Beans on Toast’s ‘A Bird In The Hand’ tour hit Rescue Rooms last Saturday with the beloved folk singer on fine form as always. Opening with lead track “Another Year” on his aforementioned 10th album he had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the very start of his hit filled epic 23 song set, including special highlight “MDMAmazing”. This was Beans’ first tour with his new band and they sounded like a group who’d been together forever, with special mention having to go to drummer Dave Danger (of Frank Turner’s I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous), and bassist Jess Morgan – who pulled double duty for the night, as she also opened the show in her own right as a singer-songwriter.
It wouldn’t be a Beans on Toast show without some political advice from Beans, and as usual the environmentally conscious singer spoke powerfully about the anti-fracking movement before launching into “Major Oak” (about a tree in Nottingham’s own Sherwood Forest), and about his partnership with bamboo toothbrushes (which he was also selling at merch) in an attempt to reduce plastic usage, before launching into a song called (unsurprisingly) “Bamboo Toothbrush”.
Releasing an album annually since 2009, Beans on Toast is one of the hardest working artists in music and his non-stop touring only solidifies that. However, his political stance is also important as it gives his music a powerful message, as well as hopefully converting some of those who listen to it – everything he sings about are all common-sense issues yet the current establishment seems to ignore our protests. I certainly hope Beans continues to release motivated music and continues to maintain his place as one of the most important artists in modern protest music.
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