We love Bearded Theory. The first major festival of the year and every time it proves to be the best long weekend of the UK festival season. It’s reputation for being one of the best (actually THE best) summer festival is more than well deserved and once again 2026 surpassed all expectations with it’s booking of quality bands, brilliant organisation, friendly, helpful staff and probably the cleanest festival toilets you’ll find anywhere. This year’s festival was the biggest installment yet – 15000+ people – possibly because there’s no Glastonbury, and the vibe felt a little different to previous years (I’m sensitive to these sort of things) but apart from the inevitable difficult choices to make about who to see whenever there was a clash there really was nothing negative about our five days in the lush surroundings of Catton, Derbyshire.
As always a massive shout-out to DHP and their main band booker Ben Ryles who brought a huge number of quality artists to this year’s festival. Big name headliners right through to young, new(ish) on the scene, hard hitting bands playing those lunchtime/early afternoon slots on smaller stages. Take a short stroll away from the three main stages of Pallett, Meadow and Woodland and you’ll find the Convoy Cabaret Tent and it’s emphasis on some of the best punk/indie around at the moment, the diverse, eclectic range of artists gracing the Maui Waui tent, the chilled out vibes of the Something Else Tea Tent where you can watch spoken word, folk, old school punk rock all with a decent cuppa, a slice of amazing cake and a slice of decent social/political attitudes, the booming techno/dance/DJ emphasis of CODA tent or the party atmosphere dancing in the sun at Big Ed. Bars selling drinks at reasonable prices, great variety of food outlets AND, should you wish, you’re actually allowed to take your own food/drink into all parts of the festival aswell.
Clothes stalls, gift stalls, a wellbeing area (sauna or massage anyone?), a children’s village and, on the Friday, a festival school for youngsters up to Year 10 age where everything taught meets National Curriculum standards. A word of warning though – you’ll need to book early to grab a place.
There’s comedy, discussions, Q&A sessions with artists and festival organisers, late night film screenings. And lets not forget the punters – Bearded Theory attendees seem to be some of the most inclusive, friendly, occasionally eccentric people you’re ever likely to meet.
Add in five days of glorious sunshine and it couldn’t really get any better. High spirits, loads of laughs, relaxed atmosphere and, most importantly, it feels safe.
As for the music? After all this is what we’re all here for. If you want it you’ll find it. Indie, punk, post-punk, rock, dance, electro, folk, spoken word, pop. It’s all here and not just the odd band or two playing what you want to hear. I say this every year but what you absolutely will not get at Bearded Theory is the same old line-up doing the rounds of summer festivals.
Spread over five days with Wednesday being an optional add-on, not included in the main ticket price, and planned to help reduce the amount of traffic descending on the minor local roads all on the Thursday.
What I like others might not but for this reviewer all five days were brilliant with each delivering some absolute festival highlights. And like all great festivals there were bands I’d not seen before who are now well on my radar. Absolute standouts for me were:
Wednesday – In the beautiful surroundings of the Woodland stage Meryl Streek is angry. Corruption, the catholic church, rip off landlords and more. Thirty minutes of venting against societies many ills Meryl Streek is a pent up ball of energy striding around the stage, on the barrier, eyeballing the camera. A captivating presence who does not hold back, telling it exactly like it is. Thirty minutes later Jools pummel us with their raw, visceral, intense punk rock. Their mixture of spoken word and bouncy sung vocals together with their non-stop energy has the crowd in Woodland jumping. Dual vocals from Mitch Gordon and Kate Price work brilliantly as does they energy between them. Within minutes they’re both perched on the bass speakers in the pit, prompting anxious reactions from security. A fantastic, cathartic half hour of brilliant punk rock noise.
Pallet, the festival mainstage, opens late afternoon on Thursday meaning we now face those difficult decisions when bands clash. Meatdripper hit us with their huge, raw, heavy, doom laden riffs and manic vocals. They’re followed on Woodland by Native James who tear a whole in our eardrums with their grimy, hard hitting metal riffs and rap tinged lyrics.
