Live Review: PETER BJORN AND JOHN – Irving Plaza – New York, NY May 21, 2025

The empty stage, right before the enterence of Peter Bjorn and John. Irving Plaza - May 21, 2025

Few albums from the 2000’s are as immediate and as indelible as Peter Bjorn and John’s “Writer’s Block.”

Released internationally in 2006 and in 2007 in the U.S., this record combines deceptively simple-sounding songwriting with a shoegaze-esque rumble. The Swedish trio of Peter Morén, Bjorn Yttling and John Eriksson delivered some stripped-back, grooved out masterpieces, often using sparse arrangements to give these songs room to breathe.

The trio is currently on tour, playing the record in full. I attended their show at Irving Plaza, where the band offered up a nostalgic (and at points) downright euphoric experience.

Josephine Network - Irving Plaza - May 21, 2025

First, I must shout out openers, Josephine Network, who attacked their set with confidence, as leader, Josephine, approached the mic and declared, “We are Josphine Network and we like Rock and Roll,” before charging into a collection of songs that mixed PB&J-esque power-pop with a thorny, almost T-Rex-esque, brash seventies glam-rock approach. Highlights included “Fat Doll” and recent single, “Red Chiffon.” They even closed their set with a fitting and exceedingly strong cover of ZZ Top’s “Move Me on Down the Line.” This band offered up some unexpected joy, delivering a unique sonic concoction, not typical for a modern indie rock band. This serves as a reminder that if you are going to a live show, ALWAYS make sure you arrive to see any opening bands on the bill.

When Peter Bjorn and John came out, they did so with a level of mystery. Throughout their entire set, they were lit in silhouette, in front of a purplish white backdrop. Only (sometimes chaotic) strobe lights provided bits of atmospheric punctuation. (I was in the balcony and I was watching the lighting guy as he gleefully maneuvered the board in front of him to the rhythm. It was quite an orchestration to witness.)

The band took the stage as a sitar-led version of their hit song “Young Folks” played, before they immediately rumbled into the album’s closer, “Poor Cow.” It was at this point, I could imagine, a huge portion of the people in the crowd were probably asking themselves, “What exactly is happening here?” The trio, effectively played the album in backwards track order, which if you know the album, actually makes for an ideal framing in the concert setting.

“Poor Cow” and “Roll the Credits,” are slower pieces, that not only serve as ideal paths into the more upbeat numbers ahead, but offer up some thick guitar textures when delivered live. They ease the audience in, preformed in this order.

The second the band launched into the key album highlight, “The Chills,” you could sense the crowd’s massive enthusiasm, hearing Morén’s rhythmic mouth noise introduction. (Really, truly a beautiful song!)

Before the band launched into the next track, “Let’s Call it Off,” Morén revealed to the crowd that when they were recording the album in Scotland in 2005, it was after a tough period where they almost broke up the band, which really makes one wonder how close we got to missing out on this masterpiece of a record. Had they somehow changed their minds and decided not to go for a third album, they would have missed out on exponentially widening their audience. “Writer’s Block,” was after all, their first major splash in the States.

Continuing, the delicate French, romantic feel of “Paris 2004,” was well-executed, but the New Order-esque, sprawling rocker, “Up Against the Wall,” may have been the easy highlight of the night. Even on the album version, the way the track slowly and patiently rises and recedes gives the entire composition a measured, anthemic charge. Deliver this in a live setting and it becomes gleeful sonic napalm, so infectious that it reverberates though the crowd like a blissful wave. 

Peter Bjorn and John - Mid show. — Irving Plaza — May 21, 2025

Next, “I Start to Melt,” brought some heavy thunder and “Amsterdam,” delivered with a somewhat buried keyboard part replacing the signature whistle hook, somehow pushing its groove even more to the front.  

Next up, with the absence of former Concretes front-woman, Victoria Bergsman to provide dueting vocals, Morén was left singing the band’s signature hit on his own, which was a feat he was more than ready to tackle. 

As the album cycle closed, the warm, rich atmospheric march of “Objects of My Affection” washed over the room. It is a song I can’t listen to without summoning its gravity-defying video in which Morén free-falls, bouncing off white balls which glow as his body ricochets off of them, meanwhile Yttling and Eriksson are perched on a phantom stairway, playing along with the song. While this mimics a fun Myspace-era computer exercise of the time, it also provides a striking image, all while Morén delivers lines like, “I laugh more often now. I cry more often now. I am more me.” With the inverted track lineup of the live show, this now  feels more like a summation of all that we  have learned, rather than an opening statement. It somehow is more powerful this way. 

Once the “Writer’s Block” album tracks were finished, the trio launched into a set of other hits from across their discography. This included the title-track to 2017’s “Breakin’ Point,” as well as “Living a Dream” and “Gut Feeling,” from 2018’s “Darker Days.” Morén noted that the latter track was actually written in the West Village of Manhattan. The crowd erupted again when the band blasted into, “Second Chance,” from 2011’s “Gimme Some,” an album in every way as memorable and poignant as “Writer’s Block.”  “Second Chance,” in the U.S. is probably the band’s second most famous track, given that it served as the theme song for the CBS sitcom, “2 Broke Girls,” during its six-season run.

Towards the end of the set, the trio delivered their famous cover of the Concretes’ “Teen Love,” along with a downright cathartic take on the “Gimme Some” closer, “I Know You Don’t Love Me.”

Peter Bjorn and John — Irving Plaza — May 21, 2025

At one point during the show it was noted that the band had intended to come back to the States years ago but those plans were sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, Morén said that their record release party for their 2020 album, “Endless Dream” happened on the same day that the world collectively decided to shut down, resulting in COVID cases in their camp. 

They may be currently touring, playing a nineteen-year-old record, but this set showed that the band is still hungry. It’s hard to tell if they are warming up for a new release, but they seem hyped and ready to go. The songs across their discography still seem as fresh as ever.  The next stops of this tour are in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Washington D.C. and Miami. If this tour comes near you, it is well worth your time.

Remember, Bjorn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John is essentially the indie-rock equivalent to Max Martin, with his production work on records by Lykke Li, Shout Out Louds, Camera Obscura, Caesars and more. PB&J on the whole, with their surrounding circle, have been one of the strongest and most important imports from Sweden of the last 25 years.

There is something to be said about dynamic power-trios. Like the Police and Nirvana before them, Peter Bjorn and John give their own indie-rock spin to this proven truth. On the live stage, they deliver. More importantly, this tour proves the timelessness of their material.

If you are unfamiliar with “Writer’s Block,” as a record, you should correct that, now.