Jelly's Last Jam Split

It is with great regret that we inform you that Jelly's Last Jam have decided to call it a day. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been to the gigs, bought our music or supported the band in any way.

As you may know we were in the process of recording our debut album. Since this will probably remain unfinished, I decided to post one of the incomplete tracks in its current state on our myspace at http://www.myspace.com/jellyslastjam

The track's called 'Closing Shadows'. Hope you like it.

Andy.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Jelly's

Hello Jelly Babies!
The next few months are jam packed full of gigs and we have been dying to tell you all about them.

MAD FERRET- THIS FRIDAY
This Friday 17th July, we are back at our spiritual home; Mad Ferret Preston and its going to be a corker! It is a FREE gig so, if you are are short of those little pennies, get yourself down there for a freebie. For those of you that have never been to Mad Ferret before, it is at the student end of town just across from 53 degrees on Fylde rd. The first band is on at 9.00pm. For more info, and who's coming visit the facebook event below:
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/%20?drop&ref=mb&__a=1#/event.php?

THE FESTIVALS
Starting this Saturday going right through till September, we will be involved in some great festivals Here's some more info about how you can be there too.

Manor Garden Festival - 18 July 2009
Rock, Indie, Jazz, Acoustic and Folk bands are gathering in Hesketh Bank for a repeat of last years highly successful Manor Garden Music Festival.
Tickets for the event are £5.00, from Top Shop Newsagents in Hesketh Bank, from the ticket line 07932 586287, by emailing manorgarden@live.co.uk, or on the gate for £7.50. Visit the myspace for more info:

www.myspace.com/manorgarden


Dolphinstock - 31 July 2009
Shhh! its a secret. This Festival harks back to the early 90's where underground festivals and raves at secret locations were the places to be. Currently a top secret location somewhere near lancaster, You can only apply for dolphinstock by e-mail a little closer to the time, We will give you more details as soon as we have them.


Kendal Calling - 31 July - 2 August
The Zutons, Goldie Lookin Chain, The Streets, Ash and... Jelly's Last Jam! thats right, we're playing on the Kaylied Stage at 3:45pm on the Sunday. It's going to be an amazing weekend and we would love you to join us. For just £70 for the full weekend, you get to see a whole host of great bands visit the website to see the bands and pick up your tickets:

http://www.kendalcalling.com/%20lineup.htm


Beach Please! - 16 August 2009
Over the weekend of the 14th, 15th & 16th of August, Coda will open its doors and put on an awesome festival, with over 30 acts, set out over 3 days. The club will be transformed into a unique festival venue, with some surprises thrown in too. Visit the facebook group for more info:
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/%20?drop&ref=mb#/group.php?gid=

B-Festival - 26 September 2009
B stands for Beer Bands and BBQ! After a successful year last year, this Cheshire charity event promises to be yet another scorcher. To get hold of your tickets simply e-mail the band on info@jellyslastjam.co.uk camping is available too just let us know when you contact us

Loss of an Icon.

1977, 1980 and 2009. Those three years each contain the loss of a generation defining icon. Presley, Lennon, and now Jackson. What is it that makes them stand apart from other celebrities? The music? The performance? The looks? Or something else entirely? That something else is easily defined but rarely obtained. The total connection with an audience, the one true mecca of any musician ever to grace a stage. That unique moment when the shackles are broken and social, political and personal barriers degrade through a momentary harmonization. When the classes become class-less and the true, unquestioning joy becomes wholly apparent do we see the true power of this connective energy. It is beyond the reach of filthy record executives, puss sucking, cancerous journalists and greed obsessed parents, hell bent in exploiting there offspring in any way possible.

When an artist can transcend the media that created him, that's something pretty special and sadly, something we may never see the like of again

Jelly's Last Jam hit The Flag Market Fairtrade Massive!

Good people of Preston! Hear yee!

Jelly's Last Jam have been invited to play at Preston fm's Fairtrade Festival (see left) this Saturday 27th June on THE Flag Market, Preston.

Preston has had five years of fairtrade status so they're celebrating with speaches on the subject and stalls of fairtrade goods. All rounded up with some fantastic live music finishing off with a riotous set from yours truly: Jelly's Last Jam!!

