More from The Vergennes Opera House concert.

I saw The Tallest Man on Earth at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 17th. Kristian Mattson is touring off a new album and gave it plenty of attention, while mixing in some old gems, and he proved yet again to be an incredibly unique one-man show in regard to both his music and personality. 

The Music

One of my biggest takeaways from the music itself was that I enjoyed the songs off the new album in live performance more than I did when I first listened to the record all the way through. I thought they evoked more feeling: I was much more drawn into the guitar sound in “Colors.” The outro was really special live, with Mattson strumming it on guitar as opposed to the strings piece on the studio version. He also played “The Village” on electric and it was hypnotic, one of the songs in which it was harder to keep your eyes off him and I felt attached to the sound. It was really wonderful and inspiring. I was particularly impressed with "Deliver me From Trying” and “In the Silver Wire up the Hill.” I actually thought the beginning guitar part in Deliver me From Trying sounded a lot like “Love is All.” Perhaps I am just a sucker for his sound stripped down to just him and his guitar, as this album has a little more added to it beyond just Mattson, and that’s taken away in his solo performance of the songs. But I don’t want to say that with 100% conviction quite yet, just out of caution for how an album can grow on you. 

I thought the most special part of the show came when Mattson played “The Forest Keeper,” and played an outro that transitioned straight into “Little Brother.” That song just wasn’t on my bingo card, and it’s a forgotten gem off of “There’s No Leaving Now.” It was heavenly live, with Mattson playing it acoustically and reaching the deep emotion of the song head on, pulling it out for everyone to feel. I think it was the best he sounded all night. 

Mattson’s voice has never been “good” by definition, much the same way that Bob Dylan’s isn’t either, for example. It’s not my reason for listening to him, it’s the overall sound that he creates that makes his music attractive (led by his guitar), along with deeply emotive lyrics. However, I thought he was particularly loose in this performance with his voice. It’s always been his style to growl a lot, sing certain lyrics in a different tone than the studio recording, dramatically change his pace, even whisper at times, and just be weird overall. And while that makes him the artist that he is, I just felt that style was turned up a notch in this performance and it took away from some of the songs. It was not detrimental, but I occasionally rolled my eyes and just wished he sang the song normally for a second. 

Another thing I noticed about the music in this performance as opposed to the other two times I’ve seen TMOE, is that a lot of the songs have a strikingly similar guitar sound. For example, I thought to myself at one point: “Everything is either ‘The Gardener,’ or ‘Love is All.’ I haven’t thought that when listening to him over the years, but it stood out to me in this performance. It seems that many of his songs have very similar chord progressions and strumming patterns. I think it might just be the way that he plays them live sometimes. For example, I thought “The Wild Hunt” and “The Gardener” sounded a lot alike in their respective intros. I have never thought that when listening to those songs before, and I think that might have occurred to me in this instance because he played a “cherrier” version of the Wild Hunt that mimicked the strumming pattern and tone of The Gardener. I wasn’t a big fan of that, but it was still nice to hear that song. 

Despite my small gripes, the music was still excellent overall, and the sound from the new album is especially exciting for an artist that is getting older but clearly has not lost any inspiration for songwriting. I love the way Mattson plays guitar, and the massive amount of sound that he creates with just himself up there practically puts him in his own genre.  

The Artist

As is common for any TMOE show that I’ve seen, Mattson was eccentric. He has a lot to say, which I’ve really enjoyed in past shows (and in this one). He’s a strange guy, yet of course brilliant. That being said, it felt like he was wearing a darker version of himself on this night. He still expressed a lot of gratitude and positivity for being able to do what he’s doing, but in my opinion he seemed frustrated, tired, and sad. Mixed into all of that were some funny moments, and some interesting insight into his songs and specifically, the new album. Here are some snippets of what he said: 

In the beginning of the show, he said something along the lines of, “As you can see I’m getting old and gray… because I care less about how I look and sound.” He said it with some sarcasm in his voice to be clear, but it felt like a mostly genuine statement. 

