05-12-2009 The Sounds

Supports: Matt and Kim; Venue: Live Music Hall, Cologne(Germany)
By: Nina Mende

Tonight I went to Cologne to see The Sounds perform at the Live Music Hall. Too bad I didn’t have a photo pass this time. The Sounds were looking good again.

The show was not sold out, but close. The venue was very crowded by the time The Sounds entered the stage. But before them Matt and Kim warmed up the audience. Matt and Kim are an indie pop duo residing in Brooklyn, New York. The group was formed in 2004 by Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums/vocals).These two were spreading happiness and a good mood throughout the Live Music Hall. They were animating the audience to jump, dance and sing along, and the audience did. Matt and Kim always had a wide smile on their faces and talked a lot. Their set was very short, but it worked. They had warmed up the audience perfectly well.

Up next was The Sounds. The Sounds is a Swedish New Wave band founded in 1999 in Helsingborg. The group’s musical style has been compared to New Wave acts such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons. Their debut album, Living in America, was released in 2002, with the follow up, Dying to Say This to You, on March 21, 2006. Their third album, Crossing the Rubicon, was released on June 2 2009. As Maja entered the stage to start singing everybody went wild. The fans knew all the lyrics to each song and sang along loudly. Maja is a strong singer with an amazing and powerful performance. She got everybody going along. The audience was dancing, clapping and singing, shouting and cheering out loud after each song. The Sounds played songs off all albums including all their hits. Maja was flirting with her band members and talked a lot with her fans as well. They played the piano version of “Night After Night”, the audience sang for her during one chorus. They performed for about an hour plus three songs encore. The Sounds proved again that they are one of the best live bands with a very energetic and powerful show. It is always a pleasure to see this band live.

Links:
Matt and Kim MySpace
Matt and Kim Official
The Souns MySpace
The Sounds Official