The first Fall show for Steve Madden Music’s free concert series featuring Matt and Kim saw the duo returning to their native borough, having played the much larger Terminal 5 earlier this year.

Opening the show were fellow Brooklynites Heliotropes whose heavy fuzz rock sounded reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney. With the occasional heckling of audience members screaming statements like “I want your body!” singer/guitarist Jessica Numsuwankijkul retorted back “No, I want YOUR body.” The official lineup comprised of the four ladies, the roster was adjusted at the show with Richard Thomas and Ricci Swift filling in for Amber Meyers and Nya Abudu. Also joining the quartet was tenor sax player John “Hot Juan” Stanesco, who is featured on the band’s latest record.  While the band’s sound may have been polarizing with an audience mostly in attendance for the upbeat synthpop of Matt and Kim, they took some efforts to reach across the aisle, covering “I Won’t Back Down” as they performed a Halloween show as Tom Petty and playing their own songs to a response of “This song changed my life!.”

Backed by artwork from their album “Sidewalks” the duo came on-stage to a raucous fanfare before diving into the first track off that record “Block After Block.” With their latest release “New Glow”, the band was still breaking in some of the newer material like “Hey Now”, “Can You Blame Me”, and “Hoodie On” but primarily relied on tracks from “Lightning” and their major hit off their sophomore record “Daylight.” Matt introduced the track with an anecdote about the Twitter interaction with Kanye West with the rapper tweeting “Matt & Kim – Daylight … drums are so stupid on this song!! peep this Ninjasonik flip” and how the band clarified the tweet with West. With a heavy connection to hip-hop, the duo tossed in a cover of R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)”, saw Kim grinding to Beyoncé, and even playing Rich Homie Quan in between tracks. The band’s candid on-stage banter and lack of any proverbial filters has been so strong that even on ticket sales sites, the disclaimer “Language may not be suitable for all ages” with the couple talking butts and boobs on stage with Kim even declaring “Humor is to girls what boobs are to guys.” While the band’s usual stage presence brings full throttle energy, especially with a homecoming show, Matt and Kim brought balloons, confetti cannons, and their signature brand of indie pop turned an evening at Music Hall of Williamsburg into a massive party.

Heliotropes

Matt & Kim