LIINES are, as always, brilliant with their infectious post punky garage foot tapping beats and lyrics that rapidly become the day’s earworm. Over on Pallet stage Manchester’s A Certain Ratio‘s 45 minutes of glorious bass driven chilled out funk is absolutely perfect for the sun soaked arena area. Staying at Pallet BCUC are a band who’ve been around over 20 years but one I’ve never seen live before. Their set is a glorious 45 minutes of infectious dance tunes driven by rumbling bass riffs and huge drum beats. Massively influenced by the sounds of South Africa and their home town of Soweto it’s impossible not to dance, practically the whole field in front of the stage up on it’s feet swaying away. Sitting on top of the life affirming sounds are the vocals of Nkosi Zithulele who sings in both English and various South African languages. His passion shines through as he dances away, beaming smile across his face.
Big Special are a band that should never be missed. Great fun with some serious messages both social and political. Powerful, urgent drumming from Callum Moloney and on point lyrics from Joe Hicklin have the crowd hooked in from the word go. They’re in the crowd, on the barrier, a tangible link between band and fans. ‘This Here Ain’t Water’, ‘Black Dog/White Horse’, the huge singalong of ‘Shithouse’ and the bouncing chants of “We will sell your shit” in ‘Shop Music’ particular standouts from a set that’s over far too quickly.
Headliners Lambrini Girls are, as always, gloriously chaotic. This is punk rock at it’s most cathartic. Interacting with the crowd from the word go, they’re not happy unless there’s a riotous mosh pit in front of them. Singer-guitarist Phoebe Lunny wastes no time getting over the barrier and into the mayhem. Contained within the screeching noise there’s some particularly serious messages, punched home by images and words on the screen behind them. Lambrini Girls don’t hold back. Pro-palestine, huge supporters of LGBTQ+, anti-capitalist, anti huge corporations, a rallying call to stand up to the billionaires that exert so much power over the rest of us, anger spat out at the misogyny that seeps into so much of everyday life. In short Lambrini Girls are superb in every way.
Friday and the temperature is rising both literally and metaphorically. By lunchtime it’s hitting 27C. Adult DVD open the Meadow stage at mid-day. The place is rammed, sweaty and bouncing for their quirky, danceaholic, upbeat sounds. Escaping to the relative shade and slightly lower temperature in Woodland She’s In Parties were another ‘must see’ band. After witnessing them play a suberb set supporting Heartworms last year this was one not to miss and they once again played a brilliant set full of indie pop bangers made for dancing in the sunshine.
The Molotovs continue their meteoric rise in popularity, a rise that’s more than well deserved. A band that seems to thrive on pushing themselves through a continuous brutal schedule. Flying in from the USA just a few hours before they walk onto the Meadow stage they still deliver a full on set of mod-influenced high octane tunes. It’d be easy to say they’re just The Jam/Buzzcocks/Clash for the youth of today but their appeal has hooked in music lovers from across a massive age range.
Back in the Woodland Good Health Good Wealth play a sublime set of emotionally charged, thought provoking songs over some lush, chilled out beats. Give your ears a treat a have a listen to their album ‘This Time Next Year We’ll Be Millionaires’. You won’t be disappointed.
Next band to walk onto the Woodland stage Chalk are brilliant, hammering us with their unrelenting, industrial, electro-dance-punk noise. There’s probably no better way to blow away the onsetting drowsiness brought on by the day’s unrelenting heat.
Back on Pallet Sprints bring their non-stop, seething garage-punk that draws a bigger crowd each time I see them.
The Damned have been a constant fixture in my musical life since I was sucked into the punk rock explosion nearly 50 years ago. Always completely entertaining, the wit of Captain Sensible, the unmistakeable voice of Dave Vanian and songs that despite being released 40-50 years ago just don’t seem to date. ‘Love Song’, ‘Neat Neat Neat’, ‘New Rose’, ‘Smash It Up’, ‘Eloise’ take those of us of a certain age back to a time when the songs were considered rebellious, anti-establishment. At the same time it’s great to see a whole load of youngsters also well into them. But The Damned don’t just rely on the big hits from days gone by, they regularly release new material including a recent album of covers as a tribute to founding member Brian James who passed away in March 2025. Tonight their set includes covers of Iggy’s ‘Gimme Danger’ and Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’. How much longer The Damned will continue playing live for is anybody’s guess but while they do we’ll make the most of it.
