It’s been ten years since Matt & Kim’s wonderful debut album
Grand was released and the songs on that record sound as fun and as fresh as ever. It makes all the sense in the world that they would tour in celebration of that feat, highlighting not only that amazing album’s ten songs, but the rest of the exceptional discography.
The show felt very similar to any other Matt & Kim show, and honestly why would you want anything different. Matt & Kim specialize in a party atmosphere like few concerts have, never letting the crowd just stand around and sway to the music. Instead the duo elicits an insane energy from their audiences, with moshing, dancing, crowd surf, and sitting on each other shoulders being the norm.
Matt & Kim played the entirety of
Grand right off the bat, which was expected, but it’s tone setting quality was unreal. Many of Matt & Kim’s biggest hits are on
Grand, so hearing them played so early on in the set was incredible, having the crowd elated right form the get go with “Daylight”. It’s the kind of familiar party starter that doesn’t exactly go as hard as the duo can go, but definitely hit all the right notes as the crowd was instantly hyped. Personal favorites like "Lessons Learned" & "Good Ol' Fashioned Nightmare" shone on the Riviera stage, exuding all the feelings I had when I first listens to that song years ago.
Towards the middle of the Grand portion of the set, Matt self-deprecatingly introduced a PowerPoint presentation, giving the history of
Grand it's due with funny stories of its creation.They joke about sexless nights due to Matt's reluctance to doing anything in his childhood bedroom where they recorded and waxed nostalgic about the freezing weather. It was a nice little moment of rest from the manic energy that is normally nonstop at one of their shows. Honestly, any breather from jumping around and being knocked silly in a sea of moshing fans is appreciated. As soon as it was done, the party raged harder than before.
The usual party antics (with a dash of the hyper sexual) were on display including Kim flashing the crowd, slamming an unruly dildo on her drum kit, setting up for a Wall of Death (which is still a little scary after all these years), and blowup dolls with Matt & Kim’s faces on them being thrown to the audience and bouncing around throughout the night. Matt joked that his doll originally had a butthole, but removed it as they it felt like it was too much. It's all expected for the duo who unabashedly share their most intimate moments with exuberant enthusiasm.
There was so much to take away from the utter joy of the night. Matt & Kim busted out songs they’ve rarely performed to celebrate this 10
th anniversary tour (“SpareChange” & “I’ll take us Home”). They delighted fans will little remix snippets like the Beastie Boys mashup “Good Ol’ Fashioned Rumpshaker” before diving into the official “Daylight Outro Remix” that turned into a “In the Club” mashup. It all felt like it was flying by, even as they delved into their more recent discography including
Lightning, last year's
Almost Everyday, and recent singles "GO GO" and "Money". Having experienced Matt & Kim in all their glory before, I knew I would be left wanting more. Not because the show was too short or because I didn't get my fill of dancing (even from the balcony I was dead tired), but because a Matt & Kim party could last till morning and I'd still crave. This anniversary show was a treat and I can't wait till they come around Chicago again.
