Mission Theater, Portland
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Not a surprise to anyone, but the guy is not extremely tall. This was way too evident since the venue is a movie theater, and the stage is only raised two feet. When he first started playing, I could barely see his face, and thought he was sitting in a chair. After he wandered around stage, it was clear no one could actually see his guitar unless they were stage front. It still sounded great.
Not that any of us debate Sasquatch acts are not allowed to play Seattle near Sasquatch, but after the first song, a female fan lamented about having to drive from Seattle to see the show. He immediately responded that he wasn't allowed to play in Seattle because he is playing Sasquatch. So there's that. For all you Portlanders, he stated he would be back in September, which is when MusicFestNW is held, so if there aren't any strong MusicFestNW rumors floating around, this is a big one.
The highlight of the show, and the highlight of his repertoire, is the song "Love Is All." He prefaced the song by saying it would be the highlight, and was noticeably perturbed after the song because the crowd wasn't completely silent. I agree, it's crap when such a beautiful song is nearly ruined by chatters and gigglers. He even busted out the electric guitar for this gem. He also played the electric guitar on the next song, a cover called Graceland, by some dude whose name escapes me.
If you have never listened to the Tallest Man On Earth, it won't take you more than one song to realize what he is all about, he is just a guy playing guitar and singing (albeit with a unique vocal style). By the time the gigglers near the back realized there was no drummer, bass, electronics, and cheerleaders, they left to blare Nickleback sing a longs in their Subaru Outbacks. The awesomeness of the show increased exponentially then, and the place was literally dead silent for the last few songs.
Going back to "Love Is All", this song obviously means a lot to him, and he implied it was written about an ex-wife. Twenty years from now, this song will still be one of the highlights of his catalog, so do him a favor and try to remain silent when he plays it at Sasquatch, even if you have to deal with sound bleed from the Yeti Stage. Then again, it's a moot point trying to ask a festival crowd to remain silent.
It would be easy to imagine a man singing such "sad songs" (as he referred to them), to be equally sad/serious in between songs, but he was actually hilarious, cracking jokes, and replying to the crowds comments with quick wit. The Natasha Bedingfield cover dedicated to the opening band the Nurses was another highlight. The lyrics to this song repeat the phrase, "I love you." Picture a spoof of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to JFK, because it was cool, but funny as hell.
Not only would I recommend you catching his set at Sasquatch, but you should get to visually see him, since the Wookie/Bigfoot stage will be raised much higher than two feet. By the end of his set, he will truly seem like the Tallest Man (in your eyes, babe).
Set List: 10:11 to 11:22
1. The Wild Hunt
2. Thousand Ways
3. I Won't Be Found
4. The Gardner
5. Love is All
6. Graceland (Boyz II Men cover)
7. Pistol Dreams
8. Where Do My Bluebirds Fly
9. You're Going Back
10. Troubles Will Be Gone
11. These Words (Natasha Bedingfield cover, a tribute to the opening band the Nurses)
12. Burden of Tomorrow
13. King of Spain
Encore:
14. This Wind
15. New Song (he said he wrote it at the beginning of the tour)
17 comments:
Dude you write a music blog and you seriously don't know who wrote Graceland?
Boyz II Men?
i was gonna say the same thing as horned gramma... you need to take a step or two back. Its annoying when you read something then realize halfway through that what youre reading has no credibility at all lol
I apologize. Some enjoy my style of humor and sarcasm, but I understand how it can confuse people.
It's confusing how you'd rather sound like you're culturally retarded than spend five seconds googling 'Graceland'.
Every time I call this guy on blogging balonious information he claims I just don't 'get' his oh-so-subtle sense of humor.
You can't sarcastically not know something, guy. You can only regular not know it.
I'm a big fan of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I've seen them live twice, they are a lot of fun.
So the Boyz II Men joke went over your head, big deal, I'm not offended you didn't get it. The people who thought it was funny think your confused replies are even funnier.
Yeah, and they're coming out in droves to back that up.
I thought it was funny...
NO Idea,
I certainly caught the sacrcasm in your article, and laughed a little at the Boyz II Men comment (spelled correctly I might add).
