Matt & Kim Bring Colorfully Fun Show to Santa Ana For First Night of Tour
Review & Photos by Greg Poblete
Santa Ana, CA - September 7, 2023 — Whether you were around in the pits at Warped Tour or endlessly scrolling past Doctor Who .GIFs and Lana Del Rey lyrics on Tumblr, it has been fun witnessing the revival of pop-punk bands and indie groups riding the current nostalgia wave doing anniversary tours and reunion shows. These tours have been proven to be a success with day-ones absolutely showing out as well as providing the opportunity to introduce our generation’s “classic” music to a whole new audience. This blend of reliving the “good ol’ days” and celebrating music from the past took place during the indie pop group Matt and Kim’s current tour.
The tour, cleverly titled “Matt and Kim Present: The Matt and Kim Tour Feat. Matt and Kim,” had its first stop at The Observatory in Santa Ana on Thursday, September 7. And after not touring for a few years, the duo did not miss a beat and demonstrated they are just as entertaining and vibrant than ever before.
Opening the show was California-based garage-rock outfit, Vaguess. Fronted by singer/ songwriter Vinny Vaguess, the group brought plenty of summery jams filled with guitar riffing and lyrics about peeing in the sink. The band played incredibly tight together and got the crowd grooving. One of the most amusing things about this set was how the drummer made the smallest movements possible while playing, but he made it work by not overdoing it. It was quite commendable.
Up next was the now Los Angeles-based Matt and Kim. The stage set up was rather minimal with a drum set with only one cymbal and a couple of keyboards on a platform in the center of the stage. Hanging above the stage was a long, rectangular screen which displayed a wide range of things throughout the show from lyrics, lighting arrangements, videos, and a handful of jokes. Before the group walked out on stage, the screen illuminated a rope fuse as hardcore music blared through the speakers spliced with scenes from the musical Singin’ in the Rain, displaying the group’s eclectic taste in music. Once the fuse was lit, an explosion on the screen ensued leaving behind the Matt and Kim logo as the duo ran out on stage and the crowd cheered.
Their immense stage presence was evident the very moment they appeared even before playing a single note. Matt and Kim are known for their brutally energetic live shows and intense crowd participation, and it was very clear that they were ready to party for the first night of the tour.
They started with a throwback from their 2010 album Sidewalks, “Block After Block.” A perfect tone setter for the rest of the show with the band playing mostly older hits. The only newish song that they performed was the 2021 single, “Steal a Yellow Cab.” No matter if you are a casual listener or a die-hard fan, there were plenty of tunes for everyone to enjoy.
As performers, Matt and Kim bring nonstop energy and deliver a powerful amount of sound for only two people. Kim bangs on the drums with brute force wearing a constant smile on her face, and Matt flails around playing deep-resonating synths hitting directly to the heart while oddly resembling comedian John Mulaney. For instruments that require a chair to play, both Matt and Kim spend plenty of time not sitting down. Their electricity is infectious. You can really tell how much the crowd and the band feed off each other, and they both give it their all.
The crowd was just as much a part of the show as the band. There were plenty of opportunities to sing along with Matt and Kim’s catchy choruses, tons of crowd surfing, blowing up balloons to fling back and forth, and even some awards for certain audience members who brought tons of spirit to the show. There was a point at about halfway through the set where the screen displayed graphics similar to a fighting video game pinning two songs against each other. The crowd had to cheer for either “Lessons Learned” or “Good for Great,” and the song that won would be performed. The Santa Ana crowd cheered louder for “Lessons Learned” which was very much a treat for yours truly.
A couple of highlights from the set included “Cameras,” “Get It” from the album New Glow, and a cover of Harry Styles’ massive single, “As It Was.” A few other fun moments were when Kim crowd surfed into the audience and got carried all the way to the third level of The Observatory, during “Happy If You’re Happy,” the duo secretly made their way to the back of the venue to perform the song on a ladder together, and catching all the quirky movie quotes and funny sayings on the screen from “Milk was a bad to choice” to “Gave me cookie, got you cookie” written in Helvetica font.
If I had to describe the show in meme terminology, Matt and Kim very much land on the “chaotic good” spectrum. With their live shows, they know how to create a very open and safe space for people to have fun while aggressively thrashing around on stage, playing their upbeat bubblegum-tinged indie pop music. There’s honestly nothing more you could ask for.
The reason I watched the television show Community in the first place was because they used a Matt and Kim song for the promos, and that show ultimately changed the course of my life, so it was a full circle moment being able to experience this band live. Especially hearing “Daylight” in person brought me back to a simpler time when being called a “hipster” was an insult and it was still acceptable to listen to music via an iPod Touch.
I cannot stress enough how much fun and cathartic this show was. Sometimes you go to a show feeling apprehensive about attending and it turns out to be exactly what you needed. Although a Matt and Kim concert is incredibly wholesome, don’t get this mistake for a show to bring your kids. There are plenty of sexual innuendos, a good amount of cussing, and even blow-up dolls flying around the venue for a song or two. Granted, if you are of appropriate age, please go see Matt and Kim on this tour. They are better than ever and you are guaranteed to have a blast.
To see upcoming dates and other news regarding the duo, check out Matt and Kim’s website.
