Beans on Toast has been a mainstay of the festival scene since the mid-2000s… in fact we are proud to have been responsible for his first ever ‘official’ Glastonbury show at the Left Field way back in 2007.
Over the years he has regularly collaborated with numerous other musicians, most notably and frequently perhaps, Matt Magic Fingers/TenSheds/King Killership… the dapper prince of the punk piano and harmonica.
But now we get to see a fresh wash of talent up sharing the stage with Jay, and alongside Matt we find a rock-solid guitar/bass/drums ensemble composed of Ben ‘Memphis Gerald‘ Fitzgerald, Bassie Gracie, and Abbi Phillips.
The tour was timed to coincide with release of Beans’ latest album, ‘The Toothpaste and the Tube‘ – which you can pick up on Bandcamp as a digital download or pop over to Rough Trade for a physical copy. This is the troubadour’s 16th (!) studio album, and one thing’s for sure – his creative juices are flowing just as eloquently as they were back in the days when he was still ‘Standing on a Chair’.
If there is one man on the circuit right now who genuinely speaks for the common man and who tells stories from the streets and fields that resonate with anyone who spends time on the tough side of the tracks, then it’s definitely Beans on Toast.
But tonight at Chalk in Brighton we get a proper ‘Beans Bonanza‘ as we are treated to solo support shows in quick succession from Memphis Gerald, Gracie Bass and King Killership – who are all extremely talented in their own right, and offer up a brilliantly diverse range of styles to warm up for the main event.
Memphis Gerald
Memphis Gerald is tasked with playing to the very early arrivals – and as the room rapidly begins to fill, he plays confident guitar and sings beautifully crafted folk songs in a voice redolant of his Scottish roots and Newcastle citizenry.
We recommend you take a listen for yourself as his debut album ‘Field Recordings from Pangea‘ is as soothing a slice of musical pleasure as you are likely to hear anywhere.
Bassie Gracie
We also get treated to Bassie Gracie, who many will know from her work with Duncan Disorderly and the Scallywags, where she also holds rythmn section duties. However, her weapon of choice tonight was her spoken word arsenal, and she delivered some intense and deft lyrical passion that had the crowd in the palm of her hand… despite, by her own admission, not necessarily being a ‘traditional poet’:
Check out ‘Gimme Dat Girl’ to see what we mean…
https://www.facebook.com/bassiegracie/videos/711580959294048/?locale=en_GB
I’m Grace, I play the bass, people take photos of my face, I do poetry but I struggle with rhymes.
Or even better, go check her out live on her April tour… or, of course, catch one of her riotous festival shows.
King Killership
This is a new incarnation for our favourite honky-tonk showman, and the one-man piano powerhouse certainly raised the tempo with a powerful performance that speeded up pulses and had everyone thoroughly anticipating the headline set.
We know for certain we are going to be seeing and hearing a lot more of this in the fields later this year!
Beans on Toast – Back on the Road
Going back to his roots Beans did rock at least one number whilst standing on a chair… well at least a short stool… but this also doubled as his set-list, and a finely crafted set of songs it was too…
There were plenty of new tracks from the latest album, alongside a host of crowd favourites. But having said that, we caught Beans at several festivals last year where he was also showcasing the new material, and it’s fair to say that virtually all of the fresh tunes stand up really strongly with the best of his back catalogue.
The themes may have matured somewhat, with politics and family now dominating over sex and drugs, but the sentimant remains the same and the delivery is as honestly gritty as ever.
We could ramble on and on about each track played and the minutea of the gig… but instead of that we simply recommend you aquire a copy of the record and make sure you catch the Beans on Toast set at any or all of these festivals he will be appearing at this summer… tickets availlable via his website HERE.
