Left to right: Dr. Todd Forman, Mic Dangerously, Bert Suskana, Bud Gaugh and Mr. Crumb. Photo courtesy of Jelly of the Month Club.
After performing for numerous elementary schools and family-friendly events, Long Beach’s own super-group Jelly of the Month Club is determined to start up an event in their hometown that’s accessible to an all ages community. The kid-friendly-but-nonetheless-awesome music outfit is hosting their first carnival event in Downtown Long Beach, featuring games, a dunk tank and a two-hour set performance by the band.
“We have a song called ‘Carnival’ and it seems like every elementary school has a carnival and our manager, Sally, got the idea to put on our own,” band member Todd Forman said. “We’ve played at many before and we figured we’d put one on in Long Beach and have prizes, food and drinks for the adults and kids.”
With Long Beach being known as a starting point for well-known bands (like Long Beach legend Sublime, which Forman was the first saxophonist for), Forman said it was ideal to host their event in their hometown to help keep the scene thriving.
“People are buying into the music renaissance in Long Beach,” Forman said. “It’s been known as the hot bed for all types of music whether it’s Sublime or Snoop Dog or even before that, there’s been a number of bands that come out of Long Beach and its scene. We’ve lost that for a number of years—and we want to be part of the new scene.”
Although the band has consistently performed for the past year, Forman said that they received little feedback from their requests to book festival gigs. When they proposed their carnival event in Long Beach, however, the group was met with positivity.
“Some of the people on the board had been our fans, and so we’ve played for numerous children hospitals and other publicly-funded benefits, so we got in our foot in nicely and we were very welcomed by the community,” Crumb said, the pianist and vocalist of the group.
With some band members having performed in notable bands The Ziggens (set to perform at this year’s Buskerfest) and the aforementioned Sublime, their following has been a diverse mix of children and old-school punk rockers that are interested in seeing what the members are up to.
“We do have young parents that show up with their kids, but kids rock out so much harder,” Mic Dangerously said, the lead guitarist and bassist. “They like get in groups of three and jump around ring-around-the-rosie style and are just laughing and giggling, it’s so cool.”
Despite the band member’s experiences in previous bands (we are talking about the social commentary that is “Date Rape” and the morbid “When I Die” while Mike admits that “every once in a while something gets by”), Jelly of the Month Club try their best to keep their lyrics, banter and subjects clean.
“We do say some jokes that are borderline, but if anything, it’s just jokes for the parents,” Crumbs added. “The kids don’t get it, but if they did get it, it might be inappropriate. We did take away the microphone away from our bass player one time.”
With a two-hour set planned for the event, the band will also perform tracks from the Sublime and The Ziggens discographies as well as some popular Disney songs. Do we smell a “Let It Go” moment?
“For the most part, we play for the kids but we play equally for the parents who are looking for an alternative from the dumbed down stuff that they can enjoy,” Crumbs said.
While it will be the band’s first time showcasing their carnival, Crumbs said they hope to do it as an annual event and, if possible, a weekly event.
“It’ll have a little substance everyone can sink their teeth into,” Crumb said.
The event will take place on September 13 in at 643 Pine Avenue in Downtown Long Beach from noon to 5PM. Tickets to the event can be purchased at Fingerprints or the day of the event. For further information, click here.
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