Peter, Bjorn, & John
The Empty Bottle - Chicago
May 8th 2007

Peter Bjorn and John took the stage at a stuffy and crowded Empty Bottle in Chicago, IL last night. Opening with ‘Writer’s Block’ the seemingly straight forward we-play-the-album show took a well needed turn for the best when it explored different versions of their staples like ‘Amsterdam’ and ‘Young Folks’ - playing an almost acoustic like alternate while still plugged in. Lead Peter Moren hopped on a stage no bigger than a three yards square while Bjorn tussled with Johns drums most of the night. Aside from the tight quarters, the band sounded less studio than what we expected - which is a good thing - and more real than their pop-saturated catchy third album Writers Block.

Fujiya & Miyagi opened for the Swedes with its brand of bass picking guitar mashed sampling. Sure their lyrics are trite but who cares when they sound this entertaining?! We sure as hell didn’t as we hypnotically gyrated to ‘Ankle Injuries’ and the flat out show stopper ‘Cassettesingles’. One to watch, indeed.

images © Karen Kendall | Pensatos