Beat-Herder 2024 – Northern Hedonism At Its Very Greatest

Orbital, The Wailers and Utah Saints rock the woodland dance floors buried deep inside the lovely Lancashire countryside

As many independent festivals have had to shut up shop due to massive cost increases and declining ticket sales, the champions, the warriors, the kings of them all – Beat-Herder had their flags flying high as ever this weekend. Here’s our seven highlights of a weekend in wonderland: 1. Orbital headlining the main stage

Paul and Phil Hartnoll smashed the beating heart right through the rolling hills across the A59 and back again on the Friday night for their third headline appearance at Beat-Herder. “It’s becoming a habit” said Phil before banging out rave anthems such as Belfast, Satan, Halycon and the legendary Chime. And if that wasn’t enough, the owls, sheep and nocturnal youth were treated to samples of Belinda Carlisle, Bon Jovi and the Spice Girls. Cheers lads – you can come again.

2.  The Wailers in the rain

Despite a weekend of mainly glorious weather, a random hour of precipitation did not deter Bob Marley’s old crew as they brought love, hope and soul on Saturday afternoon – much to the delight of the main stage masses and poncho sellers. Celebrating the 40th anniversary since the release of Marley’s Legend album, this was the weekend sing along not to be missed with songs of praise including No Woman, No Cry, I Shot The Sheriff, Three Little Birds, Redemption Song and Buffalo Soldier. The legend lives on – R.I.P. Bob.

3.  Beans on Toast in the crowd

Jay McAllister sings songs about the simple things in life; from dressing up as dragons and mermaids with his five year old daughter, building dens with the duvet cover, the Golden Lion pub in Todmorden, West Yorkshire and robbing banks in Clitheroe – how can you not be infatuated with that? “People always ask why I get booked at so many festivals” said Jay. “I wrote a song about clearing up your own rubbish at the end of festivals and the phone has never stopped ringing since!” A modern day Bob Dylan who certainly knows how to keep it real.

4.  The Flashers in fancy dress

Every year, the Beat-Herder crew organise a well participated fancy dress – and this year the theme was the letter “F.” We saw frogs, French men, about 800 fairies, foxes, a fridge, somebody dressed as fire, Roger Federer, football fans en masse, a fortune teller, fire engines, firemen, flamingoes, French maids, Forest Gump and fly agaric mushrooms amongst other notable entries. But the worthy winners were the Flashers from Burnley – kitted out with standard pervert trench coats and hand made genitalia. As an added bonus, they gave you a sticker saying “I’ve been flashed at BeatHerder” shortly after their big reveal – comedy genius.

5.  Bongo Dave in the church

Bongo Dave is now part of the Beat-Herder furniture and attracts a large following every year due to his physical ability to somehow bang on the drums for three hours solid whilst everyone else bounces on the pews, arms in the air celebrating the Lord and the Love – and whilst dressed as a nun. The church is certainly Beat-Herder’s smallest stage but probably the biggest buzz – a great place to revel and repent.

6.  Jodie Langford in the Laundrette

Donned in a Just Eat coat and baseball cap that she bought on Vinted for £8, Jodie Langford was the weekend surprise package – splintering the washing machine drums and grabbing everyone’s attention within a 200 metre radius of the The Laundrette. Reminiscent of a female Mike Skinner with a double dose of Johnny Rotten – Hull’s up and coming star could potentially be a big hit with her infectious single “Get The Shots In!” Listen now on Spotify. 7. Utah Saints in the Ring

A nice surprise late on the Saturday night after Leftfield – Harrogate’s finest drew a monster crowd in the Ring to the point where it was one in and one out (praise the Lord for the backstage pass). Playing a mash up of old skool retro tunes, their anthemic Something Good, a little dabble of 2

Unlimited before a rapturous finale of Give It Away (Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Right Here, Right

Now (Fatboy Slim), Everybody’s Free (Rozalla), Sweet Harmony (Liquid), and Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve); this was peak madness, peak euphoria and peak escapism from the dreaded 9-5.

Thanks a lot Beat-Herder – we will return as always next year. 2025 tickets available from August 1st 2024.

Photos by Duncan Whittaker and Andrew Whitton