For every negative there’s a positive. Just before Skunk Anansie we’re suddenly told there’s a list of those the band are happy to photograph them. Apparently down to the name of the publication you photograph/write for we’re not on it but that now means I get to see and photograph Getdown Services magnificently bonkers, jumping, hot, sweaty, absolutely rammed set on the Meadow stage. Their huge rise in popularity helped by last weeks appearance on Later With Jools Holland, something they waste no time reminding us about, sees the crowd bursting out the back of this not small tent. In fact it’s fair to say that I’ve never seen a crowd this big for a band on Meadow stage. Ben Sadler and Josh Law entertain with wit, humour and self deprecating banter. With a huge number of particularly loyal, possibly obsessive fans and armed with a set of non-stop catchy, infectious songs including ‘Dog Dribble’, ‘Eat Quiche, Sleep, Repeat’ and ‘The Radiator’, it’s a fantastic sixty minutes of unadulterated fun that leaves those lucky enough to experience it on a real high.
Friday finishes with a simply wonderful set by Peter Hook & The Light. More used to playing lengthy 2+ hour sets it can’t have been easy choosing the songs to play tonight but what a superb choice is made. Split into two halves, the first a powerful run of Joy Division classics – ‘No Love Lost’, ‘Disorder’, ‘Isolation’, ‘She’s Lost Control’, ‘Shadowplay’, ‘Transmission’ and, to me, the heart tugging ‘Ceremony’. This is followed by what most people would consider a best of New Order – ‘Regret’, ‘Crystal’, ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ and more. Throw in Monaco’s ‘What Do You Want From Me’ and the always perfect finale of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ and it’s massive crowd sing-a-long and you couldn’t get a better ending to Friday night.
Saturday is scorching. There’s warnings on the big screen about drinking water, sunscreen and finding shade. Musically it’s pretty damned hot as well. Pet Needs are a welcome late addition to the festival line-up and open the Meadow stage with a blistering set of indie punk rock bangers in front of a packed crowd. The sheer joy, excitement and energy that rolls off the stage when they perform is infectious and seeps into everyone who’s here to witness their beautiful return to a festival that welcomes them with open arms. Their life affirming 30 minutes is topped off by their photographer who, determined to get a shot of as many in the crowd as possible, decides the only way to do it is to crowd surf, camera in hand, around the whole venue. Brilliant.
There’s also amazing sets by Jon Spencer – bone shaking, blues tinged, in your face garage rock ‘n’ roll, Bad Nerves – fantastic fast paced, foot tapping, catchy punk rock. Look out Green Day as Bad Nerves may soon be knocking you off your pedestal. Heartworms, the musical project of Jojo Orme, never disappoint and their early evening set on Meadow stage is no different. Orme is mesmerising whether she’s plucking gothic riffs out of her guitar or else contorting herself into ballet-esque dance moves. Think goth, think industrial, think noir, think modern day Siouxsie. Mix it all together and you won’t be far off the mark.
Back on Pallet Idlewild draw a big number of people in with their crowd pleasing, indie rock. CMAT brings the party with her riotous, eccentric, theatrical stage presence and addictive blend of pop, country and good old disco. Rarely do you see such a connection between an artist and their fans but the devotion tonight is palpable. And it’s not just young teens lapping it up. CMAT has that rare ability to unite people from across a massive age range.
