After a yearlong hiatus from touring, Matt and Kim are back on the road. On March 27, the duo visited the Pageant as the fourth stop on their national tour. The duo, known for their energetic live performances, put on a show that made up for their year off the road.

Matt and Kim began with their hit “It’s Alright,” and the crowd went wild. After the song finished, drummer Kim Schifino (the “Kim” part of the name) described the experience as “like a three-minute orgasm.” The concert only went uphill from there.

Noah Ginsberg | Student Life

Matt and Kim perform an energetic set for their fans. The duo performed at the Pageant on the fourth stop of their tour Tuesday.

It was obvious from start to finish that more than anything, Matt and Kim were excited to be back touring. Schifino wore a smile the entire show. After a year off the road in recovery, the studio and rehearsal, Matt and Kim are finally back where they belong.

In a recent interview with Student Life, Matt Johnson described the rehearsal process of the duo. “Songs that are slower for us we always amp up,” Johnson said. “We essentially remix them for stage. Even songs like ‘Daylight,’ which was never a great live song…people liked it because they knew it, but it was really a mid-tempo song, as opposed to these other crazier songs that felt better live. And we just turn up the energy; we quicken the pace; we make the drums bigger and louder. I think the song’s better than ever now.”

Noah Ginsberg | Student Life

Matt Johnson of Matt & Kim plays the keyboard during the group’s set at the Pageant Tuesday night. After a year-long hiatus from touring, St. Louis was Matt & Kim’s fourth stop this year.

All of that rehearsal paid off in concert: The drums were bigger than ever; the songs were all amped up and the crowd was continually energized. Matt and Kim found the perfect balance between keeping their slow songs slow and remixing them into hyped-up pieces. Their songs were faster, harder and louder.

Throughout the entire show, Matt and Kim’s personalities bled into their performance. They cracked jokes to each other and the audience between songs and seemed genuinely excited and happy to be performing together again. The duo covered the likes of “Thunder,” “Started from the Bottom” and “Umbrella” with Johnson featuring an interpretive dance to a version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” with all the lyrics replaced with “smoke weed every day.”

However, the best part of the show was the chemistry between Matt and Kim. There was a kind of casual sexual tension between the two. Johnson and Schifino are comfortable with each other, in love with each other and extremely attracted to each other. The electricity between the two of them can be felt from the back of the venue.

Matt and Kim put on an energetic, exciting show. After a year off of the road and in recovery, Matt and Kim came back to world of live music and put on a show that has been, quite literally, a year in the making.