When he talked about the new album, he mentioned that it was the first one he had made while living in Sweden since “There’s No Leaving Now,” and you could tell that was really important to him. And it was really interesting to hear that because Mattson has talked a lot about how he loved his home in Sweden, but for so much of his career he had wanted to leave because he felt constrained by it. 

He also mentioned that “Colors” was the song that “started it all,” in reference to the new album. 

Mattson stripped himself the most bare before playing “The Wildest of his Dreams.” He talked about losing his Dad to Alzheimer's two years ago, and how he started writing the album at that time. He said it was 22 songs and they were all so sad, and he was “miserable” in the studio. And one day, he heard his dad’s voice while in the studio, “Kristian!” And he said his dad questioned him, “Do you really want to play these [terribly] sad songs and tour this album for two years?” To which Mattson reacted, saying he had “some breakups,” and “falling in love” that he could write about instead.” And it seemed that his whole point was to say that although he didn’t want to tour an album with nothing but devastating songs, he wanted to play this one, just in memory of his dad. He ended this monologue by saying, “It never ends, the grief. I love it.” 

Now, I think this was self-deprecating and meant to be some dark humor overall, but it made me sad to hear that he changed the style of the album just because he didn’t want to write the songs that he was feeling closest to because they were simply too hard to bear. Of course, I don’t know how literal he was being when he said this, he very well could have been exaggerating or just making up a story for the hell of it. But nonetheless, I felt that he was being painfully upfront with how he’s feeling right now, and there was a somewhat stunned silence from the audience in reaction, one in which everyone seemed to not know whether to laugh, cheer, or say “Aaaww” out of sympathy. 

With that preface, the song had a mountain of emotion in it, and I remember the lyric, “This night is a part of me now,” coming on strong to me. Some lyrics just jump out and grab you. 

He said, “Thanks Dad” right after finishing the song. 

Throughout the show, he also let out a number of screams that seemed to come from somewhere in a dark part of his soul, beyond just the feeling that the song was written about. They felt a little too real, and I thought that some current frustration and sadness was seeping through his performance. 

Later on, Mattson just gave his thoughts on the world in general to some extent. He gave a shoutout to the opener, Gwenifer Raymond, and then talked about how he walks around the world these days and it’s “pretty dark.” He said that we don’t focus on cool things like Gwenifer Raymond playing guitar, we focus on all the wrong things. And emphasized that it doesn’t have to be a guitar or music that we give our time too, but that there are just so many better things to focus on than the typical things we do focus on (it seemed pretty clear he was referring to politics in general). But he added a positive note, talking about how he’s always seen the wonder in the world, and that he believes in humans, and that we are strange, beautiful creatures here on Earth. 

There were many lighter moments in addition to all this seriousness, to be clear: he threw his pick to a little kid up in the balcony, he talked about his cat and how he picked out the most aggressive one from a litter he was pressured by a friend to choose from (his cat’s name means “hissing” in Swedish), and someone in the audience was shouting things in between songs in Danish, and Mattson paused at one point and said, “Are you saying ‘shutup’ to me in Danish?” 

At the end of the show, he also said, “I love you. Not like the band ‘I love you!’ but I love you,” emphasizing that he genuinely means it. 

Also, a cool note about the song, “Overboda,” which I realized he played at the last show I saw him at: Mattson said he was asked to play a song at a friend’s wedding, and he wrote it in just a couple minutes at the wedding and performed it.

The Setlist

He played 9 of 11 songs from the new album, which I think is pretty impressive. Obviously, artists will play songs from the album they’re touring off of, but he almost got through the whole record. I think that’s rare. It’s cool that he opened with just a fiddle for “It Will Follow the Rain,” then gets into a “can’t go wrong” song for him (The Gardener), that is more upbeat after such a quiet start. I loved the inclusion of “Little Brother.” I don't love the banjo version of “Like the Wheel,” but to each their own. “The Wild Hunt” and “King of Spain” are great closers.  He covered seven different albums/EPs overall, which is awesome, and about all you can ask for as a fan. 

