Peter Moren @ Mercury Lounge

What is it about sweet, cute Swedish dudes that they can charm us Americans with their awkward, adorkable stage banter? Yes, that's right, I said ADORKABLE. It's like a foreign version of VH1 Storytellers. Peter Moren (of Peter Bjorn and John) writes charming and earnest music about love - like goofy in love -- like ridiculously in love -- you know, the honeymoon "in love" feeling that we're all addicted to.

You can hear the unabashed romance in songs he's written for his girlfriend, like when he's singing "I'm all about you, you're all about me, we're all about each other!" It's one thing if you have someone a bit more "serious singer songwriter" singing these lines, but there is a bit of a wink when Peter delivers them, and that's what made me smile so much during the set. Doug from Dirty on Purpose and Tobias Froberg (who also performed on the solo record) also played with Peter during the set.

Check out the rest of his tour dates on his MySpace.

The Besnard Lakes, Peter Moren, Luke Temple @ Bowery Ballroom

LOVED IT. ALL OF IT.



It was my first time seeing Luke Temple, and he just blew me away with his lovely voice. I'm definitely going to be checking him out more... Just take a listen to one of my faves of his -- "people do" -- you could hear a pin drop in the Bowery Ballroom during this song. It is that stunning.



This was my second time seeing Peter Moren's solo show. This time he had Doug from Dirty on Purpose on keys and bass and the wonderful Chris Egan on drums. He definitely seemed more confident at this show, and he told that to the audience. His endearing between song banter was adorable, but what I love is that his songs are so sensitive. Sensitive, endearing Swedes. You gotta love them. I love that on his MySpace blog, he has posted about how much he misses his girlfriend. You can tell that songs like "My Match" were inspired by his love. I talked to Peter a little bit after the show and asked him about his solo project. He says it's coming out sometime in March probably on Touch & Go or an affiliate. He may tour around it in the Spring -- but he didn't want to think about touring right now. He was totally burnt out. I told him I saw him over at Benicassim, and that it was one of my favorite festivals -- he agreed. What's not to love about spending half of the day at the beach and half of the day on stage? Plus the crowd for PBJ at that festival was insane, extending far beyond the tent the show was in.



Anyhoo, moving on to The Besnard Lakes. These guys blow me away every time I see them. It's like they put me in this trance, and I am totally hypnotized. They didn't disappoint this time, playing all my faves -- "Devastation," "Disaster" and "Bedford and Grand" and more... The Bowery Ballroom wasn't as full as it should have been last night, but everyone who was there was super into it. How could you not be? Jace and Olga's vocals kind of tear at my heart. Oh how I love them.

We all went over to Beauty Bar to hang out afterwards, and I met Adam Franklin from Swervedriver. What a rad dude. I congratulated him on the reunion... can't wait to hear more about that. Overall, a really fun night!!!

The Besnard Lakes, Peter Moren and Luke Temple @ Bowery Ballroom Tonight

The Besnard Lakes put out one of my favorite albums of 2007, The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse. Indeed, I think this album and this band deserve to be HUGE. And I think that will happen soon enough...

They are headlining Bowery Ballroom tonight and you should come out and see the beautiful wall of sound that is the Besnard Lakes. Plus, they are awesome canucks, too. Also performing, the wonderful and charming Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John and Luke Temple.

Peter Moren @ Joe's Pub

Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John is a great guitarist, and he displayed his skills at his Joe's Pub gig on Monday. He's also got such a charming, modest personality, which totally enhanced his VH1 Storytellers-style solo show.



Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose was accompanying on keys, and Chris Egan from The Shorebirds was playing on drums (Peter jokingly dubbed it Peter Doug and Chris). Both were on hand clapping duty. There were also three girls on strings, and later on in the show Bjorn came out to play on piano.



The songs and show were really intimate. Peter's ability to inflect different emotions and tones is a pop gift that helps elevate his songwriting. He's like the Swedish Elvis Costello. He opened with a cover of Richard Hell's "Time." He also did a four song encore, which included my favorite 80s song ever, Aha's "Take On Me."

I can't wait till his solo album comes out! He'll be performing again on Dec. 5 at Bowery, opening up for The Besnard Lakes. Can we say killer show? Oh yes, oh yes!

Here's a video clip from the show...