Arriving on stage with bare feet and khaki cargo trousers, Beans on Toast was greeted by an entire audience sitting peacefully crossed legged on the floor of Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club. It seems that before the songs sharing love, tolerance and spliffs even begin, we were already transported back to the hippy vibes of the sixties.

Beans on Toast opened his gig with a poignant statement emphasising his remorse over the events in Paris last week and, through his opening song ‘A Whole Lot of Loving’, made it clear that his witty folk music is to spread happiness and unite the masses. Joined on stage by Truckstop Honeymoon, a guitar and double bass duo from Kansas, they created a rich, rhythmic tone. Truckstop Honeymoon also contributed to the night as the opening act and played an impressive set which included an unfaultable banjo performance and the cleansing vocals of Katie West.

The lyrics and anecdotes provided by Beans on Toast were most definitely a highlight of the performance; they conveyed honesty and legitimacy that was injected directly from Beans on Toast’s guitar directly into the audience. This is clearly a man who not only has a clear passion for his music, but for the message he wishes to share with his listeners. This sense of unity was only increased as he chose to leave the stage and play a number of songs amongst the crowd as he passed around a bottle of Jack Daniels. The gig came to a close as he encouraged requests from his large repertoire which again demonstrated his generosity and the enjoyable atmosphere of the night.

Ellie Montgomery