REVIEW: Beans on Toast at Truro's The Old Bakery

From the very first chord he emanated gravelly calm from a voice that sounds like its owner has smoked his, and many others', fair share of cigarettes over the years.

This was no polished Mumford-esque hipster rubbish, but folk music as it's truly supposed to be.

The band was flawless

Beans took requests from the crowd, stopped halfway through several songs to talk about their backstories, and even forgot the lyrics to a good chunk of older material as he swigged from a can.

But funnily enough these antics made the show even more enjoyable.

He ranted about fracking, dodgy promoters and Brexit, and praised Truro's children for skipping school to protest the government's climate change policy's last week, which he called "the only good thing I've seen on the news in years".

You don't listen to Beans on Toast for the musicality – you listen to him for the lyrics – which deliver moving pathos craftily disguised by jaunty tunes and comedy.

If you really listen you might find yourself tearing up at some of the unexpected poetry, like I'm not ashamed to say that I did during his ode to multiculturalism Here at Homerton Hospital.

At the same time, the band was flawless. It was interesting to hear the grit of his lyrics being backed up by a full sound with Jess Morgan on bass, Benjamin Folke Thomas on rhythm guitar, Beans' long-time friend Danger Dave on drums and the incredible Matt Millership on keys.

Beans stuck around to sign merch and chat to fans after his two-hour set

If you missed Beans at The Old Bakery I would highly recommend catching him in Plymouth tonight before his tour moves further upcountry with dates in Nottingham tomorrow (Saturday February 23) and Oxford on Sunday (February 24).

Click here for the full list of dates.