Sadly we can’t stay for CMAT’s whole set and dash over to the Something Else tent for Interrobang‽ Fronted by Dunstan Bruce, formerly of Chumbawamba, together with Stephen Griffin on guitar/electronic gadgetry Interrobang‽ set out to deliberately agitate you, to prick your conscience, to be confrontational with their intense, repetitive, pulsating beats, angular guitar and bellowed lyrics. New album ‘Rethink Everything’ is more danceable but no less angry or socially and politically bang on point than their 2018 self titled debut. Frustration at the powerlessness of the ordinary person, anger at the genocide being handed down on the Palestinian people, rage against the ills of rampaging capitalism. Interrobang‽ deal with things too many people choose to ignore. But as well as anger Interrobang’s set is a rallying cry for people to stand up and make things change and the realisation that you’re standing amongst people who all share these same opinions gives us some sort of hope. Without doubt a festival highlight.
Pixies are the band a huge number of people are here to see and for dedicated fans they deliver a brilliant set that leans heavily on those classic early albums such as Doolittle, Bossanova, Come On Pilgrim and Surfa Rosa. It’d be hard to ask for a better opening group of songs. ‘Gouge Away’, ‘Wave Of Mutilation’, a cover of the Mary Chain’s ‘Head On’, and ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’ are brilliant slices of noisy, grungy rock. Later on ‘Here Comes Your Man’ and ‘Where Is My Mind’ are also greeted with huge enthusiasm. There’s no doubting the popularity of Pixies and even without them playing Debaser it’s a cracking end to a brilliant Saturday in Catton.
Sunday arrives, the weather remains glorious but our aging legs are getting tired. Our Day starts properly with the Au Pairs, one of my favourite bands from 1980/81, now reformed with Lesley Woods heading a new band of quality musicians. Safe to say those post punk, spikey, slicing guitars are as sharp as ever, and the rhythms as strong as they were back then. Topped with politically charged lyrics still as relevant today as they’ve ever been the current day Au Pairs still sound as fresh, militant and exciting as they did over forty years ago. Fingers crossed there’s new music to come.
Woodland is at bursting point before GANS even walk on stage. A few might just be seeking shade but for most it is the explosive, throbbing, electro-punk of GANS that has drawn them here. Despite the heat GANS give everything they’ve got as do the fans with a moshpit that lasts throughout their set. For many festival goers this was the set of the weekend.
Neville Staple and band performed a perfect set of non stop Specials classics that had the Pallet crowd bouncing from start to finish. Black Water County brought their brilliant tin whistle tinged full on punk attitude to Woodland but we had to dash part way through to see Slalom D bang out a superb set of passionate, sometimes angry, sometimes heartbreaking punk rock n roll.
Mainstage headliners Garbage are a powerful presence, vocalist Shirley Manson dominating the stage both visually and vocally. From the opening notes of ‘There’s No Future In Optimism’, through the hugely popular ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ ‘Stupid Girl’, a dedication to Courtney Love with ‘Right Between The Eyes’, and on to ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ Garbage grab our attention and don’t let go. Manson is approaching 60 and is rightly furious about the attitudes of some that claim reaching a certain age means you’re no longer relevant. Tonight’s performance kicks those attitudes into touch. She also tells us she met God whilst in the throes of agony recovering from hip replacements. It turns out that God is us, the audience, the fans that provide the inspiration for what she does. It’s a rambling but touching introduction to set closer ‘The Day That I Met God’. Thirty years after their debut album Garbage have shown without any doubt why they’re still so popular.
Finally, it’s a mad dash over to Meadow for another massive standout set of the weekend. Fat Dog are chaotic, in your face, noisy, funky, punky and insanely good fun. Huge, hypnotic beats have the whole place absolutely bouncing. A superb end to an amazing five days of exceptionally good live music.
Once again Bearded Theory has delivered a magical long weekend. The atmosphere, the people, the positive vibes, the sheer variety of bands you can see. The knowledge that you’ll witness quality sets from big name artists as well as the guarantee you’ll discover someone new absolutely blowing a smaller stage apart early in the afternoon. Everything just comes together to make Bearded Theory an unmissable highlight of the musical calendar. Roll on 2027. Tickets available now from here.
We saw more incredible bands as well as those mentioned. Gallery of every band seen below.
Words/photos: steve white
