Justus Bennetts Live at The Moroccan Lounge

Photo by Rebecca Bloch

Justus Bennetts is a rising alternative-indie artist. With his trending song, ‘Bad Day,” he is building his audience across platforms and becoming an artist to look out for. His latest single, ‘Dead Inside,” has a fun sound with catchy lyrics. With his modern sound, distinguishable voice, and charismatic presence, he is reminiscent of the talented Dominic Fike, yet he has a distinct spin on the sound, making it completely his own. 

He is currently on tour with renforshort, and on Wednesday October 5th, I went to the Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles to see Justus Bennetts perform. I already knew I enjoyed renforshort’s music, and was excited to see how the opening act would match her sound. Granted, at the time, I didn’t know too much about him, however it was a pleasant surprise when he jumped on stage full of energy and joy. He immediately had the crowd enthralled from the second he stepped up to the mic. His stage presence alone made everyone’s eyes drawn to him. Throughout the entire set, he kept playfully engaging with the audience, and there was barely a moment that he stopped jumping and bouncing around. Justus Bennetts seemed to be having the time of his life on stage, making him a joy to watch. He had the crowd singing along, waving their hands in the air, and dancing to the music. If you went to the show, not knowing who he was, I guarantee you were definitely intrigued the second he walked out on stage, and went home with the catchy music stuck in your head. 

Even when we were standing in line to get into the show, the girls in front of us began talking to us about how they had driven from Arizona to come see Justus Bennetts perform. They were already dedicated fans, claiming to be “absolutely in love with him.” They had never seen him live before and couldn’t be more excited to finally get to sing along to their favorite artist in real time. After seeing the show, I can say that their long drive was definitely worth it as they seemed to be having a fantastic time. 

His performance had every single person in the audience smiling as Justus Bennetts himself had a constant, bright, grin on his face. I remember looking around at my friends and immediately nodding our heads at each other to say “this guy is really good.” With the stage being taken by energy like that, it was difficult to look away. In a sense, it felt like his presence demanded each set of eyes to be fascinated by him. Sometimes he would go right into one song from the other, and other times he would briefly explain the meaning of the song, when it was written, or what was happening in his life when he created it. As most of the songs he performed had a joyful, light, and fun sound to them, he would warn the crowd before going into the more sad songs, while promising that the next song would be more lighthearted. I specifically remember his performance of the song ‘Girls’, as the lyrics were amusing, and it sounded like a song you would blast in your car during a bright summer day. The opposite of this would be his song ‘Insomniac,” which explored the struggle of living on no sleep and feeling like you’re stuck in a nightmare. Even with the deeper meaning behind the lyrics, he still keeps his signature sound that makes you want to dance along. 

All in all, the night ended up being wonderful. With Justus Bennetts’ raspy vocals, bouncy energy, and beaming smile, it became a night to remember. His fun sound and catchy lyrics will have people tuning in. I have a firm belief that he will keep attracting more and more listeners and has a bright future ahead of him.