At the Garage (or, alternatively, the Relentless Garage, sponsored by the energy drink), the air was thick with hipster sweat as Girl Talk’s “All Day” blasted through the speakers in between the opening act and Matt & Kim. Eager to participate, many of the concertgoers were adding to the atmosphere by dancing and rapping well before the headliners took the stage.
But once they did show up, the theater erupted in applause. With just one huge chord, Matt had the entire audience cheering. He and Kim put on such an engaging, entertaining, and energetic show, and they seemed to enjoy doing it.
I did not go to this show with the intent of reviewing it. Unfortunately, this means I missed the opening acts, and I also didn’t memorize or write down the setlist. I do know, however, that they ended the set with “Daylight,” and that it was unreal. Of their other huge hits and popular songs, they played “Yea Yeah,” “Cameras,” “Block After Block,” “Silver Tiles,” “Good Old-Fashioned Nightmare,” “Northeast,” and “Turn This Boat Around.” Throughout the entire show, everyone was yelling, dancing, running, sweating, screaming, singing, and just letting themselves go in the way that only Matt & Kim can inspire.
If you haven’t seen this group live yet, you’re missing out. In addition to their fun original songs, the duo is renowned for their fantastic and fun cover songs. They delighted the crowd with performances of Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend,” DJ Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat,” and Alice DeeJay’s “Do You Think You’re Better Off Alone,” which may have been the most palatable version of that song to date.
Some other highlights from the show include:
- Kim standing on the crowd’s hands, then dancing to Major Lazer’s “Pon De Floor,” then falling over, with the crowd catching her and pushing her back on stage.
- Matt crowdsurfing and losing his microphone pack, only to have someone in the audience throw it back on stage for him so that the show could go on.
- The band throwing empty balloons into the audience and requiring us to blow them up ourselves, thus turning the rest of the concert into an underground beach party of sorts.
- Instead of having an encore, the house just put some music on the sound system, and Matt and Kim just jumped into the crowd to chill with us and dance and take photos and sign things. (My buddy got a signed setlist! “Hugs! Love, Kim,” it says.)
Just to close this review, I’m gonna try to articulate why Matt & Kim put on such an enjoyable show, and I think it’s the band’s attitude. These are just two people who used to make music in a Brooklyn attic because they liked it, and now they get to travel the world and headline festivals. Judging from their stage and Twitter presence, it seems like sometimes they are just thrilled that people are listening to them. They love their fans as much as their fans love them, and all they do is have fun. That energy and appreciation shines through during their live shows. Kim had a smile on her face the entire set. Because, honestly? The music they make is not the best in the world. A synthesizer, a drumset, and lyrics that go “yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah” are not really, like, “White Album”-quality pop music. But it’s more than enough to dance to, and if people are singing along and Matt is there to pump everyone up, then it’s pretty undeniable that the concert is going to be the most fun you’ll have all month.
