Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim played in Melbourne last Friday night at The Evelyn and it was electric. The first show of their Australian tour had the crowd, and them, reeling from its intensity.
Special guest Spod had the task of getting the masses warmed up and it seems he’s well practiced at this. His one-man show is almost more fun than a day in the sun. (Almost. All the way up to the part where he let a girl up on stage to get her crunk on. ‘Celeste’ was later apparently seen throwing up in the toilets so it seems she got her comeuppance.) He was playing to an already packed Evelyn, which is owed to the devotion of Matt and Kim’s fans. Fans that got there early, stood right up the front and partied like it was 1999.
Matt and Kim are the ideal ‘party’ band, they have so much 'tude live that the words 'youthful exuberance' don’t even come close to describing them. Their post-punk, indie-dance tunes are upbeat and with their undeniable pop hooks they make everything sound happy (and if you were in any doubt about that, you just have to take one look at their faces).
Nearly every track kicks off with a stomping beat from Kim while Matt slowly dispenses a bassline and then the song's signature synth riff.
They opened with 'It’s a Fact (Printed Stained)' and from that minute, it was on. Tall ‘I-don’t-know-how-to-move-this-big-body’ kind of people, were launching around in a very sweaty pit at the front of the stage. An exceedingly sweaty pit, it was mental. This is also a band that encourages crowd-surfing from their very first note and they definitely got it. If you weren’t into being pushed by the crowd, or having to hold those pesky crowd-surfers up, you had to make your way to the sides.
They played mostly a bunch of older tracks, including only a few tracks from their Sophomore album
Grand, but the crowd seemed pretty happy with whatever they could get, new or old. At one point in 'Yea Yeah' the entire crowd had one arm in the air, mimicking Matt’s stance at the keyboard.
Regrettably they left out their latest single 'Lessons Learned'. I was kind of hoping they might undress their way through the song, like they do in
the clip.
Always leave them wanting something more, I guess.
'5K' was thrown in because they were having so much fun up on stage and didn’t seem to want it to end. Matt grinned, "this is our first show on the tour. We had no idea what to expect and you guys are awesome!"
Their low-key set up of just drums and keys is more than made up for with their seemingly endless amounts of energy. By the time they got through “Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare” and everyone’s favourite 'Daylight' The Evelyn was a mess; "turn on the AC if you can find it!"
Finally, as an ode to friends, they played 'Silver Tiles'. And just like that it was over – their short, sharp and very fast paced set was done. No encore, just the makings for “a nasty fucking dance party”. When you see them live, you can’t help but love them just that much more. Their smiles are endearing, their music is rad and their whole show is ‘an experience’.
Footage from arielamazing and photos from Matthew Miller. Thanks to
thevine.com.au.