Described as 'A silver tounged singer, a drug addicted drummer, a crap bassist and a jock' by the band themselves, you can see what appeals... their music is happy, non-pretentious pogotastic pop punk and after a year of silence from the guys, they are now back... and boy have we missed them!
Openers Lounge FM come on stage and announce that 'One member has been sick twice today and one of us needs a shit... this could be an interesting gig!'... indeed! They are competent enough at what they do, but what they do is hard to define. They aren't rock or indie rock... somewhere in the middle I guess. The highlight of their delayed 30 minute set is their cover of Elton John's 'I Want Love' and a bassist who looks like Speedo from Rocket From The Crypt who has more rock poses then David Lee Roth... ladies and gentlemen, a star is born!
Next up is No Direction, a London based band originally from Finland who come on like a heavier version of The Backyard Babies. They look the dogs bollocks, and sound it too, but the crowd are unresponsive, much to the bands frustration. In mid set, singer Pete asks 'ARE YOU READY FOR THE JELLYS!?!' to a response of complete silence... highly surreal considering the barrage of sound coming from the guys!
The headliners, fresh from their support slot with the Silver Ginger 5, come on and look cool as fuck with their black button up shirts and red ties and they are ready... but the equipment isn't. A failure of the mics cause CJ and the guys to walk offstage until it is fixed. 15 minutes later they return and the gremlins are still in the system. After the third time of introducing themselves as coming from Helsinki, LA and Chicago they are away. Opener 'Just A Love Song' is as bouncy and fun injected as always, you would have to be deceased not to pogo away to the sounds produced tonight... deceased or from Colchester. The crowd watch, motionless, as the band are playing their hearts out... it is painful to watch. Things don't improve on the crowd front, even with 'Lemonade Girl' and 'Strawberry Icecream', crowd faves anywhere else but here, seeming to go down as well Pamela Anderson in front of a home camera.
After 6 songs, I have to leave for my taxi to get home. The numerous delays through the night caused me to miss the end, but with the motionless souls around me, that was almost a blessing. The Jellys are, without doubt, the best pop-punk band Britain has to offer... shame no-one tonight showed their appreciation.
