of band for the early hours. Didn't try to get in to Wilko but he sounded great from back at the campervan.

Saturday, The Horse Puppets were awesome and my festival highlight was seeing them practising at the busk stop before the Maui Waui performance. Absolutely blissful 20 minutes sat in the sun. Wish I'd have dragged myself out to see them play the Woodland stage as well.

Gaz Brookfield was lovely, as always, and The Sunday finish of Selecter, Hives (fun but a bit too much filler) and Flaming Lips was great. Really glad I stayed for Lips rather than Neville Staple. I thought it was just a joyous 90 minutes.  I didn't know many songs but I loved it. Caught the back end of 2 of their sets in the past at Glastonbury and thought they looked fun, but the albums just don't do it for me. Really glad I experienced a full set.

I love the festival, the crowds are amazing. It is definitely the most chilled of all the festivals I've been to and will still be the first festival in my diary each year. 

 

[evilduck]

3 hours ago, DJL said:

I respect when bands play sets like that (Placebo) as their fans will love it… but they must also know it makes them less attractive to your average festival goer and therefore organiser.

If it is someone like Radiohead, who I personally really like, it’s great but if it is someone like say The Cure or Placebo (who I happen to have more of a surface level interest in) I’ll probably wander off… as I did (and don’t regret it).

I’m a big Placebo fan (this was my 35th gig/set) and I enjoyed hearing all the new stuff, but to me it wasn’t even a good fan set. Scene of the Crime, Kitty Litter, Slave to the Wage are not exactly songs that fans are dying to hear. And their choice of other singles on the set leaves a lot to be desired. However I’ve seen them enough times to know they will play exactly what they want to play and don’t give a shit otherwise, and I enjoy it anyway! 😂

[elgatonegrofabricwardrobe]

Third time at BT and really enjoyed it. Agree with the stuff about the Woodlands queue but not much more they can do I suppose. Everybody we spoke to/bumped into over the weekend (that I can remember) were happy, friendly people. Particularly enjoyed Dubioza Kolektiv, Fat White Family, Ferocious Dog (must be the most popular band t-shirts on earth), and Misty in Roots. Then The Hives and Flaming Lips were a stunning way to finish. Special mention for Ciderobics too, really good laugh!

[Flaminglippy]

Overall brilliant weekend. Got in remarkably quickly, was pitched up by 9.30am. As my other half and babby weren't coming until the Friday went down to the entrance to give people a hand who were struggling (rather than just start drinking). Really enjoyed Dubioza Kolektiv, Frank Turner, Hives, No Doubt, Porridge Radio and Flaming Lips. Bumped into and shook Wayne Coynes hand and caught their soundcheck (not gonna lie, I cried when they did the soundcheck for 'Do You Realize?!') which was a massive bonus. 

Definitely felt busier than previously. Sure the organisers said the capacity hadnt increased but can't believe that...by 4-5pm most days felt like all the stages were rammed. With the exception of Bob Vylan didnt really get to see anything on the Woodland (couldnt justify queuing for an hour when there were other bands on)

The ale was decent but felt like a lot less choice than in previous years. 

Literally everybody I spoke to was lovely (was wearing a 'Never Voted Tory' t shirt on Saturday which started a lot of conversations). 

Overall, great weekend, although it felt slightly less being part of a little secret club than in previous years.