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I have become a big fan of this Swedish threesome this past summer. “Young Folks” is my summer song, and remains to be the best single of the year. I was excited to see Peter, Bjorn and John the minute I heard they were playing at the Warfield in San Francisco (which is 5 minutes from my apartment). The tickets were a mere $25 bucks a pop, which are a bargain if you buy them at the box office, otherwise you had to pay almost $15 in fees! But my ticket was free, so it didn’t matter anyway.

When I arrived to the venue I was earlier than I usually like to be. I hate opening bands more than anything! And this opening act was so contrived it was hard to not feel a bit anxious. “The Clientele” as they were called, grated on my last nerve. The blonde wispy Fiona Apple wannabe back up singer/Xylophonist looked out of place and silly. And their music is about 10 years too late as far as “indie rock” goes. The irritating blonde back up singer later came out to do do vocals on the PB&J hit “Young Folks” much to my dismay.

The band itself reminded me a lot of The Jesus and Mary Chain in the way it sounded live. As for Peter, Bjorn & John’s performance; it was energetic, fun, and a bit like that of the Gallagher brothers from Oasis. It was a brit-pop concert performed by 3 Swedish indie rockers. The crowd was a bit tired and not very responsive to much of the on stage antics. As I looked up at the balcony I could see that the venue was half full, which I have never seen before for such a hot band at this particular concert hall.

Peter, Bjorn & John played their entire new c.d. “Writer’s Block” and all of their fun hits like; “Amsterdam”, “Let’s Call It Off” and the previously mentioned “Young Folks” (which plays great live by the way). I particularly liked the Indian sitar instrumental version of “Young Folks” that played moments before the show started. The music was flawless and I was surprised to see that all 3 members sing on these tracks.

These highlights were good enough for me to enjoy the whole concert for what it was worth. The sound quality was terrific, the singing was c.d. quality and pitch perfect. If anything the boring crowd made the show seem anticlimactic. During the finale the lead singer walked off stage into the crowd still singing and walked back towards the tables and bar area uninterrupted. I couldn’t help but think that this was great showmanship and the sign of a great band at it’s heigth.

WATCH YOUTUBE FOOTAGE OF PETER, BJORN & JOHN PERFORMING “YOUNG FOLKS” @ THE WARFIELD ON 9/18/07 HERE:

WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “LET’S CALL IT OFF” HERE: