The Big Weekends Boost to Preston -
One Year On

A year later and the impact of Radio 1’s Big Weekend is still being felt in Preston.

Thanks to the event in May last year, the city has seen a rise in its profile as a place to come and play music.

Radio1’s event boosted the economy by 5million pounds. It is still having an impact today and it is thanks to the Big Weekend that the city’s smallest venues can now offer big names the chance to come and play.

The Mystery Jets visit to Preston last week was a prime example of this. Currently embarking on their UK tour the band took time out to come and spend a ‘day in the life’ of a student in the city.

The event which took place on the 5 March brought much publicity to Preston’s University and surrounding music venues.

Playing a one off acoustic gig in Source bar on the University campus, the band showed why Preston is such a great attraction for many musicians.

With the city’s abundance of students and lively music scene highlighted by Radio1’s Big Weekend, it’s a perfect place for artists to play to pact crowds. All of this adding to the city’s growing reputation as a great centre for music.

Within the past year big names to hit Preston include Dizzee Rascal, Reverend and the Makers, The Hoosiers and even Kate Nash.

We are Scientists played Preston’s Kolor on 18 April which is one of the city’s smallest music venues. The American stars hailing from Claremont, California can usually be found playing main arena tours and festivals across the world.

Nick at Cool Delta records said, ‘Preston is viewed as a really cool little place at the moment. I think it’s due to the amount of students, it’s just buzzing with life. Yeah Radio1’s Big Weekend has highlighted this, but also the fact that it has one of the best student union venues in the country is a massive draw for artists.’

‘Bigger names like to play smaller venues because it takes them back to their routes. Preston is a great place for this as it has so many hidden little venues such as the Action Records gigs, Kolor Bar and Source - as the Mystery Jets played.’

This rise in the city’s music profile has added to Preston’s lure and charm. With more and more students arriving each year, let’s hope the impact can live on.

Mystery Jets Website

Mystery Jets Blog

We Are Scientists Website

Cool Delta Music Promotions Website

Diary Entry - ‘A day in the Life’ – the Mystery Jets
Katey Walker

The anticipation was building, the atmosphere was bubbling all in the name of The Mystery Jets.
Source was packed to the rafters with students that had heard the wave of excitement spreading across the campus like lightning.

With their arrival came an explosion of giggling girls, guitars and a guaranteed cracker of a set. Once a sound check was out of the way, Blaine, Will, Kai and Kapil took to the stage like the pro’s that they are.

Inviting the crowd to come and sit at the front creating an atmosphere as if they were playing in your front room.

The band played a set compiling of 5 songs, with the haunting vocals of Blaine and Will combined with the skilful guitar, backing vocals and beat provided by the other boys, this was a snippet of The Mystery Jets not to be missed.

After their long journey from London the only thing that seemed to be keeping the band going was the supply of Corona and a sense of the anticipation before them, to which they replied superbly.

Chatting to members of the audience after the gig the band provided a chilled atmosphere, no restrictions like normal gigs, the band were a part of the crowd, the crowd felt as if they’d known The Mystery Jets all of their lives.

Young Love Acoustic featuring UCLAN's Zoe

The scene settled after their performance and a sense of normality ran through source once more. A few remnants of the audience stuck around in a desperate bid to find out where the Jets would be moving next.

Student radio station ‘Frequency 1350’ competition winner Josh was now to escort the band to one of his favourite of haunts – The Adelphi.

Obviously hungry from their journey and in need of more Corona the boys set about taking the Adelphi’s menu apart. Ordering everything from salads, burgers and chocolate fudge cake they settled in to Preston style University life pretty well!

Chatting about girlfriends, artistic preferences, music taste, fashion and life in general, the band showed everyone that their not just musically talented but rather intelligent as well.

The Adelphi was packed and the atmosphere was surreal

Having a packed schedule for the day the Jets where soon whisked off to UCLAN’s Frequency 1350 studio where they were subsequently grilled by Tight Squeeze DJ and man in the know, Mr. J Silcock.

The one off hour special ran smoothly, with the band selecting an eclectic mix of electro, indie and all things new in music.

Interview with the Mystery Jets

Later into the evening and a scheduled DJ set from the Jets was taking place, the Mad Ferret was alive with music. With Kai, Blaine and Kapil taking the reins over the DJ box and the bar! They soon had the place kicking and screaming with electro beats, outrageous mixes and a taste of indie anthems that pleased everyone.

What a day it had been, home time for everyone and as last orders at the bar rang the night was finally at an end.

