I took a trip to Denver recently to see Walk the Moon at Red Rocks (which is another blog post entirely, but in short, it’s amazing as everyone says, and seeing Nick Petricca’s dimples in that backdrop might have momentarily stopped my heart) and on the flight back, I sat in front of a girl who had the following conversation upon landing:
“No Becky. No, I didn’t take all of our clothing out of the drawers and knock over the chairs and then leave our apartment. Nope, I don’t think Sarah did either Becky – I think we’ve been robbed. Yep. Yep I think we’ve been robbed. Okay Becky, this is what you’re going to do – you’re going to make sure nobody’s in the apartment and you’re going to call the police. Also Becky … are my Tallest Man tickets still on my desk?”
Never having heard of Tallest Man I figured I needed to look him up – if this girl had just found out her apartment had been robbed and her first question was whether or not her Tallest Man tickets were still intact there must be something to him, so when he stopped by Chicago I knew I’d be going. Even it was at Thalia Hall (you’re killing me with that pink line Thalia!)
The newest ‘love to hate it venue’ (it doesn’t matter where you live – it’s going to take you an hour to get to this place) was held rapt last night by singer songwriter Aly Spaltro aka Lady Lamb. The Brunswick, Maine native played solo on the huge Thalia stage, just her and her guitar, pulling from her soft melodic 2015 release After. The new album is absolutely worth a listen for Lady Lamb fans – the first two songs alone “Vena Cava” and “Billions of Eyes” are enough to make it a new favorite.
After the brief twenty minute set, Kristian Matsson aka the Tallest Man on Earth, took to the stage. And he did so by twirling, jumping and flipping onto stage. Seriously – all you saw was this skinny mass of limbs sheathed in white bounding from the side wings to front and center – and he was off! (which is also appropriate given he’s approximately the size of a jockey.)
Matsson, who was backed by a sax, drums and a bass, pretty much just blazed through hit after hit – “Love is All”, “The Gardener”, “1904”, “Fields of Our Home” – one after the other after the other, and the audience was loving it. The nasal Swede (there have been many comparisons, fairly I think, to an early Bob Dylan) is all energy (even the slow songs are fast) and love for what he’s doing – at one point he told the crowd “I was always brought up to be polite to everyone, and I don’t mean to be a dick, but if you all make noise during the set I’m going to play really really softly so that only I can hear.” Matsson takes what he does very seriously and he wants everyone to enjoy it as much as he does – he’s clearly succeeding.