Pace Paw Print

Peter Bjorn & John at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

With the quick success of their single Young Folks, and the nomination for Best New Artist for the MTV Video Music Award's this year, Peter Bjorn & John are making a name for themselves.

Formed in 1999, this Swedish indie rock band consists of Peter Morén on vocals, guitar, and harmonica; Björn Yttling on vocals, bass and keyboards; and John Eriksson on drums, percussion, and vocals.

This band is unlike any other band, each song brings a different beat, a different instrument and a different singer. Unlike other bands where there is a lead singer, this trio combines their differences in creating different songs for fans different tastes.

What all their fans seem to like is their hit single Young Folks which made the number two spot on the NME track of 2006 list.

Wikipedia stated, their expectations were not high from the start, as they "just wanted to make good music for [their] own amusement." But much to their surprise, one year after the release of their song and recent video for Young Folks, the band won the Grammies Award for Best Video in 2007. Now they are up for a VMA for Best New Artist and touring the U.S. .

The band is influenced by the sounds of classic '60s baroque pop, power pop, and new wave. With five albums out already, it's about time this artist started getting recognized for it's eclectic funky and enjoyable sound.

Like other indie bands, their career started because of their shows. On September 6, the band played at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

With the sight of a backdrop stating "Peter Bjorn & John Backdrop," t-shirts with the logo "Peter Bjorn & John T-Shirt," and bags with the statement "Peter Bjorn & John Bag," you got the feeling that as soon as you walked in that it was going to be a good show.

The opening band, The Clientele who Peter Bjorn & John once toured with and opened for, were now in the reverse role as the lead singer of the band stated, "I wonder what they did right."

As the band came on stage the crowd seemed to get bigger and tighter, fans screamed and cheered. They started off slow, playing songs from their first albums. The fans jammed, nodded their heads and just chilled out to the soft sounds of their voices.

When the lead singer Peter introduced a guy who would play the bongo's and proceeded to introduce a special guest, fans knew that it was the song we had been waiting for. Young Folks with Victoria Bergsman, formerly from the band The Concretes, was the crowd's awakening. The crowd sang along and cheered while the two sang to each other.

After that song, the crowd was thrilled, fans started screaming their favorite songs and the band began to play them. When the band played Objects of My Affection, another one of their popular songs, again the crowd went nuts, so nuts that the lead singer actually went nuts himself. He jumped frantically with his guitar and at one point, walked of the stage into the crowd and hung out on each side for a good amount of time. Fans were frantic.

The show was supposed to start at 6:45, Peter Bjorn & John didn't start playing until around 9:30, and when it ended, it was too soon. The band walked off the stage and the crowd chanted for them to come back, and so they did. One last song and it was all done, a whole hour listening to the most creative music to be out since the 60's. That's what I call a show.

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