Live Music Review // Peoples Club / Mind Blossum / Juno Fuzz
October 12th, 2023 at Stella Blues, New Haven CT
Additional photos can be found in an album on Facebook here :::
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1338160730247478&type=3
This was my first time at Stella Blues and it was an experience I won't soon forget. When I got there, a sign was outside written in chalk that had the lineup and I briefly saw that it had said Soft Spot (who is a local CT band) instead of Peoples Club and I got worried. Adding to my confusion, when Juno Fuzz was playing they gave a shout out to the other bands which they included Peoples Club and not Soft Spot, but the confusion during this show was only about to begin.
I found out about this show because of Juno Fuzz. I missed them a few times when they played at Oh Momma and Bleachers, so I knew that the next time I saw them come around I would go out of my way to see them. This night just happened to work out for me and so I knew it was a sign- an aligning of the stars of sorts- and I was driving from Meriden to New Haven as they were coming from Middletown to New Haven.
Juno Fuzz has a sound unlike any other band which you will ever hear and that's what makes what they are doing so special. It's rock music, sure, but it's spacey and there are times when you'll find yourself just getting lost in the music and forgetting everything else around you. There are vocals through most of the songs but there was one song they played where the vocals ended but it kept going for a while musically and I think that just shows that range that Juno Fuzz has.
It's difficult to hear Juno Fuzz and not just be excited about them. Their singer has a beautiful voice and could be on one of those shows I don't watch like American Idol while the rest of the band is just out there rocking their hardest. To some extent, their sound overall reminds me of Tom Petty and I do like that a lot. I think there's just this feeling of hearing something that I listened to growing up on cassettes (like Tom Petty) but also something I listen to now in that dreamy but also hard-hitting rock way.
The second band was the one that I knew the least about because other than following them on Instagram I don't remember seeing their music on streaming or anything. Mind Blossum is a three piece that has two guitarists and a drummer. They played this ripping set that was both heavy and technical. They could easily get up there and just play heavy to where they have that metal feeling of rock n roll, but they also got into guitar solos and that brought out thoughts of the blues at times.
Is there an easy sound to describe Mind Blossum with? No. But, for me and maybe for me only, I feel like they're this perfect combination of the Black Crowes and Silverchair. I really only know that one Black Crowes song everyone knows, but thinking about how Silverchair was just brutal for two albums made me feel like what's happening with Mind Blossum here could be just as heavy and amazing.
This took us into our main event which was Peoples Club and I know that they love pizza and so do I. This was one of the most wild and unhinged live sets I've ever seen and I don't think my words will do it justice. And I've seen a lot of things in my time, but nothing quite like this. Musically, People's Club is a combination of rock n roll and punk, but there are just these elements to the sound that make it feel like a party as well. (Think Andrew WK)
The vocalist was running around as far as the mic cord would take him and the bassist had a cord-free deal so he was just running around everywhere, including outside. From the moment the first note hit it was just pure mayhem and I loved every second of it. They dedicated a song to my shoes. They played a song asking where Zack was. And, of course, they played "PIZZA PARTY". They have a song called "peoples anthem" which they played throughout the night and it became sort of a running gag.
From what I can understand just putting the pieces together, I feel like there was a set time for Stella Blues to have live music and that time was from 9pm until midnight. It was around 10:50pm when Peoples Club got onto the stage and I don't think they really came up there with the idea of "Let's do a solid 30 minutes" but rather "Hey, we have until midnight so let's go until midnight". They even said at one point they'd just play their theme song for twenty minutes because they had the time.
Peoples Club is just that pure definition of letting your intrusive thoughts win. At one point, the guitarist put a sock on his hand and said "You know what's rock n roll? Paying the bands! You know what's not rock n roll? Homophobia!" It felt like a feverdream, like something you had to look around and wonder if everyone else was experiencing this as well. But it was just that: an experience. I 100% feel like it is an experience everyone should take and it is an experience I would like to take again and again.
Juno Fuzz can be found on the web here :::
Mind Blossum can be found on Instagram here :::
https://www.instagram.com/mindblossum/
Peoples Club can be found on Bandcamp here :::
https://peoplesclubct.bandcamp.com/
Stella Blues can be found on the web here :::
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