Live Review and Photo by: Lacey Gray
A familiar whistle echoes in my head as I approach the venue; “Young Folks”, the hit we all remember a few summers back. The last time I saw the architects of that song, Peter, Bjorn, and John, perform live was at the sundown show at Coachella- most memorably that infectious tune on repeat in my head, musically the strongest string to their bow to date, since, blown through the lips of many.
The Swedish trio set about working the crowd with much foot stomping, and rock-esque guitar thrusts alluding to a severely more rock ‘n roll stature than I had remembered. There was definitely more umph to the show than the anticipated Gap commercial vibe of folky loveliness one might expect. The energy reminiscent of similarly across-the-pond, fellow Scandinavians, Who Made Who, with drumming extraordinaire John Eriksson banging his way into oblivion, Peter Morén on guitar/ harmonica working the ladies into a frenzy, and Björn Yttling pounding out bass lines.
The audience soundtrack read like endless fan mail in between songs. ‘I love you, Peter!’ was definitely used and abused, and reciprocated by the harmonica hero himself making his way into the crowd to show some love. The boys rocked out and although looked suitably exhausted, they came back out for the inevitable encore. Overall I was pleasantly surprised, a little more hardcore and playful than I had expected with a bit of cheeky Swedish charm thrown in for good measure.
Live Review and Photo by: Lacey Gray