Peter Bjorn and John kicked off the start of their United States headline tour Nov. 7 at the 9:30 club. The tour, which is appropriately named the “10th Year U.S. Birthday Tour,” is celebrating a whole decade of making music together, which in today’s industry is quite a feat to conquer. The Swedish trio are known for their hipster indie hit “Young Folks,” a song that came onto the scene almost two years after the release of their record of the same title in 2006.
Fellow Swedish comrade El Perro del Mar, or “the Dog of the Sea,” was the opener of the night, a name the crowd clearly wasn’t familiar with, but was quick to embrace as they received the spunky musician with open arms.
Once taking the stage, PB&J gave listeners in D.C. 90 minutes worth of quirky pop/indie music, showing how 10 years has done them well with each motion on stage. This will be the last time they tour before going into the studio for their next record.
The crowd went crazy when they played hits like “Paris 2004” and “Young Folks,” but also managed to bring in songs from their last full-length record, “Living Thing,” with songs like “It Don’t Move Me,” “Lay It Off” and “I’m Losing You.”
Although the Swedish trio put on a decent set of music, the crowd was not receptive — at times even yawning. There was not much banter in between songs, a quality that engages the crowd and allows for comic relief, which is hard to do in a venue that fits 1,200 people. One of the few times they spoke is when Peter Moren (guitars/vocals) admitted to the crowd that he used to take guitar lessons but stopped, explaining why he still has problems playing, something one wouldn’t really want to admit to a full house of over a thousand people.
It seems like the crowd was expecting a more pop/indie feel, the sort of songs you’d hear in an Old Navy commercial, but PB&J instead went for a more experimental/new wave feel, at one point even playing with Connecticut folk band the Hat City Intuitive during an interlude halfway through the set entitled “Needles and Pins.” This clearly pushed away many of the avid listeners, even though this was the first time they had played material from their 2008 album “Seaside Rock.” “Nothing to Worry About” and “Lay It Off” got a good reaction from the crowd, who even sang along to the lines “Hey shut the fuck up boy/You’re starting to piss me off/Take your hands off that girl/You’ve already had enough.”
The “ehh”-ness that ensued during the set quickly turned around when they asked the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” while they tuned and then went on to amaze the crowd with the powerful “Objects of my Affection” and “Paris 2004,” a song that wasn’t even on their set list but a fan had called out for — and which they were up for playing.
It was clear, however, that they really did love playing in D.C. and loved their fans, explaining how this was the first town they played in America, and even at one point exclaiming that “the District of Columbia is the best place in the world!” After finishing the encore, they proved their loyalty by literally jumping off stage and causing a ruckus while they hustled toward the merch table to go greet fans.
Overall, it seems that Peter Bjorn and John had great intentions of having an absolutely amazing show, but were not able to bring all that energy and flavor out to the crowd, who at many times seemed like they wanted to be somewhere else. Had this exact same setlist been played somewhere in Europe where experimental music is more progressive, the reaction would have been different. Next time, if they take into more consideration that D.C. is not Sweden, the show will be a more pleasant experience.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
