Bearded Theory 21-25 May 2025

It’s hard to believe that 12 months ago the run up to Bearded Theory was plighted with issues due to huge amounts of rain. This year there was no river of mud to greet us but instead the fear of not being able to get tent pegs into the ground! What hadn’t changed was the prospect of a weekend of brilliant music. Indeed, this year’s line-up may have been the best one ever.

And if ever a band was made for getting a festival off to a brilliant start then it’s Fat Dog. Having got off to an absolutely cracking start, they had to pause the set two songs in due to a medical emergency. Sadly, it meant that when they returned it had to be a shorter set than planned. But it meant it was one dance/indie banger after an another. It’s the kind of sound we’d probably not put on at home, but on a big stage in a packed and excited field it’s perfect. It got the crowd jumping and dancing as the sun set on the first ‘proper’ day of the festival.

The fact that English Teacher, one of hottest bands in U.K. last year are playing Bearded on the Thursday night tells you a lot about the pulling power of the festival. Their intense sound is one you’d expect to thrive more in an intimate environment but it expands across the large stage and festival field to good effect.  Although that’s probably due to the fact they’re all clearly very talented musicians. It’s a quite slow but dramatic set from a band who have incredible talent. In terms of atmosphere it might have made more sense for those two band to have been swapped around. But anyhow there was still plenty of fun and dancing to be had as the crowds moved around the various tents and bars to party late into the night.

Our Friday began with Girl Band, who hailfrom Nottingham so a pretty local band. They certainly drew out the early festival crowd. The locality may have been part of that but more likely people were attracted by their sound. For a relatively new band they are really tight. Their sound is also right up our street as they delivered a set of great indie rockers with a nice dash of power pop melody. It was also great to hear a young band play a cover of T Rex’s Hot Love, a classic! Definitely one of the best opening bands we’ve seen for a while and a great start to a lovely sunny day.

Du Blonde were one of the acts we were really looking forward to seeing. To say they didn’t disappoint would be an understatement. She is a natural performer with a great backing band and had the tent in the palm of her hands from the start. We’re big fans of her music anyhow but the songs really come to life in a live environment. Equally more rocking, more pop and more danceable all at once. Surely an act that’ll end up headlining this kind of festival in the future.

It feels like an eternity since we first saw Ezra Furman, at the small Glee Club in Birmingham around the time of her first album. In many ways it was, and it feels like a different world now. But what hasn’t changed is the energy and intensity she brings to her show. Each song seems to be sung with every ounce of the emotion in her body. It’s met by a devoted crowd who hang on every line delivered during the set.

There won’t be many festivals where the words “Stourbridge favourites” elicits such a large cheer, but that’s what introduced Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. That’s a name that for many will create wonderful memories of their wasted youth. The great news is that they are as full of enthusiasm as ever. Lots of bands reform but it’s a rarity for it to involve all the original members as it does for the Neds. Maybe that’s the reason that their songs sounded as good as ever and also as relevant now as they did back in the day. Good music obviously ages well.

We then wander away from the main stage to check out Billy No Mates. We know that she has faced criticism in the past for playing to a backing track only with no band. That may well be why she has a drummer and bass player now (but still with liberal use of backing tracks). But we’re not really bothered about that. She has some great pop rock tracks and the songs feel almost like arena rock flavoured indie tracks. She also had a stage presence and a charisma that many bands seem to be lacking these days. It means she really fills the stage and engages with the enthusiastic crowd.

Bearded Theory is a festival which offers so much alongside the stages and a highlight is always Big Ed, a tree shaped venue that host DJ sets throughout the entire weekend.  An absolute must for us was the Brit pop v Manchester set. Banger after banger and a perfect excuse for a few beers and to dance in a field like no one is watching…which they’re not as everyone is having too much fun to care what anyone else is doing.

We then got our next fix of live music with Anthony Szmierek who is just a wonderful entertainer and the perfect act to see as the sun set over the festival. Him and his music just preach love and happiness and he fills the tent with joy and dancing people. It’s rare to see an artist who appeals to so many different people and even different generations. Heck he even makes poetry speak to all…. It makes you feel that it is almost a shame he didn’t stay a teacher, but we guess he will inspire even more lives through his shows.

After that, it’s fair to say there is significant change in audience, sound and mood for The Sisters Of Mercy! We have heard bad things about their performance in recent years but given we spent a month or so being a goth in our youth, they’re a band we have always been desperate to see. For us they were on very good form. The sound was excellent although far more rock opera in style than perhaps their original haunting and menacing goth sound. On this occasion, Andrew Eldritch seemed on very good form and the tent was absolutely rammed. It was perhaps a reminder of how huge a band the Sisters were and also one of the most influential U.K. bands.  They probably deserve far more respect than they get for their importance in the U.K. music scene.

There is probably not a better way to start a festival morning than Beans on Toast – the act rather than the food! A true stalwart of the festival scene. His gentle folky songs are littered with humorous lyrics and some great singalongs. The weather may have been a bit greyer but we’re sure his set will have brightened up the crowd’s day and relieved a few bleary heads.

Deliberate or not but we continued the food themed bands with The Lovely Eggs! They were introduced as the oldest couple in rock n roll, which may be true but we’re not sure how they feel about that! They provide a reminder that the only drum and guitar rock band was a thing well before Jack White and The White Stripes made it cool. Inevitably that also means a sound which is quite basic but not lacking in passion or enthusiasm.

