Stockholm Syndrome

Michael and I caught the Peter Bjorn and John concert last night at Roseland Ballroom. What a great show! I only discovered this Swedish band earlier this year but I'm completely hooked and feel like I've been a fan forever. Their infectious style of pop manages to simultaneously sound completely familiar and completely original all at once. Seeing the three of them up there gave me Jam flashbacks (Peter's got the jump down!) and reminded me how much noise a straightforward three-piece outfit can make. At one point the band sounded so great that Michael asked me if the band was lip syncing (the post-Ashlee Simpson cynic in me was wondering the same thing). There did seem to be some backing tracks (someone had to whistle!) but I think we were just thrown off by how talented they all were. All three guys took turns singing lead (John's "Start to Melt" is one of my faves although Michael lamented not being on drugs during this psychedelic mind trip, and Bjorn's "Amsterdam" got the crowd bouncing) but it's Peter's distinctive accent that fits their style best. With the help of a local singer named Nicole Atkins, "Young Folks" managed to be even more riveting than the near-perfect recorded version (you were great, Nicole!). I grabbed the set list, below, off another blog and wouldn't swear by it, but as you can see my only complaint about the gig would be how abbreviated it was. I highly recommend PBJ.
Objects of My Affection <---- video clip!

New Levi's Commercial Plays for Both Teams

 

 I'm already loving the new Levi's 501 jeans commercial (above) where the cute guy pulls up his jeans and the city street below -- complete with sexy babe in a phone booth -- come flying up with his britches. Not only is the ad sexy and clever, it features the wonderfully atmospheric song "Up Against the Wall" by the Swedish pop sensations Peter Bjorn and John, whom I just got tickets to see perform at Roseland Ballroom next month. Now I just read on Towleroad that Levi's has also released a gay version of the ad -- with everything the same except the phone booth babe is replaced by a blond hunk. 

Levi's Marketing VP Robert Cameron admits the idea for the dual ads emerged from a tight budget, but later the concept took on greater meaning. "At first it made us parse the thought of, what does that say? We're not spending as much money as we ought to do a dedicated commercial for the gay market. But [then] we thought, if we're going to do an ad for them, they deserve the same production values. ... So doing the same commercial with different endings seemed to us to be a message about absolute equality.'" 

 The gay version is below: 

Peter, Bjorn & John - "Young Folks"

My friend Greg recommends Peter, Bjorn & John's single "Young Folks" featuring Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes. The song and the original Johnny Quest-like cartoon video are "fabulous." (He's so right.)