As you can see it starts at 10am. We'll be playing around 3.30pm. So get yourselves down to support your local radio, pick up some cracking fairtrade goods and support your favorite local band!

See you there or you know what shape you are!!!

Hotel Bonanza

Tonight we play The Albert and Victoria hotel in Manchester!

So we got together last night to have a rehearsal and finalize the set for tonight. Very loud! Rob nearly lost an ear! He's a tough lad though.

It's full steam ahead with 'Birds v Plains' and the whole gig is for the launch of 'Hayley Fay Band's' single release.

See you there or your square! (and we'll miss you)

Jelly's

WE ARE THE CHEEKY (BEER GUZZLERS)

Thursday 21st May, usually a practice night for us, but tonight we are recording grand piano for our new tracks at UCLAN's Media Factory. At the same time at Source bar, our good friends We Are The Mighty (WATM) and The Uncomfortables are playing.

It was WATM's debut gig and a chance to test out their new material in front of a live audience. In a bid to support our friends (and nothing to do with wanting to sneak off for a cheeky beer), Martin and I headed across the road (thanks again to Vicky Lyth for putting us on the guest list)

That first beer is always the best ha ha ...
So what about the bands? Well, I have to say I was impressed by WATM. I have seen the Baker brothers in many different guises over the years, and this time they seem to have found a musical style and set up that really works for them.

In my view, they have completely shaken off the sound of their predecessors, The Idanos. With the introduction Sam on bass, and by bringing forward Jon as an out and out front man, it feels much more structured and dynamic.

To describe their sound by way of comparison, I would say that there are elements of The Feeling, The Hoosiers, and dare I say Scissor Sisters (especially with the groin thrusts boys)? Plus, a bit of something else that I can't quite put me finger on. It was tight, energetic, engaging and entertaining, and as a debut it has to seen as a great success.

As WATM finish their set I get a call from Andy: "Hey Paul, we have finished getting the grand piano down, do you fancy recording a couple of unplugged songs? Just vocal and piano for the MySpace?"

Now, at this stage I had had a few pints and was feeling pretty pissed, I couldn't think of anything I'd like to do less! But we agreed to give it a go with the get-out clause that if it sounds like the ramblings of an old wino we wouldn't put it on the MySpace!

We headed back, which meant missing The Uncomfortables set, sorry guys. We recorded three tracks – Smash & Grab, Checkmate and Alibi. Surprisingly they sound pretty good, we are just arguing between ourselves now of which one should go online. So watch this space (not this space actually because this is the blog...watch MySpace).


P.S Our next gig is at Coda, Preston this Friday 29th May!

Jelly's in the Studio

In a week when politicians grovel, Obama U-turns, Green Day release a three act emo concept album and Andrew Lloyd Webber prepares for Eurovision, its of no great surprise that Jellys Last Jam barricade themselves inside a room to escape the horror and record some new tracks.

Last week it was bass and drums. Myself and Martin constructed a mini sound booth in the room. Which collapsed! This week Paul built the exact same booth for the vocals. It collapsed! A nine-foot partition shattering everything underneath it and narrowly missing Rob. Buster Keaton, he ain't!! Paul, whilst sucking vocalzone throat sweets, complained the key of one song is too high. Aww bless! Rob, being an arsehole, refuses to lower it. After Rob and Paul have a brief discussion regarding ''interpretation'' vs ''singing whats been written'', we get a fair portion of stuff down. Not all there yet, but its almost in the can.

Next week, its grand piano time. Lets hope we don't drop a nine-foot partition on it! If we do, we'll follow the current trend and put it on expenses!!

LAZY MAD FERRET IN LAST CONN

It's Friday 8th May and we return to our spiritual home, the Mad Ferret Preston. On the same day across the road at 53 Degrees, the NME Radar Tour is in town.

We arrive at the Mad Ferret at around 6.30pm for sound check. We are met by the sound engineer and Uncomfortables front man Richie 'The 'Tash' Lomax. It was going to be a challenging night for Lomax as he had the unenviable task of mixing the experimental/medieval/ jazz infused/progressive rock/seven-piece, that is The Laze!

