By: Pat O'Brien
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| David Best of Fujiya & Miyagi - Photo by Stacy Sandstrom (click for set) |
First Ave was a packed house for the city's first visit by Sweden's Peter, Bjorn and John. The crowd skewed young, which surprised me even though it was an 18+ event. Somehow, PB&J seem more—ahem—adult, but that's apparently not the case.
Brooklynites Au Revoir, Simone were up first with a full-on three keyboard assault. They sounded a bit like a more laconic Ladytron and a lot like Stereolab with all the bloopy flourishes that color so much of that band's work. It was dreamy and ethereal, sort of lulling the crowd into a trance. Annie Hart would every so often assault her keyboard, jumping and pounding the keys with all her might. It seemed a bit out of place at first, since their music was so delicate, but it gave some flair to the set—it's hard to be active in front of a keyboard and it was as good a way as any to keep the crowd into it. Erika Forster played an electric auto harp on a few songs and Forster traded most of the vocal duties with Heather D'Angelo. They made a bigger impression than I had expected at the beginning of the set, and it was a good indication of what was to follow.
“I thought you guys were Japanese!” yelled the tequila-shooting dunce standing a few feet from me. Truth be told, when I first heard the name Fujiya & Miyagi some months ago I was expecting the same (they're actually from Brighton, England). There didn't seem to be any need to inform the band of all of this while they were on stage, however.
They started out with “Ankle Injuries,” a sinewy, bouncing number that set the tone for their show perfectly. They owe a lot of their sound to bands like Neu! and Kraftwerk as well as, again, Stereolab and (I swear) INXS—lead singer and guitarist David Best sounds more than a little like Michael Hutchence and some of the guitar work reminded me a bit of songs like “Need You Tonight.” There was a darkness, though, a menace almost, that pervaded many of the songs that reminded me of bands like Aphex Twin. I know this sounds like it would be a huge mess but, truth be told, it was sturdily, cleverly assembled and they packed a mighty wallop. The guitar work was the key, with Best grinding out razor-sharp hooks over Matt Hainsby's thundering bass and the myriad programming and percussion implements that surrounded Steve Lewis. The crowd got progressively louder between each song and they proved they were going to be a tough act to follow.
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| Peter, Bjorn and John - Photo by Stacy Sandstrom (click for set) |
Peter, Bjorn and John are no slouches, however. They have slowly become my favorite band of late, which is due, in no small part, to the trio seeming to have taken a look at what's worked in music over the past 40 years, then whipping it all into even better shape than it had been previously. '60s pop, new wave, power pop—it all received star treatment here, but it should be noted that the songs sounded firmly rooted in the now. The songs were just reminiscent enough of those genres for the music to resemble a barely discernible nod toward them, and they seem to have taken great pains to create this aesthetic.
Most everything on stage was labeled a la Batman (Peter, Bjorn and John bass drum, Peter, Bjorn and John backdrop—my personal favorite, and even t-shirts that read: Peter, Bjorn and John T-Shirt), all laid out in Helvetica and justified left, it seemed to be a clever nod to America's tendency to view Sweden as exceedingly utilitarian and practical.
They played some older songs, but most of the set was pulled from Writer's Block with the crowd singing along to nearly every word. The aforementioned tequila drinker at one point yelled “Bjorn! Bjorn! Bjorn!” so many times the band had to halt the between-song banter to allow Bjorn Yttling to acknowledge that he was, in fact, “called Bjorn, yes.” It made what could have been an ugly situation a very funny one and I think everyone was glad for it.
As the time came for their fairly large hit, “Young Folks,” they made it into a quite a to-do. When PB&J tour they call ahead to each city to arrange a bongo player from that city to play on “Young Folks.” Peter Moren had a story about the person they had chosen for Minneapolis, but the crowd was buzzing so loud I could only make out that his name was Doug and that he drove a bus. He could also play the hell out of a pair of bongo drums. It looked like Doug's hands might catch fire up there, he was pounding so hard. They also brought out Au Revoir, Simone's Heather D'Angelo to sing the female lead for the song. It was stellar.
They played just one more song that they dragged out for nearly ten minutes, with Moren dancing around while Yttling pounded out a fuzzy, plodding bass line. I think the crowd thought that might be it, and it would have functioned perfectly as a replacement for an encore, but they came out for two more. While it wasn't as good as the last 15 minutes of the concert proper, hardly anything that I have seen live in the past couple of years has been that amazing so it didn't really mean much. On their worst day, it seems, they'd be better than about 98% of the bands out there.
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Au Revoir, Simone, Fujiya & Miyagi, Peter, Bjorn and John
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