The night opened with Bassie Gracie, a bold spoken word poet grounded in hope, proclaiming that making art can be the remedy to worry. This Celtic-and-proud waif delivered rhythmic anti-racism with barely veiled anger at the rise of extremism, giving a call to action of “We can stamp down fascism in this country/ But it won’t happen in the Facebook comments section” and raised several wry smiles by contemplating fantasy rebuttals to Reform-voting trolls on social media. This brave and sincere poet/model/DJ/bass player struck a hopeful note with her call for inclusion and kindness, and caught the audience’s attention with her confronting delivery. Gracie used the first support slot to grab the audience by their Beans On Toast t-shirts and give them something bold and real to think about.
The second support act was Ruth Lyon, originally from Yorkshire but identifying as an adopted Geordie (although don’t tell her dad, as he’ll disown her). Lyon gave an ethereal performance, with stunning and unusual vocals at the piano. Her quirky lyrics gave powerful kaleidoscopic images of her life in the north, underscored by “missing the sleet and hail and feeling sorry for [her]self“. Lyon gave the appearance of a punk wood nymph who has wandered off the moors and into this excellent music venue. Lyon’s songs were lyrically quirky and championed her anti-beige values in a very listenable, alt-pop way. She performed a number of songs from her 2025 album Poems and Non-Fiction, including Books, Wickerman, and Paper Aeroplane. She confided that she had been hurt in love, and gave the sage advice to prospective jilters that they really shouldn’t do it to people who write songs.
Headliner Beans on Toast, Jay MacAllister and the band, provided an irresistible set of thoughtful, political and humorous songs spanning topics including AI, the Middle East, green issues and, of course, pelican crossings. Fallow year notwithstanding, Beans’ spirit was at the Glastonbury festival. He included a tribute to the iconic festival from his most recent album (2025), Kill Them with Kindness, in the song The Glastonbury Oak. The warmth and humanity of these songs transported the crowd from this unassuming room above a Birmingham pub on a rainy Wednesday into the sunshine in the crowd at a Glastonbury stage. His unending optimism and rejection of despair in both his lyrics and his chat between songs made for an irresistibly special and uplifting atmosphere which should be bottled for when you’re having a bad day.
Beans On Toast didn’t shy away from making political statements, an unapologetic engagement with issues in many of his most popular songs, such as, The War on War, Beans On Toast provided tongue-in-cheek, small-p-political rhetoric without sacrificing catchiness, evident in much of the audience singing along, and hooting to Beans’ inter-song discussion which generally put up two fingers to the establishment. Many of Beans’ numbers were couched in self-deprecating pub-stool banter, such as the cautionary tale of That’s Why I Don’t Drink Tequila Anymore and Big Night Out In Shrewsbury where he ended up sleepwalking himself to the wrong side of a hotel fire escape.
The set was dominated by catchy, folksy numbers which distilled the optimistic essence of music festivals into uplifting, irreverent songs. His response to current affair horrors was disarming and unceasing positivity, sending the sincere message from the stage that “life is for singing, dancing and making love“, which might seem more relevant than ever. I would heartily recommend an evening with Beans On Toast, especially if you are after an uplifting reminder of the mysterious joy it is to be human.
The obvious fondness of the relationships amongst the acts infused the night with touching warmth. The headliner’s band included Gracie playing bass guitar and Lyon on fiddle and backing vocals. The line-up was completed by Memphis Gerald on electric guitar, Abby Kebabby on drums– and, at one point, wind chimes– and Matt Millership on piano. Together, they gave the evening magnetic camaraderie and all-round good vibes.