The line up for the night was:

Pencil In
The Laze
Jelly's Last Jam
Gideon Conn

Unfortunately, Pencil In couldn't make it. It got me thinking; maybe that isn't the name of the band after all? Maybe they just said "Pencil us in, and we will let you know!". Hmmm.

After sound check Andy gets onto the phone to his sister Victoria, who just happens to be marketing supervisor and show rep at 53 Degrees. Visit Victoria's Blog.

"Vicky, do you think that it might be possible to get Paul and me on the door for the NME Radar Tour tonight?" There is a long pause as he listens intently, then finally bursts out with "Great! Thanks Vic."

Andy turns to me with a massive grin on his face, "Fancy watching the Chapman Family? Eh? They're on in a minute and Vic has put us on the door."

I had seen the Chapman Family a couple of years before at the Kolor bar and they were outstanding. Now they're on the NME Radar Tour and are obviously getting the national recognition that they deserve. "Yes, I'm definitely up for that mate."

The Champman Family's set was absolutely brilliant. An extremely theatrical, high-energy show that included; guitar smashing, bass playing with a with a beer bottle, and strangulation! I mean, what more do you want? Their heavier-than-expected sound uses extreme distortion and strong, aggressive vocals to force the audience stand up and listen.

Feeling fired up and ready to go, it was back to the Mad Ferret to get ready for our set. The place was really filling up at this point. On stage The Laze were setting up. They have unique sound that is mainly instrumental, it playfully and skilfully transcends jazz through to progressive rock. An extremely tight band, they draw you in, then take you off to surreal fantasy world. Although not to everybody's taste, they certainly won over the crowd on the night.

We were up next, and by now the place was packed out. We had two new songs in the set, and to be honest I was little anxious to see how they would be received.

Here's the set list:

The gig went really well, and the crowd's reaction was fantastic. Lots of positive feedback mixed with the odd gripe about not playing some of the old favourites, but that's to be expected. Thanks to those of you who came to support us on the night; Mike, Claire, Natalie, Gerner, Antonia, Rachael, Barry and Penelope, to name but a few.

The final act for the night was a real favourite of mine, the stunningly unique Gideon Conn. Trying to describe Gideon is a difficult task. He stood alone with just his guitar in a bar packed full of people, mesmerising the crowd with his particular brand of comic hip hop folk music. He invites you to join his surreal world of 'pylons and wires', making child-like gestures that you can't help but join in with. Then I turn away for just a couple minutes, and who is up there accompanying him on drums? Only our very own Andy Lyth! What is he doing up there? The cheeky monkey. I had to take a picture...

Gideon had asked Andy prior to his set to accompany him. Andy, having never heard the song before said in usual Andy Lyth style "Yea why not?", made it up as he went along and got away with it! Talented b*stard, I hate him ; )

A fantastic night had by all a big thanks to Ed for having us.

Due to the cancelation of Thurday's Manchester gig, our next gig is at Coda, Preston, on Friday 29th May. Hope to see you there!



And remember freddie is watching you...

A Return To Wigan

1st May, 2009: The Tudor House, Wigan

I am, as usual, first to arrive at the venue (though followed very closely by Martin and Rob, who attempt to enter via Wigan Bus Station). Loading into the Tudor I am reminded of my days of playing in Wigan bands (Cava, Strange Weather to name but two), and wondering why we have left it so long since Jelly's last graced a Wigan stage.

Once we're loaded in I start setting up the Wigan Music Collective drum kit; a battered old thing which I last played over two years ago, but which after all this time still manages to sound decent. It is obvious that someone has maintained this kit with loving care!

Paul arrives and we then proceed to perform the sound check. I cover the drums with electrical tape (we didn't have any Gaffa tape to hand) to stop the ringing, and we're struck by the quality of the sound. Also the stage looks great, with a blue velvet curtain covering the sides and back... however this means tonight will be a hot one...

We soundcheck with two new tracks, Closing Shadows and Monochrome Memory, tonight marks the first live performance of the latter, so we need all the last minute practice we can get. Then we make way for fellow Prestonians Boy Genius who soundcheck while we nip into town for some food... avoiding all pie shops we end up guilt-ridden at the nearest McDonalds.

