In the days leading up to Art Basel 2008 a growing excitement was building inside of me. I spent a lot of time loading Matt & Kim’s Myspace page to listen to their music. The infectious happiness of the songs and the imagery attached to the videos for “Daylight” and “Yeah Yeah” had me wondering if the duo would be just as enigmatic in person. The anticipation had me out the door early as I had no idea if the venue, The Marcy Building, would be hard to find. Arriving early was the best thing that could have happened to me.
As I walked in the back entrance to the converted warehouse gallery space that was Kill Your Idols, Matt & Kim were going through their sound check. As Matt fingered away at the keys Kim was smiling just as bright as all the pictures made her out to be with drumsticks in hand. After taking a look around at the photography of Eileen Polk that was at center of the exhibit I got the chance of a life time. The duo took some time to pose for some promotional shots.
It took only seconds for the two to get into a playful character. As they posed it became overwhelmingly obvious that the two were as comfortable with themselves as they were interacting with each other. It was a synergy that was undeniably cute and endearing. As we settled into the VIP, Matt drinking a Red Stripe and I with a 40 Below vodka kiwi drink in hand, the exchange of words was comforting. He is as nice as a person can be.
I was informed that the two had flown in the day before. They enjoyed that the hotel they were put up in was right on Miami Beach. They took in the free Art Loves Music event though Matt did not know it was Yelle performing. Matt confessed to be “unaware of what was going on in the indie music scene”. His focus was on ”our type of music and hip hop”.
As Matt and Kim took to their instruments the front of the stage had already been invaded. The scene kids that had piled in resorted to sitting indian style on the riser to get the best view. Hundreds more filed in behind as Matt informed the crowd that he, “Over did it like a kid in a candy store last night”, referring to waking up this morning drunk, before launching into the drum propelled song “5K”. The songs “Grand” and “Cutdown” followed but upon playing “Yeah Yeah” the stage swarmed with revery.
Aside from being treated to new songs, “I Wanna”, “Cutdown” and “Cinders” from the upcoming album titled “Grand” the best moments of the evening came in the form of covers. The crowd was treated to the Dead Prez beat made famous by the Chapelle Show as the crowd chanted the verse “Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop”. A slow motion reinactment of the dancing in the Madonna video for “Hung Up” proved to keep the crowd gawkingly engaged.
As the performance part of the event closed down everyone stuck around listening to DJ Dirty Fingers as the event transformed into an impromptu dance party. Outback the parking lot buzzed with excitment. A frantic group vied for postition around the back of truck in which free limited edition Matt & Kim Converse All-Stars were handed out. The 200 boxes vanished in minutes.
More coverage from the show by Kill Your Idols staff photographer Jason Lashever can be seen here.