Kipping down in student accommodation was all part and parcel of the extraordinary day that had been planned for the band. They were back home at Foundry Court by 2.30, blow up beds, a few sleeping bags and a comfy sofa – happy days!

No wild parties, no groupies, no noise, as Kai said goodnight it was finally ‘sleepy time’ for everyone. Tea and toast the following morning and it was all over, whisked away by their tour bus the Jets had been and gone. – A day in the life of the Mystery Jets.

Mystery Jets Tour - Dates and Venues


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Radio1 Banner - taken from skiddle
We are Scientists photograph - taken from showclix

If anyone objects to the use of these pictures please contact me and I will remove them, my contact details can be found in the header of this blog.

The Boy with the Voice

As Andrew Johnston, the 13 year-old school boy steps onto the stage, has Britain's Got Talent already found it's winner in the first week?

His inspiring performance and unbeleivable talent can put all those bullies to rest. It's hard to beleive that in this day and age someone with such an incredible talent is being bullied for presuing something they have a passion for.

The boy with the voice - truly amasing.
He deserves all the luck in the world, Carlisle has a new ambassador - they gave us Andrew Johnston.

This is a map that shows news stories in the Preston area.
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Are we listening to our parents? ...Our parents MUSIC that is!

This is a topic that my Dad often broaches, asking me why I don't listen to much "new music" as it is so often put. Considering myself a music loving youngster who wants to make a career in the industry I do find myself listening to this wave of "new music" and questioning it's shelf life.

Will The Wombats still be around in ten years time? Will The Kaiser Cheifs roll off the tounge in the same way that The Roling Stones does? I somehow doubt this.

Reading Edna Gudson's article on USA today, she says that the problem with many modern albums is that there is only one good song and the rest is 'filler'.

Beatles historian Martin Lewis began spotting a young wave of Fab Four fanaticism as emcee of Beatlefan conventions over the past 14 years. Boomers constituted half of the audience in 1990. Now 75% of attendees are under 30, and any barely in their teens.

This is a trend growing more and more common, talking to my peers I find that they will listen to new music, but they don't embrace it into their lives as they would artists such as Cash and Dylan. These names bring a smile to your face, a glint in the eye, something special. When are we going to see this again?

Ok, so The Libertines debut album 'Up the Bracket', reamins the most influential album for a good decade. This is a widespread opinion in the music industry anyway. It may have critical acclaim and a sense of genius behind it but as far as the music relating to the youth of today goes, Pete Doherty has totally let the side down. After his crazy days and escapades he cannot be seen as a figure to look up to and admire in the industry - unfortunate really.

Mike also talks of this in his blog, for all it's faults (bad production, bad artwork and half realised ideas) 'Up the Bracket' offered more than just music - it offered a lifestyle and a different way of thinking. Not really portraying a good way of life for many youngsters.

This is a short video (if we can call it that) of a stroll from the lovely Avenham Park in Prestiago to the University's Foster Building. Have a gander :)

The World of Celebrity

So this is my first blog, i'm a journalism student and have been told that it's a good idea for budding journalists to keep a blog! Here goes...

Lately I have noticed that we are constantly bombarded with the world of celebrity. Whether it's Britney Spears shaving all of her hair off, Paris Hillton getting sent to jail or a Girls Aloud member having a scrap outside a London night club. We cannot escape the gossip that is flooding more often into our mainstream news.

This annoys me greatly. Surely we have more things in this world to worry about and use valuable brain space over than how orange Kimberly Walsh is. Do you really care? I know that I don't.

This bombardment of celebrity gossip/news is an everyday occurance for many of us, it hits us in the form of magazines, chat shows, internet adverts, newspapers and even news programmes. We cannot escape it.

The world of celebrity is high on many peoples agenda's, they would rather obsess over other peoples lives than get on with thier own. When there are so many things wrong with this world, when there is so much poverty and depression I feel that people need to re-asses their morals.

Seeing the youtube video of Chris Crocker wailing over Britney Spears really made me think, what is the media turning our generation into? His anguish over the life and times of Britney Spears is quite frankly very wrong. If it was someone he actually knew I could maybe understand.

Fellow blogger Melissa Ruggieri talks of this celebrity culture, saying that it's 'allure is magnetic'. I don't no whether I agree with this but one point she did bring up in her blog that I totally agree with is that the world of celebrity is exceedingly more difficult to avoid.

We don't necessarily want to see the video phone footage of Heath Ledger's body being wheeled out of a New York high rise, yet it's brandished all over our evening news.

I think people need to detatch themselves from this celebrity world, take a step back and look at the more important things in life.