Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim teamed up with heat-seeking garage trio The Thermals and last night for an evening of blissful abandon and sweaty dancing.
DJ Autobot of Flosstradamus at Czar spun between sets.
The show offered preschool-style regression, balloons, banter peppered with F-bombs, water guns and spirited sing-alongs.
It was one hell of a night. Pity the fool that was late to that party.
Full disclosure: I missed opener The Thermals (insert kicking-self gesture here). Yes, I know — lame, lame, lame. An appointment ran late, and I over-optimistically counted on the show starting around 10 p.m. (It started around 9:30.)
My ever brilliant and on perpetually on-top-of-things colleague, photographer Nicole Kibert, a.k.a. elawgrrl, was punctual and on the scene and filled me on the greatness that I missed, providing the photos in the slideshow to the right.
A longtime Thermals fan, I was eager to hear tunes from their latest release, Personal Life (Sub Pop) and was looking forward to Hutch Harris’ infectious guitar riffs and heartfelt vocal and the adorable Kathy Foster’s bunny hops and equally bouncy bass action, and I am especially bummed that I missed drummer Westin Glass shooting his water pistol at the crowd.
The Thermals is an uplifting band that I hoped would “change my life” last night, and for those lucky to catchy them, they most likely did just that.
I did make it on time (sigh) to catch the DJ stylings of Autobot. Not my cup of tea. Sorry. That pulsating club stuff just makes my ears sad.
Matt & Kim, however, have yet to be a letdown. Grinning ear-to-ear, putting their heart and soul in every song and connecting with the crowd, the super-powered duo of Matt Johnson (vocals and keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums and vocals) delighted fans as they have done a handful of times during past Tampa Bay appearances. Past gigs include State Theatre, Crowbar, the Skatepark of Tampa and the smaller room at Czar. Johnson even named off the venues and thanked the crowd — and the state of Florida— for always being so cool.
The sardine-packed house in the Czar’s newish concert venue space was a boon for the up-and-coming duo, who played in support of their late 2010 release Sidewalks (Fader Label), but it’s always bittersweet when a favorite under-the-radar band starts to grow in popularity.
While we're at it, kudos to Matt & Kim for the recognition they’ve gotten the past couple of years. They have seeped into the mainstream with their song "Daylight" featured in a Bacardi commercial and episodes of Entourage and Community. "AM/FM Sound" was on Chuck.
On the downside, Matt & Kim’s higher profile means we have to deal with the chattering types who show up to their concert because it’s the hip thing going on. The poser pesky inconveniences and poor climate control were easy to dismiss amid the adorably effervescent Matt & Kim’s all-out performance onstage.
Both Johnson and Schifino engaged the crowd throughout the show. They did their usual standing up on chairs, call and response and pumping of pointed fingers and drumsticks in the air.
Schifino was much more than a pretty smile, drumming in top form. Johnson belted out righteously, adding emotional resonance to his simple, shout-along lyrics.
They both threw out balloons to blow up and toss around.
Johnson playfully ad-libbed “Push It” By Salt N Pepa and “Just a Friend” by Biz Markie on the keyboard.
Saucy Schifino even showed us her grade-school dance moves and pointed out that she was checking out the women leaving the restroom, noting which ones obviously “took a dump.”
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2011.