Photos/Review: Matt & Kim @ Terminal 5

Matt & Kim @ Terminal 5 - June 29th, 2011
Photos: Chris; Review: Jennifer Harmon

Brooklyn’s very own dance-punk duo Matt & Kim returned to the Big Apple Wednesday and rocked the night away at Terminal 5.
 
The couple, known for their thousand-watt smiles, has matured as performers and songwriters since their initial start together in 2004. Their fan base has exploded too, compared to when I first caught their enthusiastic act at Lollapalooza in Chicago in the summer of 2007. Back then it was a small day show and not that many people knew anything about the pair. What a difference a few years makes. There were at least 3,000 fans in attendance at the all-ages show, which sold out three months in advance of the gig.
 
The two-piece burst onto the stage with Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” blaring in the background. “Let’s hear it for New York,” Matt & Kim sang along with the words of Alicia Keys. The couple quickly took their spots on a small platform set up on the stage.  They only needed a few square feet to rock out. Frontman Matt Johnson quickly got comfortable on keyboards while drummer Kim Schifino settled into the seat behind her silver drum kit.
 
“This is the best tour we have had in our whole life,” a characteristically giddy Matt exclaimed to the audience. “This is the best city in the world!”
 
The show kicked off with a fast-pace, playing the tune “Red Paint” from the duo’s most recent album, Sidewalks early on in the set. The third release from Matt & Kim is certainly more advanced in terms of production, jam-packed with luscious layers of synths along with heavily accented drumbeats. While singing and playing keys, Matt got the crowd going. “Heads in the paint/let’s make a mark/All of these years you brought me here, you brought me here! /I thank you, all of these years that we come through!”
 
The bodacious Kim shouted out, “I knew tonight was going to be awesome. I was standing by the tour bus earlier when I saw a girl who got kicked out. She projectile vomited. That was before the show even started. New York loves to party! I can’t forget that.”
 
Later, the pair dirty danced in front of the crowd and Kim showed more of her “freak side,” according to Matt, when she walked across the seas of hands in the front row and let the fellas along with ladies hold her up by the fanny.
 
Bags of colorful balloons were distributed to the crowd for fans to blow up and release. Later, Matt pressed down on his drumsticks like a fairy godmother but much more handsome and a rainbow collection of confetti flew out across the audience. Just picture the rainfall of orange, blue, yellow and pink dots falling down upon the smiling faces.
 
The show slowed down only for a few spots throughout the night. Fans were delighted when the duo decided to play the tune “Lightspeed” from their very first album. Peach colored lights illuminated a turquoise rendering of the Brooklyn building.
 
“I wondered how fast is light speed,” Matt slowly sang with deep emotion in his voice. “Would life itself stay or follow me? I caught that one/would it be the same? It’s a good thing this is just a game.”
 
A major highlight arrived when Matt and Kim brought to life “Just a Friend,” by Biz Markie during the middle of the show. The popular “Silver Tiles” was also a sign that concertgoers were thrilled with the band’s song choices for the night.  They did not let the show go by without playing their catchy hit, “Yeah Yeah,” which made the entire venue get up and move/happily bounce up and down. Plus, look out. Four Loco may soon have some competition. While on tour, Kim said she has created a delicious drink that is two parts red wine (“the cheaper the better” she explained), and two parts Red Bull. No wonder she’s always so energetic!

Check out a full set of photos and the setlist from last night's show below...

 
Setlist – Terminal 5 - 6/29/11:
 
Block After Block
I Wanna
Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare
Jump on it (Tonto cover)
Red Paint
Lessons Learned
Turn This Boat Around
It's a Fact (Printed Stained)
Better Off Alone (Alice DeeJay cover)
Lightspeed
Good for Great
Grand
Silver Tiles
Just a Friend (Biz Markie cover)
Yea Yeah
Barbra Streisand (Duck Sauce song)
Wires
Northeast
Cameras
Pon De Floor (Major Lazer song)
Cinders
The Final Countdown (Europe cover)
Daylight
 
Encore:
Megamix
(Block After Block/Cameras/Daylight /Yea Yeah Mashup Remix)