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Tallest Man on Earth at The Pabst

Lately, I’ve been captivated by the whiskey-soaked, often soulful vocals and intricate fingerpicking of Kristian Matsson, or as many know him, The Tallest Man on Earth, so I was excited to find out he was making his return to the majestic Pabst Theater here in Milwaukee.

By 9 p.m. Sunday the sold-out crowd had already been warmed up by Strand of Oaks, who put on an impressive show focused on long, emotional passages and long build-ups with large payouts.

After a short break down, The Tallest Man on Earth pranced onstage towards one of the guitars set up next to the piano, but before he even got half way there, he stopped and immediately shook hands with the fans at the front of the stage. Matsson then picked up the guitar and started strumming the intro melody to “To Just Grow Away”, the opening track on his latest release, "There’s No Leaving Now."

Leaning in and out from the mic, twisting and spinning, Matsson not only played flawlessly but he brought his music to life. Like a timid cat, he often didn’t stand in the same place for too long except for when at the mic and even then he was always hopping on one foot or swinging a leg to-and-fro.

Mattson rolled through many tunes from his latest release as well as a lot of fan favorites such as “Love Is All,” “The Gardener,” “It Will Follow the Rain” and “King of Spain.” All sounded better live than their recorded counterparts thanks to Mattson’s voice, which provided a gritty juxtaposition to the lovely melodies of his guitar.

Between songs he often engaged the crowd in light conversation – “Play 'Walk The Line'? On a PIANO!?” – and even joked about some of the technical problems he was having on stage. But he soared above those issues and emotions ran high when Mattson took a seat on the old wooden chair at the piano and played very moving renditions of “Like The Wheel” and “Where Do My Bluebirds Fly,” during which many couples got out of their seats and went in the back to slow dance. He finished off the set with “King of Spain,” which seemed to have everyone in the theater singing.

After modestly taking in the applause, Mattson trotted back on stage to play a two song encore, “Revelation Blues” and “The Dreamer.” The latter played on piano rather than guitar, which made the song that more emotional than what’s on "Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird."

–Keith Gasper

By OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writers - Aug. 6, 2012 at 1:55 p.m.