Peter Bjorn and John @ Maxwell's: Bjorn Again

Woooooooo. That show was bad ass, let me tell you. The Peter Bjorn and John brigade officially kicked off their 2nd North American tour tonight at a rare intimate show at Maxwell's (they played a free Myspace show on Tuesday in Philly). The band was, without a doubt, making use of the small space by filling with the room with enough energy to give everyone Stockholm Syndrome. It started off a little mellow, but by the third or fourth song, the room was pulsating with goodness.

Setlist:

• Let's Call It Off
• Far Away
• Start to Melt
• The Chills
• Ancient Curse
• Paris 2004
• Young Folks
• Teen Love (Concretes cover)
• Objects of My Affection
• Encore: Amsterdam
• Ever Fallen in Love? (Buzzcocks cover)
• Up Against the Wall

This is my second time around with the trio. Since I saw them at Bowery in January, the band have broken through and found some mainstream success, including an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. That doesn't mean much but it's a free trip to Las Vegas next weekend for them.

The show tonight was different from when I saw them last. They are able to add some riffs to some songs, especially playing Amsterdam with some nice flourishes. Objects of My Affection tore the roof off the joint, with Peter making like Paul Weller and Pete Townsend in one. It remembered me that the core of this band is the 60s mod rock movement. You can see a lot of The Yardbirds and other post-Beatles British bands in PB & J.

I think that's why the small space made them seem that much more powerful and bigger. It felt like a secret, underground show with the band plugging in and cranking it to 11. Peter was in top form, jumping around the stage, climbing on top of chairs and making his way through the crowd. For Young Folks, as Nicole did the female vocals, Peter did some of his lines in the middle of the room.

The added bonus of PB & J is their dry, but eccentric sense of humor. My man Bjorn told the crowd before the last song. "Okay, this is the last song before we leave and stand over there and then come back on stage. So we'll see you upstairs." A little chuckle broke out from the crowd, being that Maxwell's doesn't have an upstairs, but technically we are upstairs from the basement. Then Peter nearly fell off the stage when he got back on for the encore.

Closing with an extended jam of "Up Against the Wall" was epic, it felt like ten minutes of pure rock 'n' roll prowess. By the end, ears were ringing and faces were smiling. 

These picture turned out bad ass as well. They are like artistic and stuff.

Comments

[steve]

Is that Nicole Atkins?

[Eric]

Yup - Nicole Atkins sang vocals on "Young Folks"