Photos by Sarah Rix.
Matt and Kim are popular. Matt and Kim isn’t a new band. Matt and Kim have a devoted fan base. Matt and Kim can handedly sell out a medium sized venue that can host 1,500 people. Only one of those statements is false. When I arrived at The Danforth Music Hall, I found it quite easy to navigate close to the front. It was baffling. Matt and Kim are known party starters with a following that is boisterous and venue filling. Was it because the show was on a Monday night? Was it because the show was at the tail end of a long weekend? Was it something else entirely? It really doesn’t matter because the show felt like there was several thousand people there as the energy from those that did come out more than made up for the lack of a sold out crowd. With a sparse set up of just a basic drum kit paired with keyboard and synth stand up along the front edges of the stage. When the lights dimmed a hip-hop remix of Baba O’Reilly blasted from the speakers (it was as glorious as one could imagine it) with high-energy duo from Brooklyn running out on stage (Kim apparently tripped on her way out and encouraged the crowd to post any pictures of the incident if they caught it) to very loud cheers. The night was part motivational speaking engagement part drinking game bonanza. Matt Johnson who plays the keys, synths and drum samples started the encouragement with “Can we take this from 0 to a hunnit real quick?” while they blasted into Overexposed. Halfway through the song Kim Schfino stood on her kickdrum with her back to the crowd, crouched down and banged the crap out of her drum like a monkey while booty shaking.
Bands seem to get by on doing the bare minimum while playing and are able to get away with it. When attending a Matt and Kim show you realize how much more artists are able to do to get the audience involved. They started shooting out confetti right at the beginning of the set and did so again every few songs. With the roar of stadium sized crowd the band showed their appreciated early and often “Goddamn Monday night and sound like Friday and Saturday combined!” Johnson shouted with his infectious smile. The band told a story how they spent the previous day in Trinity Bellwoods park enjoying the sun regretting they were the only ones without booze to drink (and Kim admiring a few topless ladies apparently). One hallmark of a Matt and Kim show is to have lots of hip-hop breaks between songs, or sometimes even during songs. Early on was the seminal classic Party Up (Up In Here) with the true gangsta’s singing along, Johnson remarking that he loved that people would sing along to DMX with him.
The band was in town promoting their newest album New Glow and while they played a good chunk from it, the crowd got the loudest when older hits like Cameras and Don’t Slow Down were played. The rapport that the duo has with people makes it impossible not to enjoy oneself. The band also is great at riling up people, Schfino especially egged on people to start a circle pit, encouraged people to start crowd surfing with beers in their hands and to jump around and throw your body for entire songs. You didn’t want to disappoint Schfino, which apparently the crowd agreed with as every request was granted. The crowd was mostly female so seeing a mosh pit break out was not only a funny sight; I had never seen such a polite and safe pit. Johnson kept asking the crowd to move closer to the stage saying “If you die, I want to die with you” as they lead into Hey Now the funky horn filled rager about not wanting to die alone.
In this modern age it isn’t out of the question to ask the crowd to take out their phones to light up the venue. The band did that but with a slight difference, they asked the lighting crew to kill all the lights in the venue and with one thousand people holding up their phones it was actually brighter than with the actual stage lights anyways. A few years ago when I went to Osheaga in 2013 with a friend (who also happened to be at the Matt and Kim show with me writing for a rival publication that will not be named), we caught a performance by Rich Aucoin who brought out a parachute, the kind you play with in gym class for the audience to dance under. Matt and Kim did the same wanting to make the crowd extra sweaty while they played the instrumental Cinders as people moshed happily under the shiny silver parachute.
Before they broke into Let’s Go, the second to last song of the night Schfino shouted that this song was for Team Kim, as if the crowd was in factions because they were clearly team Schfino/Johnson all the way. To end the set Johnson slowly played the opening notes to Daylight one at a time building up the tension before all hell broke loose when the duo banged out the song. They left the stage for one of the shortest encore breaks I have ever seen coming back to lead a sing along to Biz Markie’s Just a Friend leading into the final song It’s Alright. The crowd wouldn’t let the band off the hook without the famous Kim Dance. They asked the crowd to get nice and close and Schfino climbed on the crowd and stood on top of hands that held her up. She proceeded to have an epic booty shake lead by Johnson cheering her on.
Matt and Kim don’t care about sounding perfect, or being in tune. They only care about having fun and ensuring that everyone else has fun too. Well that and telling a good dirty joke, which there was a plenty. It’s not a concert, it’s an experience and if you didn’t go you need to rectify that next time.
