Bums on seats, Beans on Toast…
As I get older it becomes more and more difficult to write a review of a live show without writing three paragraphs about how my knees hurt, or about the amount of mobile phones thrust towards the stage or the music being too goddamn loud. Beans on Toast has the answer…
In an unconventional move, singer-songwriter Jay McAllister is currently playing matinee shows across the UK to a seated audience. Upon arriving at Sheffield’s iconic Leadmill and seeing the seats and tables laid out across the dancefloor, I literally could not have been happier. A seat? A table to put my drink on? The guarantee that I could retire to bed before midnight if I so wished? Yes please.
Beans takes the stage with a familiar lack of fanfare and it is immediately clear that we are in the presence of a master performer. The crowd fall silent between songs to listen to McAllister rambling intros and stories, some of which feature in his new book Drunk Folk Stories. Sometimes thoughtful, always endearing, the mid song patter is as entertaining as the music itself although the songs certainly hold their own in a live setting. Indeed, one of the problems faced by Beans on Toast is how to replicate the electric atmosphere of his live shows in the studio and while it could be argued that he has never really solved that conundrum, there is no doubting his ability as a live performer.
‘The Chicken Song’ is thought provoking and funny, ‘MDMA Amazing’ is even better with Jay’s own annotations between verses but it is ‘Taylor Swift’ that provides the afternoon’s best moment. A simple song about the oft held pub conversation where one considers who they would like to have a drink with if offered the choice of anyone living or dead. A beautiful and complex tree grows from that simple acorn in which Jay namechecks Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen and Conor Oberst before eventually deciding that really he just wants to drink with his mates and his wife. A loving sentiment delivered in a way that never feels overly sentimental or mawkish.
The Essex singer is accomplished at being frank with his emotions without becoming cringey and a host of songs dedicated to his wife are simply sweet rather than self-indulgent, with songs such as ‘I’m Home When You Hold Me’ sitting nicely alongside more traditional protest songs such as the brilliant ‘The War on War’.
At this point in his career, Beans on Toast is unlikely to play to bigger audiences than the ones he currently commands but there is a feeling that he wouldn’t have it any other way. Some bands are for arenas and some bands are for the Pyramid Stage but often, the best artists are those that feel at home at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon playing to an adoring selection of like-minded people. Jay McAllister is proudly the latter and that is why we love him.