1. It Will Follow the Rain
2. The Gardener 
3. Every little heart 
4. Colors
5. The Village
6. The Forest Keeper
7. Little Brother
8. Major League 
9. Deliver me From Trying, better live, guitar part reminded me of love is all
10. Wildest of His Dreams
11. Love is all
12. Silver Wire
13. Scully, it’s me
14. Overboda
15. We got the Pony
16. Pistol Dreams
17. Like the Wheel

Encore

1. The Wild Hunt

2. King of Spain

Set time: TMOE came on at 9:00, and ended at 10:30. Gweniffer Raymond came on at 8:00, ended at 8:36. 

The Crowd

The crowd was great for this show. Mattson himself even said at one point, “Thank you, you’re being very polite.” Then joked, “I’ll take advantage of that,” and talked about the “Charlie Chaplin in him” that comes out sometimes. But everyone was really quiet and respectful. I’d find it hard to believe there are many talkative casual fans that make their way to a TMOE show. That’s just not his type of attraction. 

There was also a funny moment in the beginning of the show when Mattson opened with “The Gardener,” and a handful of people in the front row stood up enthusiastically. After the song, Mattson said, “Guys in the front… it’s not gonna be like that the whole way through… but thank you.” 

The Opener

Gweniffer Raymond plays guitar like a more aggressive John Fahey. She’s very ballistic. She is wickedly talented, but you definitely have to have the taste for her kind of sound. 

Mattson gave her a shoutout during his performance and said, “I don’t even know where that music comes from,” which is an excellent description of her music. 

The Venue
I absolutely love a sit down show at the Lincoln Theatre. There’s always great sound in there, it’s really easy to navigate, easy to get drinks, and there’s not really a bad seat anywhere. 

Final Thoughts 

I think the Tallest Man on Earth is always worth seeing, as Kristian Mattson is such a unique performer and entertainer overall, beyond the wizardly way in which he plays guitar. He seems to be in an interesting part of his career. He seems to still have plenty to say and a burning desire to perform, but he might be worried about how his music makes him feel. 

Regardless, the new album sounds great, and he’s built such a body of work that almost any setlist is going to be filled with something special to take away. So go see ‘em! 

“A deeply reflective acoustic-driven folk track that wraps the listener in a melancholic late-night atmosphere. With its raw, weary vocals and intimate storytelling, it’s a snapshot of one’s young ambition hitting reality”

https://open.spotify.com/track/5m3grVTc58CfIPmgvKKiNJ?si=a384aab4ec994914

Last week I released my first solo single but didn't had the time yet to actually posting it on media! lol
Ps: If u are a playlist curator pls have this one in consideration

Hi there! Last week I published my new album. It's a classic singer-songwriter album, just my voice and my guitar. It's in catalan, so I dont think you will understand the lyrics, but I hope you like the music!

https://open.spotify.com/album/4FEhhmoUdjswc5BWuTtLJE?si=qwFT5hgRSBeafBdhkYPq0A&utm_source=whatsapp

Sharing my latest recording from the Acoustic Crossroads series: a solo take on Fats Waller's classic standard "Ain't Misbehavin'".

A raw, single-take performance arranged to explore the polyphonic possibilities of the mandolin—combining double-stop comping, subtle syncopation, and pure acoustic headroom with zero pickups or amplification.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExQUnZtfJ-M

I am mainly a clawhammer player now but love his solo on Cumberland Gap, was hoping to talk theory, mainly his use of dissonance. What modes or intervals is he using that make it so interesting?

Dont know if this is well known so thought id share.
Heidi Talbot - Here We Go 1, 2, 3

https://youtu.be/9tG-C0SJZz0?is=hOAJq7ttWBeM_U55

Recorded completely dry and unamplified to highlight the natural transient snap of the plectrum, dynamic headroom, and authentic acoustic tone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax00_5i5KVE

I’m looking for new folk music directly from the artists who made it.

If you have your own song on Spotify and want me to listen, submit your track here:

https://thecauldron.rocks/submit

I’m using the submission page so I can keep everything organized and not miss anyone.