In a small pub in the Cotswolds, the arrival of Beans of Toast into Stroud, and most importantly the lovely gem that is the Prince Albert, was a welcome highlight in a world where we continue to walk the tightrope between lockdown, no gigs, and a Christmas with nothing more than me and the cats, the dog and my apple trees!

Walking into the Prince Albert, for anyone who is into music, is like slipping into your favourite armchair and putting on your comfy slippers and lounge pants. The walls drips with heritage of past events and music greats and the beer is fantastic.  The stage is....part of the bar and it was clear the gig was going to be up close and personal.

First up was Kitty Liv and what a fantastic start. Kitty has an amazing voice, her guitar playing was brilliant and then....she played the harmonica like her life depended on it. The blues based tunes and fantastic vocals really got the audience going and proved a great start to the evening.  With a new solo album planned soon I can’t wait to see what comes next.

I first saw Beans in 2014, supporting Frank Turner at the O2 in London and this couldn’t be further from that gig. Some of the  songs were the same but this more intimate venue, and a slightly older, more mature Beans delivered something completely different. There was more feeling, more ‘feel’ and the songs just seemed to give so much more.  The place was rammed and after a request from Jay, us in the first few rows sat on the floor so more people can see.

There were lots of new songs from the new album ‘ Survival of the Friendliest’ but a strong representation from classic material such as ‘MDMAmazing’, ‘War on War’, ‘The Chicken Song’, and ‘Whole Lotta Loving’. It’s Christmas and what better time to bring out a version of last years ‘This Christmas’, its just shame Skinny Lister didn’t sneak in the back to join in. Jack came up and played guitar for some songs and Kitty played bass and some amazing ‘blues harp’ and the whole set just flowed beautifully. Did I mention that they brought out a Doors cover. No? ‘Break on Through’ nearly took the roof off.

A great, great night where the tunes and chat where first class. We found out the true story behind MDMAmazing (In case you haven’t read the book, she never came back, it was a sketchy guy on the national express with the liquid acid. The song lied to us) and that basically Jay cancelled fracking. He stood on a chair, he played with the band, and on his own and he took the mike and walked into the audience and talked and sang to us all (he may have covid now (I hope its not too bad and you get clear before xmas) but we all felt part of it and we loved it. The Prince Albert is just the best venue. The pizza smelt amazing, the beer was first class and the whole place was brilliant.  If you get the chance, go see him, get his music and buy his stuff, the merch stand is full of amazing bits and pieces.  If you’re ever in the area, get along to the Prince Albert in Stound, what a place….

Words and Pictures by Glynn Morrison