Matt and Kim - Firefly 2015

Festival Plan: I'm a big fan of this duo and have seen them perform several times before. I love them so much that I definitely have to see them perform again!

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Relevant Links:
Matt and Kim at Firefly 2015 (setlist.fm)*
Matt and Kim (Wikipedia.org)
*Edited the setlist on 20150717 (fixed the order, threw in two missing songs, and threw out two)

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Pre-Festival Thoughts:
Apparently I never got around to blogging my other Matt and Kim experiences, but I've been to three of their concerts before: first at Bonnaroo 2011, then at Firefly 2013, and then at Power Plant Live on August 15, 2013 (free concert!).

Having listened to their album 'Grand' a number of times, and their song 'Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare' many more times, it was a certainty for me to go see them at Bonnaroo back in 2011. And it is with this concert attendance, that I have the pleasure of saying I introduced my two festival buddies to Matt and Kim (though I would say they've introduced me to a lot more artists than vice versa).

In any case, what I hadn't been prepared for was how awesome their live performance would be! There was just so much energy!

'It's Alright'

I love their music (all their songs are great) and I love their live shows. Another great quality of Matt and Kim is the relative consistency in their style of music. As a side note, currently six of their songs are in my best of the best Spotify playlist ('Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare', 'It's Alright', 'Daylight', 'Silver Tiles', 'Let's Go', and 'Block After Block').

On 20150408, I learned that Matt and Kim had just released a new album called New Glow (on 20150407).

Excellent*: Hoodie On [2+]
Above Average: ~
Slightly Above Average: The World is Ending
On The Fence: ~
*Songs with 2 or more '+'s are considered 'Excellent'. The number of '+'s are found in brackets.

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Setlist:
-- "Everybody jump!"
1) Overexposed

'Now'

2) Hey Now
3) Party Up (DMX cover)
-- Kim warms up with a battle dance in front of a mirror, "Suck my dick, heh!?!?"
4) Let's Go
5) Don't Slow Down
-- balloons:
6) Hoodie On

'Ten Dollars I Found'

7) Tonight
8) Ignition (Remix) (R. Kelly cover)
9) Cameras
-- asks for crowd to crowd surf:
10) Now
-- asks for crowd to get on someone's shoulder:
11) Ten Dollars I Found
12) Get It

'Ten Dollars I Found'

13) Daylight
14) -- booty shake
15) Just A Friend (Biz Markie cover)
-- asks for crowd to remove a piece of clothing and swing it in the air:
16) It's Alright
-- so sweaty by the end of the concert :p

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Post-Festival Thoughts:
I love a lot of their new songs, especially 'Hoodie On', and getting to hear them perform the new songs is great.

It is, however, a bittersweet feeling, as some of the older classics become less frequent (for example, today's set lacked 'Lessons Learned', 'Block After Block', 'Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare', 'Yea Yeah', and 'Silver Tiles').

In any case, it was a great show and lots of fun. In particular, while it took me a while to take my sweaty shirt off for 'It's Alright', I eventually managed after dropping my backpack and it was an exhilarating experience.

I would, however, mention that the people at the railing to our immediate right were a bit mellow and offered little to no participation. In stark contrast, the people to our left (about four shoulder widths) and forward about one or two rows were moshing.

And finally, there were two older women nearby who were ducking from the crowd surfers. While this may feel safe, it's arguably more dangerous, because it leaves a gap in the crowd for crowd surfers to fall into.

~= New Glow (2015) =~
Excellent: Hoodie On [4+]
Above Average: 'Can You Blame Me', 'Get It', 'Not Alone'
Slightly Above Average: 'Hey Now', 'Killin' Me', 'World Is Ending', "I See Ya"
On The Fence: 'Stirred Up', 'Make A Mess'

'It's Alright'

~= Lightning (2012) =~
Excellent: 'Let's Go' [3+], 'It's Alright' [5+], 'Overexposed' [3+], 'Ten Dollars I Found' [2+]
Above Average: 'Now', 'Not That Bad'
Slightly Above Average: 'I Said', 'I Wonder', 'Much Too Late'
On The Fence: 'Tonight'

~= I'm a Goner (2011) =~
Excellent: 'I'm a Goner' [4+]

'It's Alright'

~= Sidewalks (2010) =~
Excellent: 'Block After Block' [4+], 'Good for Great' [2+], 'Silver Tiles' [5+]
Above Average: 'Cameras', 'Wires'
Slightly Above Average: 'AM/FM Sound', 'Where You're Coming From'
On The Fence: 'Red Paint', 'Northeast', 'Ice Melts'

~= Grand (2009) =~
Excellent: 'Daylight' [3+], 'Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare' [8+]
Above Average: 'Lesson Learned', 'Don't Slow Down', 'Daylight Outro (Remix)'
Slightly Above Average: 'Spare Change', 'Cinders', 'I'll Take Us Home'

'It's Alright'

On The Fence: 'Cutdown', 'I Wanna', 'Turn This Boat Around'

~= Matt and Kim =~
Excellent: 'Yea Yeah' [2+]
Above Average: 'Ready? OK.'
Slightly Above Average: 'Its a Fact' -- reminds me of Blink-182, 'No More Long Years', 'Grand', 'Someday', 'Lights'
On The Fence: 'Dash After Dash', '5K', 'Frank'

last.fm Scrobble Facts:
Matt and Kim is currently 12th on my Overall Artists chart (450 scrobbles).

'It's Alright'

'Grand' is about 11th on my Overall Albums chart (218 scrobbles), 'Sidewalks' is about 79th (79 scrobbles), 'Lightning' is 111th (63 scrobbles), and 'New Glow' is 245th (33 scrobbles).

'Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare', with 114 scrobbles, is 3rd on my Overall Tracks chart and only four behind 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz. 'Daylight' is much further down the list, with only 30 scrobbles (tied with various other songs at rank 139). Then we have 'Silver Tiles' with 27 scrobbles, 'It's Alright' with 24 scrobbles, and 'Let's Go' with 18 scrobbles.