The 10th Anniversary in Hammonton, NJ 6/16-6/18 at
Paradise Lake Campground
A serene weekend in Hammonton, NJ for the 2022 Beardfest with over 30 great acts of music, workshops, food, family and friends on the beautiful beachfront of Paradise Lakes Campground in Wharton State Park. We had the chance to spend the weekend on site taking it all in through the lens, catching the colors, smiles, and the music. Thursday at Paradise Lake campground saw Philly's folk-rockers Stella Ruze to start our day off, followed by the electro space-funk trio of Docklebanger on the Forest stage, pumping out hard instrumental jams for a full set. Back on the Beach stage we took in the cool jazzy tunes of Trap Rabbit and friends before heading back to the Forest stage to catch keyboardist Corey Bernhard with The Bul Bey dropping magic on the mic as the sun sank beyond the horizon. Next, drummer extraordinaire, Black Dynamite, took the beach stage with his band at 9pm and floored onlookers with a hard-hitting set of drum-lead jams before we found Brooklyn jazz saxophonist Sam Greenfield and friends on the woods stage. Closing out the two Beardfest stages for the first night was the popular Pennsylvania bluegrass outfit, Cabinet, followed by Philly's own Snacktime brass band on the Forest stage, joined by Beardfest host and Out of the Beardspace/Gnarbot/Edenspore guitarist Zach LoPresti, who spent the entire weekend playing at least five of his own sets, sitting in with various bands on the two stages, and got a haircut in the process!
The music continued Friday morning on the Beach Stage with a highly enjoyable set from Philly-based singer-songwriter, Kate Dressed Up solo acoustic, followed by folk-rockers Darlingtyn treating us to a warm set on the Forest stage. As the sun continued to bake the beach, singer-songwriter Emily Drinker brought her band to the stage for a set of fun tunes off her newest release, Starting to Feel. Next up, some much needed shade at the Forest stage to take in the outrageous antics of Red Meat Conspiracy, with the whole band donning cow suits in 90+ degree heat. Mikaela Davis brought us back to the Beach stage for an afternoon set of harp-lead tunes, followed by Beardfest vets and power instrumental trio, Consider The Source, on the Forest stage dishing out virtuosic melodies.
Dopapod's Eli Winderman brought his Philly Funk n Bowl project to Beardfest, dubbed as the Funk n Bowl All-stars, with a rotating cast of all the familiar faces that have come in and out of the project, in over 40 performances at North Bowl in Philadelphia. Later at the beach, our hosts, Out of the Beardspace, took the stage delivering a strong set of their music, sprinkled with some covers and joined by Snacktime, and by Nike Greeley & Edenspore's Robyn Mello for a raucous medley of Limp Bizkit covers. Back at the Forest stage we found up-and-comers Dogs in a Pile throwing down an original set of music to many new fans. Friday night headliners, Dopapod, took the Beach stage for a stellar set of original music, topped by the Cake cover, 'Never There'.
Dopapod's Eli Winderman brought his Philly Funk n Bowl project to Beardfest, dubbed as the Funk n Bowl All-stars, with a rotating cast of all the familiar faces that have come in and out of the project, in over 40 performances at North Bowl in Philadelphia. Later at the beach, our hosts, Out of the Beardspace, took the stage delivering a strong set of their music, sprinkled with some covers and joined by Snacktime, and by Nike Greeley & Edenspore's Robyn Mello for a raucous medley of Limp Bizkit covers. Back at the Forest stage we found up-and-comers Dogs in a Pile throwing down an original set of music to many new fans. Friday night headliners, Dopapod, took the Beach stage for a stellar set of original music, topped by the Cake cover, 'Never There'.
The final day of Beardfest saw a calming and inspirational performance from Robyn Mello's project, Edenspore, on the Beach stage to start the day, where she was joined by members of Out of the Beardspace and Muscle Tough. Time Relapse performed on the Forest stage before we headed back to the beach to check out the colorful funk troupe of Mums the Word. Next, drummer/organ duo, Space Junk is Forever, performed on the Forest stage treating fans to experimental jazz and organ-lead jams. Returning to the Beach stage we found Dogs in Pile again, ready to rock out some Grateful Dead jams. Brooklyn DJ/Producer Taylor McFerrin with Marcus Gilmore followed up on the Beach stage for a set of soulful groove and funk. Back at the Forest stage we caught Gnarbot poised and ready to melt faces with their shredding dual-guitarists Zach LoPresti & Zack Smith and with slick bass moves from Rodrigo Pichardo, with Ricky Hess tearing up the keys.
Returning to the festival again was the funky fan favorite, The Main Squeeze, who took over the Beach stage as the sun set on the final day at Beardfest, giving us a powerful set of music as always. Next, was off to catch Out of the Beardspace playing the Forest stage this time. Out of the Beardspace has recently released 'Like Moths to a Flame', their latest album, and played several tunes from the release. Festival veterans Too Many Zooz returned to Beardfest as the Saturday night headliner on the Beach stage, pumping out their unique brand of hard-stomping 'brass house' music. Finally, Trance-fusion quartet Solar Circuit was tasked with closing out the festival late Saturday night on the Forest stage and they did that masterfully, as they made their late-night Beardfest debut and were joined by Muscle Tough's Jonathan Colman for an extended jam, check out the soundboard recording here.
Throughout the weekend one could find various workshops in the campground, like Primitive Arrow Making, Shamanic Art Journey, Intuitive Painting for Self Discovery, Motivation for Songwriters and Composers, Partner Massage, Sound Healing, Somatic Self-Healing, Kazoo School 101, Story Time, Intro to Juggling and Advanced Juggling, yoga, meditation and more. There's something for everyone at Beardfest, and while the festival is mainly centered around fantastic music, the theme of Beardfest is community, togetherness, friendship, family, giving back, and protecting this spinning ball we live on the best of our abilities.
Returning to the festival again was the funky fan favorite, The Main Squeeze, who took over the Beach stage as the sun set on the final day at Beardfest, giving us a powerful set of music as always. Next, was off to catch Out of the Beardspace playing the Forest stage this time. Out of the Beardspace has recently released 'Like Moths to a Flame', their latest album, and played several tunes from the release. Festival veterans Too Many Zooz returned to Beardfest as the Saturday night headliner on the Beach stage, pumping out their unique brand of hard-stomping 'brass house' music. Finally, Trance-fusion quartet Solar Circuit was tasked with closing out the festival late Saturday night on the Forest stage and they did that masterfully, as they made their late-night Beardfest debut and were joined by Muscle Tough's Jonathan Colman for an extended jam, check out the soundboard recording here.
Throughout the weekend one could find various workshops in the campground, like Primitive Arrow Making, Shamanic Art Journey, Intuitive Painting for Self Discovery, Motivation for Songwriters and Composers, Partner Massage, Sound Healing, Somatic Self-Healing, Kazoo School 101, Story Time, Intro to Juggling and Advanced Juggling, yoga, meditation and more. There's something for everyone at Beardfest, and while the festival is mainly centered around fantastic music, the theme of Beardfest is community, togetherness, friendship, family, giving back, and protecting this spinning ball we live on the best of our abilities.
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