The Tape

The Tallest Man On Earth- Live at the Troubadour

Written by willshoob on Sunday, 29 of March , 2009 at 9:24 pm

The Tallest Man On Earth isn’t very tall. In fact, he is quite short. This would have been a tad more comical, if he wasn’t super bad ass. After Emily Wells finished up her set (we really didn’t see enough to have an opinion, but what we did hear sounded tight), there was about a 20 minute wait. After those twenty minutes, Mr. Kristian Matsson strolled down the Troubadour steps looking eerily similar to Johnny Cash. As his small frame stepped onto the stage, he walked back and forth scanning the crowd with a menacing stare. His stage presence was remarkable, and it would only get better as the night progressed. He was alone onstage, besides his three guitars and a chair that he rarely sat in.

He fucked around for a bit strumming random chords, before he broke into “I Won’t Be Found.” This was a fantastic set starter as it is one of his most well known and well liked tracks. He walked across the stage like a rock star, and sung like one too. His growling voice filled up the packed Troubadour and really sounded fantastic. His demeanor portrayed him to be a bit of an asshole, but he walked the fine line of being funny verses being said asshole. As the night progressed he opened up a little bit, interacting with the drunken crowd members, who wouldn’t have been heard if it was at a venue any bigger. He had a thick Swedish accent which made him a little bit hard to understand, but he did say something about how it was nice to play his songs for fans, so he could get out of the dark, freezing, Swedish winter. It got a nice chuckle from the crowd.

As the night progressed, the show only got better. He was walking around as if he owned the place, and it was fantastic. His voice sounded better with wear, and he played through most of his music. His personality grew on me as he interacted more and more with the crowd. It became clearer and clearer that he wasn’t an asshole, just a shy Swedish man with a great sense of humor. A song that really stood out to me was “King of Spain.” This song isn’t on the album, and I could only grab a live version of it, but it really took the show to a new level. It was one of his last songs of the night, and it shocked the whole crowd… It was absolutely brilliant. Towards the end of the song, he dramatically stomped his foot and went into a seizure inducing guitar strum, that made the entire crowd give him a standing ovation. He then played the last song before his encore, “The Wild Hunt”, which he described as a “goodbye song.”

He left the stage shaking hands with everyone, bowing and blowing kisses. He almost immediately re-entered the stage area to a still lasting ovation. He played two more songs before he left for good. The entire crowd had been moved by this performance, and it seemed like the crowd had moved him as well. As he finished his last song, he said “I love you all, thank you so so much.” He then left the stage, the tallest man on earth. His 5 foot 7 frame may have disagreed with his name, but he truly was the tallest man on earth. As Tristan put it, Mr. Matsson is the next great folk hero.

Setlist:
I Won’t Be Found
Honey, Won’t You Let Me In
Shallow Grave
Pistol Dreams
Over the Hills
Into the Stream
The Gardener
A Lion’s Heart
Where Do My Bluebird Fly
Steal Tomorrow
King of Spain
The Wild Hunt
—
A Thousand Ways
Death Letter (Son House)

The Tallest Man On Earth- I Won’t Be Found

The Tallest Man On Earth- Where Do My Bluebird Fly

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Category: Concerts

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