Brooklyn duo begins tour with crazy dance party in Syracuse

Matt & Kim aren’t more than a simple keyboard and drum kit combo, and that’s quite all right. The Brooklyn duo delivered an energy-packed set with an incendiary sound and huge smiles during their tour opener at Syracuse’s Westcott Theater Wednesday, September 15.

Syracuse’s own Phantom Chemistry opened the show with 30 minutes of the repetitive shredding guitar and muffled vocals, but when Brooklyn buddies So So Glos walked on stage, the mood kicked up with a set of danceable tunes and catchy riffs. Despite their high energy, the audience anxiously awaited Matt & Kim’s arrival.

Based on their impromptu dance breaks and acrobatic maneuvers, a well-mannered psychiatrist might be quick to diagnose the band mates with ADD, but singer and keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino were just elated to be on stage again. Beaming at the audience and occasionally climbing on top of her bass drum to beat wildly at the symbols, Schifino sparkled in her position at the drum set. When he wasn’t jumping from his seat at the keyboard or scaling the stage, Johnson frequently paused mid-song to flash the crowd a huge grin.

Their hour plus show was filled with all the usual hits – “Lessons Learned” spurred a mass sing-along, and “Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare” was a reminder that a band doesn’t need a large ensemble to produce a bigger-than-life sound.

While Matt & Kim’s live tunes do not stray far from their original tracks, their energy on stage sets the recorded material apart from an experience in their on-stage setting. With the occasional shout of “Let’s go Syracuse!,” Johnson and Schifino completely threw themselves into pumping up the crowd, and the audience happily screamed in return. The duo only stopped playing to tell stories of their past trips to Syracuse, but Matt & Kim were there to dance and party hard.

In addition to their old favorites, Matt & Kim unveiled “I’ll Take Us Home,” a track they had never played live, and “Cameras,” the latest single from their upcoming album Sidewalks, to raucous cheers from fans.

“Better Off Alone” was a euphoric club mix, with Johnson cranking out simple synth beats and Schifino’s steady but driving pitter-patter sending the bouncing crowd to a state of climatic bliss.

“We have one more song left,” Johnson said, as the crowd tingled with excitement. “I believe this is the first time we’ve played this song in this city. I’m just glad you are all the first people to experience it in Syracuse.”

The crowd exploded when the long-awaited first notes of “Daylight” reverberated through the club, and fans geared up for one last crazy dance party. The band lifted up the packed theater into a sea of jumping, flailing, pulsing bodies that sang along to every word. The anthem came to a bittersweet close, and both Johnson and Schifino threw themselves into an adoring crowd.

The lights popped back on and Matt & Kim’s passionate rave came to a close. Audience members reluctantly filed out of theater into the night with smiles as big as Johnson’s and Schifino’s, because as Matt & Kim say, “in the daylight anywhere feels like home.”