Returning to the Tudor, the lads go to find a cash machine whilst I chat with Chazz and the rest of the Boy Genius boys about Jack Penate's new look, then we gather around the pub quiz machine. Pretty soon all members of both bands plus the sound engineer are gathered around the small machine, and I am occasionally chipping in with the wrong answers.

Then I see Karl, my former band mate from the Cava days; we spend a while catching up and before we know it Boy Genius have taken to the stage. They play a pretty awesome set to a fairly small crowd, but everyone who is there loves it!

We're enjoying the gig when two girls in front of us turn around and unashamedly take a picture of Paul, Martin and myself. Martin plays it icy-cool, whilst Paul and myself turn to each other bemused.

"Fans?"
"I think so, why else would they be taking our picture?"
"They must recognise us from our pictures on Myspace!"
"Maybe it's that girl Penelope that emailed us about the last blog!"

Then the girls turned away and carried on dancing to Boy Genius. Strange, they didn't even say anything.

Eventually one of them turned to Paul and came out with "Don't take this the wrong way, but...", (which you always know is a bad sign) "...you look just like that guy from the Big Bang Theory".

In the Jelly's Last Jam camp, the jury's still out, but what do our blog readers think?


Paul was pretty mortified. He has just got one of those faces, I guess. Like Ben Stiller. The girls take one more picture of us, with Karl (on the right), then I get to say a quick hello to my Aunty Kath and her partner Dave, who have just arrived, then it's time for our set.

Setlist was:
Parasite
Undefined
The Past and I
Alibi
Closing Shadows
Monochrome Memory
Smash and Grab
Checkmate

Closing Shadows and Monochrome Memory are both new songs, and they both sounded great at this gig; I'm looking forward to introducing them to our home crowd at Preston's Mad Ferret this Friday (8th May). The set went down well, though it seemed that half the audience was listening from the bar. The people that were there, however loved it! We got a lot of response via email and myspace, and sold a fair few CDs. Once we had packed up (and I had cooled down!) it was time to go; I had arranged to stay over at my parents house in nearby Leigh, so Paul and myself nipped to ASDA for some post gig booze and ended up watching a film until the early hours.

All in all, had a pretty ace night and will definitely return to Wigan pretty soon!

GIGS, BUSKING AND SWINE FLU!

Apart from basking in the mini heatwave and avoiding Swine flu, April has been a quieter month for us on the gigging front.

We have however, been very busy with other things like busking in the streets of Manchester. Here's Rob and Andy on the accordion and Martin on trumpet Ha ha!

I am kidding of course :) but I stumbled across these guys in the city centre the other day and had to stop and take a picture because they were absolutely brilliant!

At Jelly HQ we have been working hard to inject some new songs into our set to freshen things up a bit. Essentially, we have three new songs written and partially recorded; The Past and I, Closing Shadows and Monochrome Memory. We have played The Past and I quite a few times live but have just got round to recording it.

We also have a untitled track that should be finished in the next couple of weeks So if you have not had chance to see us for a while it's definitely worth putting on your glad rags and joining us at one of the following gigs in May:

Friday 1st May: The Tudor House,Wigan
Friday 8th May: Mad Ferret, Preston (with Gideon Conn)
Thursday14th May: Music Box, Manchester (Big City Events)
Friday 29th May: Coda, Preston
Sunday 31st May: Moho Live with Vinny Peculiar

We love to here your feedback. So through the power of facebook, you can now post your thoughts/comments directly on the website at http://www.jellyslastjam.co.uk/

Finally, our debut single Alibi is out now. A massive thank you to all that have downloaded the tracks, we are forever indebted to you. We now just need your help to spread the word and encourage your friends and family to do the same :)

You can download the two track Single release from the following sites:

iTunes
http://tinyurl.com/ch7hsp

Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alibi/dp/B001ZRG830/

Play.com
http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download-Album/4-/9460986/Alibi/Product.html

emusic
http://www.emusic.com/album/Jelly-s-Last-Jam-Alibi-MP3-Download/11425133.html

7 digital
http://www.7digital.com/artists/jellys-last-jam/alibi/

Tunetribe
http://www.tunetribe.com/artist/index.html?id=156986

And remember don't have nightmares...