Peter Bjorn and John @ Bowery Ballroom

Yes, I went three nights in a row (I shouldn’t have). I’m writing a full review, but in the meantime I thought I’d put up this placeholder in case the disappointed feel like commenting (they certainly commented to me in person on the way out). Full depressing post coming soon. (of course positive comments are welcome as well)

update: based on the postive comments so far (they’re so rare!), I obviously overreacted (initially called it a “complete disaster”). I’m still writing up my honest thoughts, but in the meantime I made this intial post a lot less harsh because a lot of my “disaster” reaction was based on what I thought was universal….

….I was also standing all the way in the back for this one – back where people were talking non-stop – from the first song to the last, and back where I could see each person leave early until it got to a point during the encore where the 600-person-over-capcity room was literally only half full. And what seemed like hilarious, cute and endering stage antics by the band the previous nights, seemed only to bore and infuriate people in this larger, tougher venue. who knows…

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morning update: I’m not bashing the band. I know they’re great, but from where I was standing it seemed like an awkward situation that kept getting worse as the band fed off the people that weren’t into it. Monday night’s best quote from the band was about NYC crowds being more receptive than they were warned about. The best quote at this show was something like “C’mon, Bowery Ballroom can certainly do a better job than Mercury Lounge?!” (actual quote may vary)

More:
* NY Times loves Mercury Lounge show too
* Pitchfork interviews PB&J
* another Union Hall review @ Stereogum
* The Conan O’Brien video