However, if Horned Gramma is furthering the Graceland comment with more sarcastic argument (I am not completely convinced he is being serious), well then, touche.
BTW, TMOE played Graceland in Vancouver as well, but was not so impressed by his version; I much preferred his original content.
I agree. Tallest Man On Earth has such a strong voice, and Paul Simon has such a quiet voice, the cover did sound a bit strange.
With such a strong voice, I think he could easily pull off a cover of a popular metal song (acoustic style). Then again, I'd prefer his original material just the same.
I'm not being serious OR sarcastic; I'm just being argumentative because I think this dude blogs irresponsibly to capitalize on people's Sasquatch! fever. Every year for three months before the lineup is announced, dude starts makin' shit up. Soundgarden's gonna be there! Pearl Jam! Radiohead! Inevitably a bunch of people are going to be disappointed because it's not immediately apparent that he has absolutely no inside information. This year's headliners, and lineup as a whole, are by FAR the best the festival has ever had but when the lineup was announced, everyone started grumpin' because the aptly named know ID yuh had been promising them Soundgarden since November. Probably more than a few people bought advance tickets based on that; I'd be pissed too, if I was a Soundgarden fan.
That said, I thought his piece about the 'Sasquatch! Vibe' was dead on: eloquent, thoughtful, accurate. I read his show reviews, and even though he seems to care about mostly bands that I think aren't worth five minutes of your time, he generally does a fine job of conveying the atmosphere of the experience.
But I also think he probably really believes that Vampire Weekend's sound is firmly rooted in 'Afro-Pop' and not just two albums of variations on Paul Simon's 1986 masterpiece. Basically, I don't think he knows anything about music at all, he's just some dude who hasn't developed discerning taste yet.
Even so! It's ok! Your blog is a placebo cure for Sasquatch! fever, and if you can't tell I got that shit bad. And when it comes to lineup changes, announcements and news once we start getting closer to festival time you're WAY more reliable than the Sasquatch! official site.
I LOVE EVERYONE. SASQUATCH. HUGS.
Paul Simon wrote Graceland, dude, and if you don't know that record do yourself a favor and swallow it whole. It's one of the greatest records of all time, and is totally an antecedent of most of the garbage you listen to.
Hugs. Sasquatch. Sasquatch hugs. One week bitches. No bad vibes.
Sorry Dude, I may be speaking for the blogger (I am sure he can defend himself), but you are way off base.
Firstly, what is he capitalizing on? I do not see any ads on his website, so I am not sure what he gets in return for his time and opinions. I applaud his effort to bring us more info about Sasquatch, when a few people such as you and I crave it.
Secondly, it doesn't appear as though the current blog administrator (knowidyuh) ever claimed on this blog that Soundgarden, Radiohead, or Pearl Jam were going to be at Sasquatch. He did make a prediction before the list came out, which he had a clear disclaimer stating it was jhust a guess. He did guess 28/49 bands corrent, which IMO is pretty darn good.
For someone that wants hugs and no bad vibes, you certainly start an argument with vibes Brian Wilson probably wouldn't sing about.
P.S. I will give you $200 if Know ID yuh hasn't listened to all of Graceland at least 10 times.
Usually people on the internet try to come off sounding smart, funny, or interesting. I'm not use to people continually claiming, "I don't get it," then using what they don't get as the foundation for their argument.
You have again misinterpreted what you have read, this blog never confirmed Soundgarden. They were listed as rumored for a couple months, and they ended up being the only act on the Confirmed and Rumored lists who aren't on the lineup. I'm starting to believe you have Soundgarden confused with Pavement, who has been confirmed since November.
I do have some big changes planned for my upcoming three part festival review, which will be stuffed with weak attempts at humor and sarcasm. I'm going to make it Horned Gramma proof, and change the text color whenever I am being sarcastic or funny. I'll let you pick the color.
And be sure to email me your address. I have a "Sasquatch Blog Number 1 Fan" tee shirt I need to send you.
PS. Thanks to Brad and Horned Gramma for the kind words.
Do I really get a T-shirt?
That was sarcasm.
You didn't change the color.
Post a Comment