Best. Show. Of the festival. That says a lot, I know; judging that over 100 other acts were in competition for the title, but the performance by Matt and Kim on Saturday was hands down the best one I saw at Sasquatch!
They launched into their set with a reminder of their roots, playing a medley of the infamous Rocky theme song “Gonna Fly Now,” Biggie’s “Where Brooklyn At,” and Alicia Keys’ harmonic portion of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.” Drummer/vocalist Kim Schifino proceeded to exert every last ounce of her energy toward having fun with the crowd, and it was addictive to feel involved with what the duo were doing. She seemed to be more excited to be at the festival than maybe anyone else there, and it was absolutely awesome to see.
Vocalist/keyboardist Matt Johnson smiled throughout, both at his bandmate and the infectiously upbeat music they were laying down. This included hits “Cameras” and “Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare,” which had such a fabulously perky opening that I almost felt embarrassed to love it as much as I did. Matt and Kim also surprised us with bits of some of the most unexpected covers imaginable for the dance punk duo, such as Van Halen’s “Jump,” Incredible Bongo Band’s “Apache,” Ludacris’s “Move Bitch” and, yes, the solitary piano note opening to Kanye’s “Runaway.” The last of these was made complete by Johnson matching Schifino in releasing every bit of his own energy into his keyboards. Naturally, this unleashed a response of general mania from the crowd.
Schifino suggested we instigate a competition with the Main Stage, who was hosting Bright Eyes at the time, by seeing if we could intimidate them with our level of sound. In hindsight, there was no question of who won, as I feel people could’ve heard us in Seattle if they would’ve been paying attention at that moment.
Not long after, the band played a sample of Major Lazer, prompting Schifino to jump out into the crowd so she could get boosted up on the hands of a few fans, and begin booty shaking her heart out. And for that, I say hell yeah. They finished with “Daylight,” which had all of the crowd singing, and it was only a minute after Matt and Kim had left the stage before they came back out and began high-fiving their fans, away from the stage.
In my opinion, there is nothing better than a band who is not there to just play, but to make sure their fans are having the best possible time they could have. I don't think I saw Matt and Kim ever once take their smiling eyes off the crowd, and it resulted in one of the greatest sets I've ever seen. Mad props, you two - I can't wait to see your over-the-top energy, and hear your fabulous music while you display it, once again.
