Dan Tomlinson discovers just what it means to be a Beans On Toast fan.
There is something to be said about the genre of folk music in the 21st century, which not only provokes the raising of the baby-hairs on your arms, but also invigorates the soul to make one shout “HEY, THEY’RE RIGHT, THIS IS BS AND WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!” While not a formal protest with the picket signs and the chants, these gatherings are more about coming together as a community, and leaving it all out on the line.
Jay McAllister made a career of this. A tenured veteran of the industry, Beans On Toast has gallivanted around the crowds for over fifteen years, making his name with his chaotic, rambling sound at Glastonbury 2007, and became a widely acclaimed and accomplished musician boasting a varied catalogue of fifteen studio albums. How this compares with many refined, produced and widely known artists from Britain, is best left unsaid.
Admittedly, for the most authentic feel, I attended this show on a snowy, sleety Saturday evening with the decision to go in “blind”. I must confess that while I knew what Beans On Toast was all about prior to this gig, my exposure to the popular acoustic rocker was limited, if any. This was all to change with this show at one of my most favourite venues in England – the Brudenell Social Club.
I’m sure many, if not everybody in Leeds music societies, knows all about the lore of Brudenell. In the quiet, residential, multicultural area of Burley stands this lovely venue. Ripe with 1950s décor, it’s a venue that carries a charm which is unmistakably coincidental to that of working-class lager drinkers of a bygone era. In recent years, it has become a thriving hotbed for up-and-coming bands far and wide, with the biggest names being at the time little-known acts such as the Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand. Wonder whatever happened to them, eh?
The pints are cheap and expansive, the staff are lovely and chill, and there are many activities, from playing pool with friends to watching sports with the lads. Need I say more?
The weather was unstable, and the ground was damp from the snow of a day before. What started out cold and breezy would turn to gentle rain, when finally the clouds collapsed with a final burst of sleet and snow, which fell on the lively Yorkshire crowd like a tonne of bricks. But with that said, it made them livelier and more boisterous upon entry. As a longtime gig-goer myself, I always heard from those within the industry about winter shows held under harsh weather conditions, and how they dreaded the rigidity of the house.
This show proved to make such claims fictitious, if not mythical.
With the fleet of fans piled into the Club, many a-jovial voice spoke of memories seeing the headline act previously. Several I spoke with had attended prior dates on the current tour, while others I overheard had been to many of his gigs in years and decades past!
It proved to be a good sign of things to come for the uninitiated.
Jessica Guise opened the show and faced the challenge of warming up the crowd for the headline act. With acoustic guitar in hand, her radiant presence brought a homely, familiar sensation which had the crowd freezing to begin, and cosy to conclude. She was chatty, well-spoken, and frank as a conversationalist, speaking candidly about matters both light and dark, from good times in lockdown to the sad passing of her father, and her close relationship with her older brother. “Brother in Arms” was a beautiful tribute which had the room in arms by its final note.
I must pay special attention to one other crucial element in Mrs Guise’s presentation: she had tea towels for sale at her merch table. TEA TOWELS.
Like cinnamon on a cold morning, Jessica Guise made a fan out of me with her presence, but the show was only just beginning with the arrival of Beans On Toast himself.
There was another moment which provided a great premonition of events to follow, as before Jessica started her set, the headliner came rushing from backstage to prepare, yet found the time to take a photo with a group of loyal listeners. It’s the little things that endear acts to me, and this was one of several.
Beans On Toast could have simply gone into the night with the goal of simply getting through the evening. After all, he was fifteen days into a thirty-day tour, and from looking at his hectic schedule, was clearly going hard at it.
Beans did not go into the night. He probably did not even consider that as an option.
With the hundreds of bands and artists I have seen in my thirteen years of going to shows, never have I ever known a storyteller as vivid and as charismatic as Beans On Toast. I would argue that this show could have doubled as a stand-up comedy routine. With full transparency, he provided a social and political commentary about today’s landscape which provided a lighter-hearted spin on recent developments in the political world.
He joked about how news travelled quicker these days, to the point that he prepared a song about short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was ousted from Downing Street before he even had chance to play it live!
While the show was well-organised, it would be difficult to neglect the informality which Beans On Toast gifted the audience with: a flexible-at-best setlist, and the affordability to take requests from the audience. This interactive element is one most often forgotten about when it pertains to stage presence of the stricter, established artist, and this only provided an added layer of satisfaction and entertainment for yours truly.
Progressive, left-leaning and environmentally conscious are all terms I would use to describe his routine, as I would influential, limitlessly entertaining and hilariously charming.
By the end of this ninety-minute soirée, he had even me, a first-time proper listener, believing that we could all stop the world from burning. In hindsight, I wasn’t a Beans On Toast fan, until I was. Now I am!
This one made for a unique gig experience, made possible by the entertaining stylings of Beans On Toast, and Jessica Guise deserves as much of the credit for such a feeling. If you ever have a chance to see Beans on tour, go out of your way to do it for a once-in-a-lifetime performance. You won’t regret it!
Beans On Toast is in the midst of his ‘Back on the Road’ tour, covering all bases including upcoming dates in Southampton, Exeter, Bath, Bristol, Reading and London. His latest album, ‘Knee Deep in Nostalgia’ was released in December 2020. Absolutely go out of your way to find out how you can catch him, and check out his tunes by going to his website at https://beansontoastmusic.com/
Jessica Guise released her first studio album alongside bandmates Laura Hanna, Titas Halder and Keith Barry, ‘Youngest Daughter’ on Xtra Mile Recordings in April 2022, as produced by her husband Frank Turner. You can find out more, including where you can catch her, by going to her website at https://guisemusic.com/home.
Cover photograph from 2019 at The Brudenell by Jazz Jennings.
Remaining photography by Daniel Tomlinson, edited by Emma Gibbon.
