Matt and Kim, Team Robespierre | Hudson River Park, NYC | 7/9/09

Matt and Kim played likely one of, if not their largest, headlining show to date at Pier 54 in Hudson River Park on Thursday, one of three free concerts they are hosting this summer. The band later said they played to about 5,000 according to a post on their twitter account. The other shows will feature bands like Ted Leo and Yeasayer.

Team Robospierre (pictured below) opened the show with some punk rock that reminded of a Atom and his Package meets Rancid. I’ll let you decide for yourself if thats a good combination. After a DJ set from Flosstradumus, Matt and Kim took the stage with large screens behind them projecting images of the band and animations of leaf like shapes falling on top of each other in a rapid succession.

The band played a good mix from both their full lengths. While they played the songs competently, their weaknesses definitely peak through when playing to such a large audience. The simple set up of just a keyboard and drums works very well in a small club setting where people surround the band on the floor, but when playing outdoors to 500 people the music just sounds to empty. An addition of a touring bass player or some backing tracks could go along way. “Daylight” was a good example of this because the songs bigger sound definitely went a long way. Regardless, the band always seems to be genuinely appreciative and excited ( as always) to perform which is definitely a breath of fresh air these days.