Peter Bjorn and John
Live @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC 01/30/07
Seeing as how "Writer's block" was my top album of the past year, I was excited (which might be an understatement) to see them on one of their few dates West of the Atlantic. I had high hopes for the show and they were exceeded quite easily. The band was flat-out amazing. The songs take on new textures in a live setting, with the band highlighting aspects one would not normally expect, such as a stripped-down and gorgeous version of, as Björn introduced it, "Remembering the words to the song" otherwise more commonly known as "Amsterdam". The live interpritation of "The chills" gave a new perspective on the track. To the enjoyment of the crowd, they played "Young folks" in the middle of the set and were joined by Victoria Bergsman and Lars Skoglund (of Laakso) for a rousing version of the track and, later in the encore, paid tribute to Ms. Bergsman with their Concretes cover "Teen love". Overall, this show was fantastic and the band's onstage charisma and playfulness vehemently lets the audience know they're enjoying it. That blatant honesty between performer and crowd is something that's missing with most bands these days. Peter Bjorn and John are on their way to becoming one of the best indie pop bands on the planet, all the while having a great time doing so.
- Matt Giordano