Hooves on the Turf

Kristian Matsson, who goes by the name The Tallest Man on Earth, knows what to expect from New York. Last night he played Highline Ballroom for the first time, a higher capacity venue than Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg, and sold it out in advance.  This was an all-age show, which meant an avalanche of super excited young fans (“I don’t think you should go to school tomorrow”, said one little thing to the other after the show ended). The fans sang in the words that Kristian left out (“in your eyes babe”, “leather”). Someone yelled out something in Swedish, and Krisitian claimed the translation was “you fucking pussy”. He mocked the girl who yelled, “Say something in Swedish”. He addressed the impracticality of too many requests: “That Jackson Browne Cover”, “I Fall to Pieces”. “How can I sing them all?” is what he said, “We’ll be here all night”.

But there are assumptions that need addressing. The two girls who came in late frolicking and planted themselves in front of other people, blocking their view and giggling with joy: probably in late 20’s, early 30’s; the guy behind me who had obviously downloaded the leaked version of the new album, because how else did he learn every word and every inflection to the new songs in just 7 days?: probably in mid-late 20’s, early 30’s. Also, lots of guys. I don’t mean gays. Lots of guys contorting their faces into serious emotional expressions as if this were a Tori Amos show. This is a very good thing for Krisitan Matsson, who got “You’re so sexy!” from a guy. He replied, “Yeah that’s what I do”.

Lots of people talk about how Kristian has a great stage presence. But the truth is, he just has amazing songs. They were written with a certain performance value coded in, at which point the deal was sealed; there’s no way it was going to be boring live. My sister pointed out, though, that Krisitan roams the stage as if he were a wild horse plotting to escape confinement. His friend had drawn a horse He’s got a new tattoo of a horse (by the way) on the inside of his forearm. He referred to it as “horsie”, and said it was keeping him company on stage.

Songs played from The Wild Hunt were (that I’m listing using my poor memory): “The Wild Hunt”, “Thousand Ways” (love!), “Troubles Will Be Gone”, “Burden of Tomorrow”, “Love is All”, “King of Spain” and “You’re Going Back” (he didn’t play “A Lion’s Heart”); from Shallow Grave: “The Gardener”, “Pistol Dreams”, “I Won’t Be Found”, “Where Do the Bluebirds Fly”, and, what he called a song special to New York, “This Wind” (double love!); he said goodbye with a new song, “Like the Wheel”.

I was glad to see Nurses. I’ve enjoyed their quirky songs for a while, and they sounded great last night. They blogged on April 16:

tallest man on earth tour = best vibes

got a few minutes in a mofe shop, got a few words to say! 2 shows into the tour with the tallest man on earth, and we’re all smiles. kristian (sp?) aka the tallest man on earth is as nice as he is talented, and i’m really looking forward to this next month! kristian is already making 99 percent of the girls in the room swoon, blush, and fall apart, and performing the heckoutta real good folk songs.

this rules!

Download “King of Spain” by The Tallest Man on Earth
Download “The Wild Hunt (Live at Bowery Ballroom)” by The Tallest Man on Earth
Download lots of other Tallest Man goodies on this site.
Download Technicolor by Nurses

PS: Contest to win The Wild Hunt vinyl is closed and I will contact the winner directly winner has been contacted.