Everybody’s been to a show, a concert or a gig at a venue – and just about every time it’s the same protocol: You walk up to the box office, plop down your 10 or 15 bucks, get your hand stamped with ink that endures three or four showers, and herd yourself onto the dance floor beneath a five-foot stage. Maybe you buy an overpriced $4 beer, and maybe you buy another one 20 minutes later because they’re still checking the same damn snare mic for the fifth time.
The musicians know why you came to the show, and they’re going to make you wait because they know they can make you wait. They are the god and you are the prophets.
Eugene and University sons and daughters Just People want to know if you’ve ever been to an event.

“We want to make it into an event and more than just another show,” Just People frontman Scott Gilmore said. “We don’t want to separate ourselves; we really want to be a part of what everybody else is experiencing.”
Leaving all pretenses and elitism at home, Just People aren’t playing shows to people, they’re playing shows for people. They avoid division between the band and audience, bringing them together to fill all the roles that make for an uproarious party-like atmosphere. With enough energy to elevate the floor from its basement location, this Saturday’s show with fellow Eugene studs Medium Troy at The Speakeasy will accomplish just that.
“We want to create an atmosphere where you feel welcome,” Gilmore said. “You go there not just for the band and the sounds, but to see your friends and to see your family and to go to a place where you can just be yourself.”
You might find any given band in Eugene playing any given venue on any given night trying to build a following. It works well for some, but Just People has found that quality works drastically better than quantity.
“The whole philosophy behind booking shows for this band is to try to do one or two a month and just make them really epic,” Colby Hayden, the band’s manager, said. “We want to really put a lot of thought and planning into them instead of playing a few random shows every week.”
The band spent the summer in regroup mode after an eventful and hectic spring. Practicing as often as their schedules allowed, the band tightened its sound to the most precise it’s been while integrating its newest member, University jazz student and guitarist virtuoso Peter Marcott.
“He is hands-down one of the best musicians I have ever played with,” Gilmore gushed. “He’s just added a completely new dimension to the sound … It really shows on the album with his riffs and his guitar licks.”
The band also took some time this summer to record its second full-length album with the current lineup. Like the first, “Yet To Be Named,” it was recorded live at the Art Institute of Seattle by friend and producer Fernando Labarthe. “We went to the session really prepared and in about six hours we recorded this album live, which is really unheard of,” Gilmore said.
Entitled “Rise of the Evolutionaries” and slated for a Dec. 5 release, the album comprises intricately arranged tracks that wield dueling guitars that jam for days, bass and drums that groove as much as they punish, and a flute that adds the final icing to the densely layered cake. And like everything Just People puts out, it will be available for free at all their shows.
In addition to Medium Troy, Saturday’s show will feature the infamous Ari Lessner, who has been spitting and rhyming his guerilla live shows all over the Midwest this summer. Watch out for video cameras, too; the Just People crew will also be filming a live DVD to package with their CD this winter.
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