Beans On Toast
Albert’s Shed
Friday 28th November 2025
Well for the third time in as many years and keeping his promise to Shrewsbury people, Jay McAllister, AKA Beans On Toast, took to the stage at Alberts Shed tonight. Obviously, questions like will he be as good as last time, how will an acoustic set go with a Friday night crowd and will Jay curse the day he ever returned to Shrewsbury? All presented themselves in this reviewer’s head. Well, not a bit of it. He won his audience, those that were encountering maybe for the first time and many ardent fans, stood whistled and cheered as the Baird from Braintree delivered beautifully crafted song after equally beautifully crafted song and fans old and now new lapped it up. They loved him.
It wasn’t all beer and skittles for Jay however, not a bit of it; he had to fight initially to get some of the rowdier elements of the audience to behave appropriately. One struggles to see why one might buy a ticket, wait for the artist to start and then stand rudely in front of the stage wittering: And wittering enough to side-track the artist you have paid to see. One thought, “This is where you earn your beans, Beans,” but he won them like the true professional that he is. No one was insulted, no one was offended as he pointed it out, with no dramas the show carried on. There were people just walking directly in front of the stage wanting beer or the loo or whatever, as he was singing. I was surprised to see this. There is live performer etiquette, you want to talk go outside, you just cannot do it less than a foot from the stage when the turn is on. However, it seemed they bothered me more than Jay but he did make the audience aware that he could see it all. The audience settled and he had them.
Hitting us with some of his classics such as M.D.M.Amazing and his soon to be classic, A big night out in Shrewsbury, he worked his way through his set with skill, and that classic McAllister vocal style. A twinge of Essex, which marks him out as an English musician, (important for playing abroad,) and it works well with his hard hitting and sometimes searching lyrics. He really is the full package. You get soul, folk, blues, and a style which Jay has nailed and made his own. The troubadour. He’s a man with music to give, no axe to grind, he loves people and he loves playing. That’s a troubadour. Another word one hasn’t yet bandied about is talent, and yes he has it in spades.
Known all over the world and extensively in America, Jay from his humble beginnings in bands with his mates back in Essex, to where he is now, give his work provenance that identifies with a real grafter. His audience was tough tonight, what did he do? He upped his game to an even higher level and he won. He always will. There is a respectful exchange of affection both ways, the audience love him, and one feels it back. Here is a man who not only loves his job but has the full ability to make others love what he does it too. That’s talent and one doesn’t have packed gigs and sell out tours if you ain’t got “it,” Jay McAllister has, ” it,” for sure.
One is aware that whether he is in the packed out O2 arena with his mate Frank Turner in front of thousands, or whether he’s there or in Albert’s Shed with a hundred folk in front of him he will put on a show. He will defeat any negativity instantly and the day will always be won. His new album,” Kill Them with Kindness,” is for release on Monday 1st December, and it features, “A Big Night Out in Shrewsbury.” So, a good little stocking filler.
Jay McAllister is a tour deforce. His popularity is built from his direct approach and his sheer dogged determination to get his message heard. Live this guy is a wizard, and he has the ears of many generations. That’s particularly important as age regardless, Bean’s will have something in his set list that will deeply resonate with somebody. He caught this reviewer twice as he always does and I found myself, drawn in and captivated by what I was watching and hearing.
Beans will end up ultimately, in everybody’s record collection. He is a poet, a songwriter, he has stage craft unequalled, and he is a very genuine troubadour. His skill, his words, and his amazing performance all contribute to earning Jay McAllister the place he truly deserves. What a grafter and what a show!
This is a Five Star Review.
Sofia Lewis
Sofia is a successful playwright living in Shrewsbury. After graduating from Wolverhampton University in theatre. Sofia went on to become an actor and film maker. Her first play was published in 2015 and her plays have been seen all around the world. She is also the instigator of the popular concerts, The Sound Of Shrewsbury Folk. She has been writing with loveshrewsbury for 13 years and loves Theatre Severn and all she sees there.
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