Live at Massey Hall, 4 September 2015
The Tallest Man on Earth is the moniker of Swedish folk-singer Kristian Matsson. Contrary to what his stage name suggests, Matsson is no bigger than your average horse jockey. His voice, however, is larger than life and is an integral part of his music. It bolts out the speaker like a horse from the turnstile at the start of a race. Matsson is touring this summer in support of his new Tallest Man on Earth album, Dark Bird is Home, which was released back in May on the Dead Oceans label. Since his debut album, Shallow Grave, released in 2008, Matsson has developed a loyal and growing fan base; a fan base which was put to the test with the release of Dark Bird is Home, the first Tallest Man on Earth album to feature a full band. It marks a significant change in style from his previous three albums, which consisted primarily of Matsson’s booming voice perfectly entwined with his acoustic guitar. No other frills seemed necessary. From the looks of things at Massey Hall on Friday night, I would say most of his fans have come to terms with his musical evolution. Although I am sure, if given the choice, most would rather it be just him and his acoustic guitar.
Matsson and his band hit the stage at Massey Hall full of energy, with him immediately jumping into the crowd and proceed to give the lucky fans in rows A to C high fives. The band opened with a brilliant version of the dream-like “Field of our Homes”, the opening track on Dark Bird is Home. As expected, the early part of the set featured a collection of songs from the new album. With a number of talented musicians behind him, I was wondering if and how Matsson would use them when he switched to playing songs from his earlier albums. Just then nightmares of a Bob Dylan concert I went to flooded my brain where Dylan had turned his classic songs into unrecognizable fragments of their former glory. Instead of nightmares, Matsson put the crowd in a state of ecstasy with full band renditions of “King of Spain,” “1904,” and “The Wild Hunt.” Matsson and his band also treated the sellout crowd to a cover of Blaze Foley’s “If I Could Only Fly.”
Around half way through the set the band went backstage for a break, leaving Matsson alone on stage with his guitar. This is what I really wanted to see. After only a couple strums the whole crowd knew the heartbreaker “Love is All” was up next. Matsson would go on to play solo versions of “Criminals,” “The Gardener,” and my favourite song of the night, “Thousand Ways.” For the first twenty to thirty seconds of “Thousand Ways,” Matsson used only his right thumb to pluck his guitar strings; his left hand was at his side. With his guitar’s distinct tuning and intricate fingerpicking pattern, it sounded as if there were three hands on the guitar instead of one. My friend and I both looked at each other in amazement and agreed that what was happening on stage wasn’t fair. Matsson is like no one else on earth when it comes to the use of alternate guitar tunings along with distinctive strumming or fingerpicking patterns. After almost every song, Matsson’s stagehand would bring him out a new guitar specifically tuned for the song he was about to play. I lost count of how many different guitars he used. To show us he could do it all, Matsson hopped on the piano for “Little Nowhere Towns,” for the entirety of which Massey Hall was silent in awe.
The Tallest Man on Earth performing “Thousand Ways” in Massey Hall
With the crowd going nuts, Matsson and his band returned quickly for an encore and regaled us with a cheery version of “The Dreamer” in which he sings “sometimes the blues just a passing bird / why can’t that always be?” For the last song of the evening, the band gathered together behind Matsson and added harmonies to the already beautiful “Like the Wheel,” putting an exclamation mark on what was a fantastic concert.
Matsson is a showman; with a guitar around his neck he gives you the impression that he could cure cancer. This confidence disappears as soon as the music stops. When addressing the crowd he is incredibly awkward and surprisingly inarticulate. It’s a struggle for him to find the right words. The howling applause he received after one of his songs prompted him to say that “coyotes sound the same everywhere in the world.” Matsson was dressed in a white t-shirt and the tightest pair of white jeans I have ever seen. A clever fan let Matsson know that because Labour Day had yet to pass, he was cleared to wear white.
Massey Hall, with its U-shaped balconies that overhang and wrap around the stage, lends a feeling of intimacy perfectly tailored to songs which demand your attention. As a lyricist, Matsson’s best songs often detail his wonderment in nature and portray him as someone who is constantly getting lost in his own dreams. His lyrics have become more personal and ambitious with each release; however, they have also become more opaque, making it hard to pinpoint what exactly he is driving at. On “Little Nowhere Towns,” Matsson sings “…And I’m racing through my pockets now cause I’m starting to believe / Selling emptiness to strangers a little bit warmer than my dreams.” It can be difficult at times to relate to the mysticism of his lyrics, but once you get past this, you are hooked.
I firmly believe that The Tallest Man on Earth’s 2010 release, The Wild Hunt, should be considered amongst the best albums of the last decade. If you haven’t heard any Tallest Man on Earth songs, this is probably where you want to start. The way in which he sings on The Wild Hunt conveys a gravity to what he is saying and it compels you to listen. This hurried rawness has gradually turned into a more relaxed and deliberate style. One thing is for sure, Matsson’s music will continue to change. It may alienate some fans, but innovating seems to be part of his DNA. The majority of the instrumentation on Dark Bird is Home is performed by Matsson, even the beautiful clarinet melody on “Timothy.” The guy is a supreme talent and, although I doubt he craves added attention, he most undeniably deserves it.