With aisles packed, seats full and a hushed audience eagerly awaiting the coming performance, a solitary wooden chair stands elevated on the Buskirk-Chumley Theater's stage. Doused in blue stage light, two acoustic guitars sit by the expectant chair. Then, the Tallest Man On Earth--who only stands 5'8"--strolls on stage with another guitar in hand. And that is how the best night of live music this year in Bloomington began.
On April 6, three musicians whose names are synonymous with indie rock--the Tallest Man On Earth, John Vanderslice and the Mountain Goats (John Darnielle)-- all performed at Buskirk-Chumley to a nearly sold out crowd.
Born Kristian Matsson of Dalarna, Sweden, the Tallest Man On Earth opened the indie star studded night at 8:35 p.m., only five minutes late. Decked out in a tight blue denim jacket, with the top three buttons strategically unbuttoned, tight brown jeans and snappy black dress shoes, Matsson easily and deliberately held the audience's gaze transfixed on him. And then he started to play music.
Combining wistful, storytelling lyrics like "we paint our houses in water," and "the colors of the water streams been floatin' through our pistol dreams a long time," with folky, jangling chords, shimmering and virtuosic fingerpicking, strained yelping vocals and deliberate gestures, Matsson invariably recalled the glory of an amphetamine-strained Bob Dylan. Also like Dylan, Matsson sang and sang, using every iota of breath before sputtering out completley, only to create brilliant arpeggis to balance his lyrically intensive songs.
Matsson played only a few songs before his closeing song, a quixotic spanish themed ballad.
"I never knew I was a lover," and "I plan to be forgotten when I'm gone," Matsson said, revealing the introspective, wistful lyrics he's known for. Also, for this particular song Matsson kept a rhythmic chord progression, which functioned as a catchy, phantom drum beat, which he tapped his feet to.
"I really loved how he played guitar," Sophomore Tony Wiesman said. "He has an incredible voice."
After playing for only 45 minutes, Matsson finished his set, bowed deeply to the entire crowd, revealed a rare smile, waved and exited the stage as uproarious applause followed his footsteps. Upon finishing his set, Matsson went to the merchandise table at the front of the Buskirk-Chumley to speak with fans and autograph his albums.
Matsson fondly remembered playing in Kentuckey this winter when I asked him about it. It was a great, packed show with people standing for Bon Iver, Matsson said.
After a brief intermission, fellow indie star, John Vanderslice, took to the stage with a very affable demeanor. Upon walking on stage, Vanderslice said "I'm not going to wear this scarf the whole show, but I'm very cold. It probably looks ridiculous."
Vanderslice went on to tell a story about having to wear the scarf because of a gamble he had made. Vanderslice continued these good-hearted, funny stories throughout the night. Before beggining to play, he did something I have never seen done before at the Buskirk-Chumley: he first ushered audience members out of their seats, and then on stage.
Vanderslice then sang a short set, filled more with stories and jokes than actual, in-depth lyrics. His songs's subjects included: rabbits, blood colonies on the moon and juvenille heartbreak. All of these songs were punctuated by his so-so, 5th grade level guitar sturmming and Chris Garneau voice.
If it were not for his kind and interactive stage presence, Vanderslice could have been a major dissapointment for the night.
"He was very engaging with the audience," Wiesman said. "He was really funny."
After a short second intermission, John Darnielle quickly walked on stage--wearing a simple black tshirt, brown loafers and a black blazer--and strummed away on his guitar, singing "Elijah."
"My name is John and I was born here," Darnielle said, setting the tone for his nostalgice performance. The problem with his entire performance was that it was nostalgic for him, and just unimportant to the audience.
Darnielle ended up playing just as few songs as the others, but also told stories like Vanderslice. Throughout his performance, Darnielle discussed his boyhood dreams and thoughts about Bloomington, wrestling and his abusive stepfather.
Darnielle also gave contradictory explaination to the meanings of his obviously depressed and angry lyrics. At one point he prefaced a song by saying that "this is a song of hope," and then proceeded to sing these lyrics: "I hope you die/ I hope you all die/ I hope I never get sober."
Vanderslice joined Darnielle on stage for duets off their new EP, which they incessantly mentioned throughout the night.
Darnielle played a short, flawed set, yet diehard fans were pleased, showering him in praise and applause. After playing only two songs for his encore, Darnielle thanked the crowd and waved good bye. The entire show ended by only 11:30 p.m.
The Tallest Man On Earth: A+
John Vanderslice: B-
Mountain Goats: B