The Music Man: Even in rain, the stars shined during ‘Buzz Under the Stars Night One’
May 8, 2015
As Matt and Kim performed their hit “Daylight” to close their main set for last night’s “Buzz Under the Stars Night One” at KC Live!, I couldn’t help but notice the irony of the situation: the duo was singing about sunlight, in the middle of the rain, at a concert where the audience should’ve been able to see the stars. This didn’t matter though because, in spite of the ongoing rain, Matt and Kim, along with openers Kitten (who missed the rain) and Meg Myers, still shined in their performance.
“Buzz Under the Stars” is a yearly concert series put on by alternative radio station 96.5 The Buzz, usually with 3-4 outdoor shows spread across the summer. Last year, it brought the likes of Grouplove, Foster the People and Vampire Weekend to Kansas City, and the next two shows for this year will feature bands like The Offspring and Walk the Moon. I went to Night One and, although I entered as a fan of all three artists that performed, I left even more in love.
First up was Kitten, a solo band with a rotating backing lineup fronted by lead vocalist Chloe Chaidez. Kitten had previously been to Kansas City a few times, the last of which being at Afentra’s VD Party in 2014 at the Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland. Chaidez released a self-titled debut as Kitten last year as well, and Rolling Stone even named it the magazine’s No. 16 pop album of the year. Before the concert, I was familiar with “G#,” which The Buzz used to play rather often and, after becoming acquainted with some more of Kitten’s music, I knew I was in for quite the show.
Chaidez performed with amazing stage presence throughout the entire set, comfortably climbing onto security guards’ shoulders, performing in the middle of the crowd and dancing sexually at every possible instance. Her near-flawless vocals made the performance even better, with Chaidez belting songs like “Japanese Eyes,” “Cut It Out” and “Kitten With a Whip.” She even included a few of Kitten’s signature classic rock covers — a version of David Bowie’s “Heroes” that she dedicated to Kansas City, winners of the “best audience in America” award, and a stellar performance of the Prince & The Revolution classic “Purple Rain.” Chaidez ended her set by climbing up a swinging ladder on the stage during a standout performance of “Kitten With a Whip,” and I surely cannot wait to see more of her extreme energy as Kitten in the future.
After a bit of a rain delay, Meg Myers took the stage. If you don’t already know, I’m thoroughly in love with all of Myers’ music — I wrote about her after finding out about her music, then again for my top five albums of 2014, and yet again after she released her newest single, “Sorry.” The last time Myers came to Kansas City was for last year’s Buzz Beach Ball at Sporting Park, and she even headlined the second stage — a pretty great achievement for an up-and-coming artist. I could not wait to see Myers, as I knew she had a debut full-length coming and looked forward to hearing a few new songs in addition to my favorites.
Myers did just that. She didn’t perform with the antics that Kitten had, but that was quite OK, as her vocals and on-again-off-again bass guitar spoke for themselves. Powerful unreleased songs like “Motel,” “Say Nothing” and “Feather” made me even more excited for her eventual album, and tasteful screams during “Go” and set-closer “Heart Heart Head” added an unrivaled passion to Myers’ performance. After each song, the audience roared with applause, and fans sang as loudly as they could for radio hits like “Desire” and “Adelaide.” The ongoing thunder and lightning accented her performance beautifully, even lighting up the entire stage for a unique effect during “Sorry.”
Matt and Kim took the stage just before 10 p.m. and, if I had any intention of leaving early to get some sleep for my AP U.S. History exam the following morning, their energy took all of that away. The Brooklyn, New York life partners — keyboardist/lead vocalist Matt Johnson and drummer/vocalist Kim Schifino — are currently touring to support their fifth album, “New Glow.” They previously played a free show at KC Live! two years ago, and came to “Buzz Under the Stars Night One” prepared to party.
After running out to throw T-shirts to fans and hype up the crowd, Matt and Kim took to their side-by-side drum set and keyboard to open their set with “Overexposed.” Matt’s first words, “Everybody jump,” fittingly characterized the rest of the evening — an evening that would become a thoroughly-amazing indie pop dance party.
In keeping with their high-energy set, Matt and Kim played many hip-hop songs in between their own, giving themselves and fans an opportunity to dance even more. 2 Chainz’s “Where You Been” eased the transition after “Overexposed” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” by the Beastie Boys proved to be a fitting interlude in the band’s own song “Cameras.” Matt and Kim even performed covers of a few of their favorite hip-hop songs, including a fun performance of R. Kelly’s iconic “Ignition (Remix)” and an extremely danceable version of the Salt-N-Pepa classic “Push It.”
Audience involvement at a Matt and Kim show is a must, and last night was no different. During a fantastic performance of “Lessons Learned,” Kim encouraged the audience to join in her backing vocals, and they were eager to. Kim also threw the audience balloons to blow up and toss around during “Hoodie On,” which made for an even more involved performance. During “Cinders,” the nonvocal “fastest song” Matt and Kim have ever written, the duo gave the middle section of the audience a parachute (think elementary school Physical Education) to toss around and dance underneath.
Matt and Kim played a good mix of old and new songs, and incorporated a lot of relaxed conversation (and excited cussing on Kim’s part) in between. “Can You Blame Me,” the band’s newest single, was both lighthearted and high energy, making it extremely fun to watch. “Ten Dollars I Found” slowed down the set, and having Kim on lead vocals added some variety. The duo saved its most popular songs, “Let’s Go” and “Daylight,” for nearly-back-to-back performance at the end of its main set, and the audience sang their hearts out to both of the amazing performances.
After playing for about an hour, Matt and Kim left the stage, only to come back mere moments later for an unorthodox encore. Before playing any music, Kim went out into the audience, stood on some fans’ hands and showed off her legendary twerking ability. Afterward, her and Matt jumped into a fun cover of Biz Markie’s one-hit wonder “Just a Friend” before closing the night with an exciting performance of “It’s Alright.”
Walking away from the ruins of Matt and Kim’s top-notch dance party, I couldn’t help but think of how awesome “Buzz Under the Stars Night One” turned out to be. Not only was I able to see a high-energy rock performance by Kitten and another powerfully passionate one by Meg Myers, but I also witnessed one of the most fun live acts that could possibly exist on the planet — Matt and Kim. Needless to say, I was more than content with the show I saw and had only one question afterward: When can I see this lineup again?
Kitten setlist: “Japanese Eyes,” “Heroes” (David Bowie cover), “Cut It Out,” “G#,” “Purple Rain” (Prince & The Revolution cover), “Like a Stranger,” “Cathedral,” “Kill the Light,” “Kitten With a Whip”
Meg Myers setlist: “Curbstomp,” “Adelaide,” “Motel,” “A Bolt from the Blue,” “Go,” “Say Nothing,” “Desire,” “Make a Shadow,” “Feather,” “Sorry,” “Heart Heart Head”
Matt and Kim setlist: “Overexposed,” “Tonight,” “Cameras”/“No Sleep Till Brooklyn” (Beastie Boys cover), “Make a Mess,” “Lessons Learned,” “Hoodie On,” “Ignition (Remix)” (R. Kelly cover), “Don’t Slow Down,” “Can You Blame Me,” “Now,” “Hey Now,” “Ten Dollars I Found,” “Push It” (Salt-N-Pepa cover), “Get It,” “Let’s Go,” “Cinders,” “Daylight,” “Just a Friend” (Biz Markie cover) (encore), “It’s Alright” (encore)
