Arts Centre Archives - Full Pelt Music

Colchester Arts Centre

Thursday 27th March 2025

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BEANS ON TOAST – COLCHESTER – LIVE REVIEW

📸 Denis Gorbatov

It’s a day with a Y in it, so you better believe that Beans On Toast is touring! Tonight, as the sun sets on what’s been a glorious spring day, Colchester’s local music lovers congregate in the beautiful surroundings of the city’s Arts Centre for an opportunity to revel in his tales and song.

EVY FREARSON

Colchester Arts Centre is one of the best independent venues in our beautiful country (with possibly the best toilets – seriously check them out) and it’s only right that tonight we have a local opening act to get the evening rolling.

Evy Frearson is an Essex born singer-songwriter who this evening showcases a haunting alt-folk sound which is rather fitting for this deconsecrated church! Whilst her time on stage is short, she is able to mesmerise those in attendance and undoubtedly leave them wanting more.

Frearson finishes her set with her fantastic new single, ‘Kiss Me In The Winter’ and serves as Exhibit A for the case of always getting down to venues early to support the support act!

WILLIAM CRIGHTON

Exhibit B for that case soon arrives onstage as a longtime friend of our headliner, William Crighton, takes things in a grittier direction with his brand of storytelling folk-rock.

Crighton has welcomed Beans On Toast over to his homeland for a number of shows and tours and now he is clearly enjoying his trek around the UK with Beans. His Aussie charm helps to bring his songs to life and the crowd eat up every word of the likes of ‘2000 Clicks’ and set closer ‘Priest’.

It has to be said that whenever Beans On Toast tours, he always manages to pick interesting and engaging support acts and Colchester has been blessed with two of them.

BEANS ON TOAST

Soon enough, it’s time for that man himself to hit the stage and on both legs of his tour supporting latest album, ‘Wild Goose Chasers’, he has been accompanied on piano by Matt Millership (known to fans as Tensheds or King Killership).

The man known as Beans On Toast, Jay McAllister releases a new album on his birthday each December and in recent years he has mixed up his recording process each year. This latest release was written in collaboration with Millership and it’s great to see the pair bring these songs to the stage together.

Whenever Millership takes on the musical lead tonight, it allows Beans the freedom to roam the stage and deliver his ever-thought-provoking lyrics with even more verve. The likes ‘Faith in the Moon’ and ‘Why?’ segue perfectly amongst fan favourites ‘A Beautiful Place’ and ‘Watching the World Go By’.

Mid-set Beans picks up his trusty guitar and delivers a run of songs solo including some fan requests and local-based tracks given his status as an Essex lad himself. Later Millership returns and we even see a Millership, Crighton and Beans team-up for Randy Travis cover ‘Send My Body’.

We also get a glimpse of where Beans is going with his new material this year with three new tracks making their way into the setlist including the return of his scathing political commentary on tentatively titled ‘Counter Culture’ and ‘Taylor Swift II’!

Beans has long established himself as an underground national treasure and fans that head out into the now considerably cooler March night do so glad that they left the house and supported live music.

Look at the upcoming shows section of his website and it would be fair to wager that it will never be blank. For that, we should all be grateful for the work ethic installed in Beans On Toast because any night spent in the company of ol’ Beano is always going to be glorious time.

So, the moral of this review is simply to do yourself a favour and next time Beans comes to town, do the right thing and pop along!

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Holding Absence

Colchester Arts Centre

Thursday 2nd February 2023

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HOLDING ABSENCE – COLCHESTER – LIVE REVIEW

As Independent Venue Week continues we head to one of the country’s finest, the wonderful Colchester Arts Centre. Seriously though, those toilets will have you feeling like royalty – toilet-circuit indeed!

In town tonight are Holding Absence who are towards the end of a tour of the UK’s off the beaten track venues and the locals are clearly excited with the show a sell out.

Most of the audience are in the venue early to catch the support (always a wise move!) and up first the crowd are treated to the ferocious Your Misery. Controlling the stage as if they were seasoned veterans, the band are able to not just warm up the crowd but fully win them over. Certainly one to keep an eye on, Your Misery couldn’t have done any more tonight to make a statement.

Our second act, Australians Void of Vision, most definitely feel like a band that know how to make a statement of their own. The group burst onto stage and fill the venue with their huge sound. It’s an audio onslaught for the next forty-five minutes as the likes of ‘DOMINATRIX’, ‘THE LONELY PEOPLE’ and ‘INTO THE DARK’ leave the crowd desperate for more.

There may not be any more Void of Vision tonight, but you can expect to hear much more in the future. With a new EP coming soon, this could be a breakthrough year for the band.

WATCH ‘AFTERLIFE’ ON YOUTUBE

Holding Absence – ‘Afterlife’

Our headliners, Holding Absence, have felt like they are breaking out for a few years now. Certainly not ones to rest on their laurels; their touring schedule has been intense. The majority of those shows though have been support slots, so it’s refreshing to catch them at a headline show finally.

The core fanbase of the band appear very committed and there is anticipation in the air in this old church tonight. That anticipation boils over as the band arrive on stage and quickly run through ‘Monochrome’, ‘Beyond Belief’ and ‘Like A Shadow’ much to the delight of those fans.

The setlist tonight is a real mix of the bands releases with highlights including ‘Gravity’, ‘In Circles’ and new song ‘Aching Longing’. You’d perhaps expect a little more from a headline show, but I guess the old adage is to leave the audience wanting more.

After a finale of ‘Afterlife’ and ‘Wilt’, Holding Absence most definitely do just that. With so many sing-a-long anthems or bangers as the kids would say, and an engaging stage presence you’d hope that the band will live up to their early promise.

Three bands at different stages of their budding careers tonight all make a valuable impression. It’s worth remembering that nights like this are happening up and down the country, night in night out. It’s tough out there and venues and bands need your support, so perhaps think twice on spending hundreds of pounds on those Beyonce tickets and pop down to your local independent venue instead!

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