Beans On Toast, aka Jay McAllister, brought his Wild Folk Party to Pealies Barn for the penultimate date of his tour of ‘intimate shows in interesting boozers’. Pealie’s Barn is possibly the most perfect venue for a gig such as this. Out in the North Yorkshire countryside, a music venue developed from the ruins of an old barn, pieced together from bits found lying around the old farm. Run by people who are passionate about supporting the arts. Decent drink selection at decent prices, great pizzas available and fields for your campervan/tent should you wish to stay over. A brilliant night of singing, dancing, laughing, social awareness. The gig is very nearly sold out and 220+ people in the intimate surrounds of a small courtyard certainly creates a joyful atmosphere. It’s also all ages so there’s everyone from the oldies to young’uns of perhaps four or five years old clasping their parents hands, decked out in their Beans On Toast t-shirts.
The evening opens with some empowering poetry courtesy of Bassie Gracie who worries that proper poets hate her because her poems always rhyme. Anecdotal, full of humour, anger, thought provoking with a real punk attitude. Brilliant tales of how her parents met, her time travelling dad, grassroots music, punk rock and more. I bought her book, she seemed surprised anyne would.
Funke and the Two Tone Baby bring the party. A one man powerhouse mixing singalong anthems, huge riffs and thumping beats courtsey of an acoustic guitar, harmonica, synth and some clever loops and electronic wizardry. A few are on their feet dancing within seconds and it’s little time before the floor is full of gyrating bodies. A set that grows and grows, upbeat tempo and someone who knows how to work a crowd. The guy bounces around behind his set up. Bluesy, folky, techno. Brilliantly entertaining.
Beans On Toast delivers a superb set that covers everything from festival drugs to the super rich. Songs about love, songs about family and pointed digs at social inequalities. There’s humour and anger and a song dedicated to the rather wonderful Golden Lion venue/pub in Todmorden. As with any Beans On Toast gig, but especially here in this cosy, all ages venue, is the unanimous joy that pervades the atmosphere. People here believe in positivity. Beans On Toast believes that with kindness and a humane attitude we can make things better. There’s no let up in the singing along, the smiling. And a measure of just how dedicated the fans here tonight are I’d guess that 80% of them know the lyrics to almost every song played. Big shout out, and deserved applause, to young Hudson who has stood at the front throughout singing along to every song who eventually takes the stage to have a singalong with Beans.
McAllister feeds off his audience, clearly enjoying every moment of being on stage and that enjoyment bounces right back from the crowd. An evening of quality entertainment in a rather special venue.
Photos/Words: steve white
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