Terrorvsion were a huge blast from the past but boy are they a great band. A fantastic reminder of British rock at its finest. Loud, hard, melodic but most importantly damn fun!! Remember that when rock n roll could just sound track a really good time? A great set and up there with our favourite of the festival We had literally forgotten how awesome a band they are and how brilliant the songs were, they also look ‘like a band’ kids take note!

Nova Twins are a very different type of band but offer up an even higher level of intensity. They seem determined to leave no prisoners with a sound that is aggressive and powerful. It seems somewhat appropriate that there were some brooding dark clouds over the festival site as they played. A darker sound that would have felt out of place in yesterday’s sunshine.

She Drew The Gun did a great job of dragging people away from the shelter of their tents to the Woodlands area. Those that braved the elements were rewarded with a great set of songs that had an indie pop vibe. The whole crowd were there to enjoy the music and it helped to create a great atmosphere of togetherness. Again, it’s a sign of the status of Bearded Theory that they can attract acts of this quality to appear at these stages mid-afternoon. 

That all built up to Iggy Pop’s appearance. We absolutely love Iggy but we did have some concerns over how his performance would be, given he is now 78. All we can say is WOW! Possibly one of the finest festival headline performances we have ever seen. Obviously, he is an absolute legend but even that didn’t prepare us for the quality of passion we experienced during this set. It helps of course that he can play songs like Passenger followed by Lust For Life… possibly the best couple of tracks in a row you will ever hear live. But this was a set full of classic songs like I Wanna BE Your Dog and Search and Destroy. Iggy still delivering vocally and there is absolutely no sense of a retro or novelty act edge to his performance. He is a totally unique singer and the type of true rock start that we are highly unlikely to ever see again.

It’s almost a shame anyone had to follow that, ever! Thankfully, Ash have an array of brilliant indie rock songs. It seems the whole crowd has moved over to the tent and they keep the euphoric atmosphere going. They’re one of those bands where you forget just how many brilliant songs they have. It ends possibility one of the best festival evenings we’re ever had.

Shonen Knife are the first band we are up to see on the final day. They’re a band who for c30 years have been on our radar but weirdly we’ve never checked out. That’s despite them first being mentioned alongside Redd Kross (one of our favourite bands) and then later when Kurt Cobain talked about how much he loved them. It’s therefore not surprising that a really decent crowd have made their way from their tents. Despite the heavy heads in the crowd, they all seemed to love the punk pop songs that the band played. It’s certainly not surprising to know that later in the day they’re playing a Ramones covers set.

Divorce are a relatively local band coming from Nottingham but it’s been a long wait for them to appear at Bearded Theory having missed last year due to their guitarist cutting his finger. Mind you, that’s given them the chance to release their debut album to much critical acclaim. This set allows them to play most of the tracks from that release. That obviously includes the singles which are indeed the pick of the songs on that release.

One of the brilliant things about festivals is the opportunity to see acts you have been meaning to check out for a while. Nadine Shah was one of those for us and the main thing that hits you is her incredible voice. It manages to be really powerful but also smooth. Her songs have a dark texture with a cinematic feel. Indeed you could easily see her being selected for a Bond theme song (if it ever comes back?!).

It’s fair to say that seeing McClusky afterwards was a significant change in style of music. They were powerful in a very different way with their aggressive punk rock. We expect that members of the crowd must have recovered from their hangovers…if not, their heads would have been hurting a lot after everything McClusky metaphorically threw at them!

So, we go from never seeing Shonen Knife to now seeing them twice…well sort of. This was their alter ego, the Osaka Ramones cover band. That must be a hell of a lot of fun for them as well as the audience. Basically we get half an hour of non-stop punk pop classics. A brilliantly fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Which then just leaves us with the fabulous Manic Street Preachers to close the festival. Given they are one of our favourite bands we just knew they wouldn’t disappoint us. Indeed, how could they when they can play a song like Motorcycle Emptiness just two songs in. You don’t get much better than that. James Dean Bradfield remains as brilliant as ever as a vocalist and front man. But a special word for his guitar playing which probably doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Surely he is one of the best that we have produced in Great Britain? It’s a brilliant set that contains songs from throughout their long career. We were particularly pleased to hear La Tristesse Durera from the far too underrated Gold Against The Soul. We also get the delights of a Nicky sung song complete with punctuation via confetti from his pocket. James commences The Everlasting on his own which gives it a different and eerie feel before the rest of the band join in. As one of those who were seeing the band back in 1990 we were also delighted that From Despair to Where was given an airing. For us old school fans it still seems a shame that You Love Us is now the penultimate song rather than the last one but you can’t have it all!

The band’s set ends with fireworks and as cliched as it is, this amazing festival certainly ended with a bang! Bearded Theory is always the first one of our festival season and it usually sets a high standard. This year was probably the best ever and we doubt any others will match with it. It had everything to make a perfect festival:

Fanatically organised – with brilliant facilities and tents/bars/venues catering for a diverse range of needs.

Great music – new discoveries, old favourites and a few surprises.

Wonderful audience – fields full of people who are genuinely delighted to be there and are intent on having a brilliant time. 

We already can’t wait for Bearded Theory 2026!!!