At this point, it almost seems pointless to write a review of a Matt & Kim show since we’ve kind of said it all before in previous reviews on this site – super energetic, super positive arbiters of good times. Oh, and there’s balloons and confetti. And booty dancing on Kim’s part. That’s pretty much the Brooklyn duo in a nutshell.Seriously, Matt & Kim, why do you have to be so goddamn happy all the time? Why can’t you just get all depressed and write some sad, drone-based jams about how life is terrible? At least then, I’d have something new to report other than, “Yup, it was fun.” I realize that’s a ridiculous thing to complain about but there it is.
Taking to the stage after a pretty underwhelming intro by some representative of show sponsor Dell (whose speech amounted to “I won’t stand up here and bore you, here’s Matt and Kim to do their thing”), Matt and Kim proceeded to bring the good times, as they are wont to do. These two seem to love performing at SXSW, telling the crowd a story of their first time at the event a few years ago when they decided that they could either give in to exhaustion or party harder than ever. They chose the latter and I imagine they never looked back. They certainly seemed to have had a few drinks already prior to their show and wanted the crowd to party along with them, with Kim asking the crowd if anybody had gotten laid, encouraging everyone to chug a beer along with her, and more shenanigans, all while still pretty much kicking ass on the drums. In that sense, Matt & Kim’s show at Fader Fort exemplified what SXSW is all about for that percentage of attendees who aren’t all that interested in attending conferences and networking – it’s all about the party.