BEANS ON TOAST - LIVE AT THE RAINBOW - BIRMINGHAM

The Rainbow is a great venue to see live bands, where in the back room with its small stage and rustic appearance emitting a really great vibe perfect for the live experience.  We missed most of the first support acts set only catching the last couple of songs which included a fairly true reading of Dirty Old Town. 

Main support for the tour is Gorgeous George from London, a six piece multi instrument ensemble who crammed on to the small stage like eager musicians vying for a prime busking spot.   Difficult to define musically (the band themselves dislike genre categorisation) they’ve been likened to the Clash but personally if you think a little bit Gogol Bordello / Manu Chao, throw in a pinch of Madness (or even Ian Dury) to cover the cheeky not taking themselves too seriously  element and they maybe even could have been Joe Strummer’s alternative Mescaleros and hopefully you begin to build a picture.  Anyway they unleashed a short lively set crammed full of great tunes and definitely worth checking out. 

Okay, can I just say from the off, following this gig I have developed a bit of a man crush on Beans On Toast.  About three years ago I casually glanced in passing at his first album, Standing On A Chair, intrigued by the Beans on Toast moniker.  When looking through the 50 song titles scattered across the two CDs I saw a song entitled A Night Out With Henry Rollins so thought I would chance my arm.  And what a great album it turned out to be.  And now four albums in this was my first opportunity to catch the BoT live experience.  Joined on stage by his banjo and harmonica maestro friend we got a 75 minute set high on entertainment value from the off.  His voice sounds like he has just downed a bottle of Jim Beam and then set about his throat with a rasp - and I mean that as a compliment.  With songs of drugs, love and politics he engaged the crowd from the off – two songs in and he abandoned the stage and sang amongst the audience -  a gesture that put him not just metaphorically on a level with the crowd.  The in between (and sometime mid song) dialogue and anecdotes were hilarious and at time touching giving us far more insight into the mind-set than a hundred interviews.  There was no set list, with requests for songs often accommodated and sing-alongs encouraged.  We got an improvised song about West Midlands Safari Park and even a light hearted confrontation with a member of the crowd only added to the entertainment value.   Walking away at the end of the night the consensus of opinion from all of us was without a doubt one of the best performances we had seen all year! Buy the records.  But check him out live for the full experience

Beans On a Toast - Blow Job For The Blues