Scenes From Matt & Kim's House of Blues Set.

“Dallas is bringing the ruckus!” Matt Johnson of the ever-cheerful Matt & Kim duo yelled early into his band's offering before a packed House of Blues last night. But, really, the crowd, which ranged from school children to hip older folks, was just feeding off of the unmatched energy that Matt & Kim brought with them.

Still, Johnson and his counterpart, Kim Schifino, egged them on more. This was, after all, the band's last stop on the Texas leg of their current tour, and, as such, Matt and Kim repeatedly pitted this Dallas crowd against its Houston and Austin counterparts.

“Dallas, what do you have for me?” Schifino asked just before the bass line dropped for the track “Now” off of their new album, Lightning.

Plenty, turns out. And, according to her later onstage reveal, Dallas indeed went harder than the other stops on the band's tour so far — and on a Sunday night, no less.

Granted, they all say that, right? Every band acts like the crowd in front of them is the best they've ever had. It's an old trick.

And yet, with Matt & Kim being so full of smiles, with them being so energetic and with them being just all-around joyful throughout their set, it was tough not to believe them.

Really, the whole set felt like a celebration from beginning to end. Early on, there were balloons, which were quickly blown up by the crowd and released in sync at the beginning of the following song. Later, the balloons mixed with the confetti that was thrown into the crowd.

It was a sight, to be sure. And Matt and Kim are such great performers, even their technical difficulties seem like planned intermissions. Whether Johnson was resetting his keyboard or Schifino was reconnecting her microphone after dancing on crowd (yes, she actually danced on the crowd), the band kept their set moving — sometimes even included Jay-Z and Ludacris covers into their performance.

Throughout the crowd-pleasing offering and its unsurprising encore, Matt and Kim reminisced on their past shows in the Metroplex — shows that took place at venues like tiny 1919 Hemphill in Fort Worth and Rubber Gloves Recording Studio in Denton. Now at the House of Blues — and next year at Madison Square Garden with Passion Pit — it's no surprise that the band's fan base is growing exponentially. Much as the band smiled during the night, the crowd only did so more.


















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