When your band consists solely of your bleating, Dylan-in-a-blender voice and a beat-up acoustic guitar that you line directly into a venue’s P.A. system, it’s probably pretty easy and liberating to just go on tour forever. I like to imagine Kristian Matsson, a.k.a. The Tallest Man on Earth, touring around solo in a 1989 Civic hatchback; just him, “Old Betsey” (that’s his guitar’s name, obviously), a beer-soaked box of LPs of his recent album on Dead Oceans, The Wild Hunt (TMT Review) for sale, and one outrageously large box of condoms. Ah, how romantic. Now that’s the life for a bearded folkie…
But wait, hold everything! Now here comes the young, handsome, and similarly bearded Bon Iver percussionst S. Carey… with all of his stupid, clatterly, clanky gear and a giant chip on his shoulder from backing Justin Vernon all these past months, eager to tour the shit out of his upcoming debut solo album for Jagjaguwar, All We Grow (due August 24 in North America and August 30 in the U.K.)! Before you know it, he’s shoving a bunch of drum kits and keyboards into that Civic; leaving sticky, half-eaten Ring Pops all over the car; asking Matsson to pull over at every damn roadside “pick your own blueberries” sign he sees; and cock-blocking the fuck out of my formerly chill friend. Ugh. Carey’s like the Nermal to his Garfield. Romantic folk-loner fantasy OVER.
Luckily, it looks like Carey’s only hanging around for the U.S. leg of Matsson’s rather enormous Western Hemisphere tour. And there’s a good chance that Matsson will mail college boy off to Abu Dhabi before it’s all over, anyway.
The Ballin’-est Man on Earth:
07.16.10 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07.30.10 - Paredes de Coura, Portugal - Paredes de Coura Festival
08.06.10 - Aulnoye-Aymeries, France - Les Nuits Secretes
08.08.10 - Katowice, Poland - OFF Festival
08.09.10 - Munich, Germany - 59to1
08.10.10 - Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur
08.11.10 - Berlin, Germany - Glashaus
08.12.10 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West
08.14.10 - Haldern, Germany - Haldern Pop Festival
08.15.10 - Hamburg, Germany - Internationales Sommerfestival at Kampnagel
08.20.10 - Kiewit-Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08.22.10 - Powys, Wales - Green Man Festival
09.02.10 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
09.03.10 - Vlieland, Netherlands - Into the Great Wide Open Festival
09.05.10 - Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival
09.08.10 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre *
09.09.10 - Seattle, WA - Neumos *
09.10.10 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge (MusicFest NW) *
09.12.10 - Big Sur, CA - The Henry Miller Library *
09.13.10 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore *
09.14.10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Music Box *
09.15.10 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress *
09.17.10 - Dallas, TX - Cambridge Rooms at House of Blues *
09.18.10 - Austin, TX - Antone’s *
09.24.10 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Place *
09.25.10 - Montreal, QC - Le National *
09.27.10 - New York, NY - Webster Hall *
10.02.10 - Philadelphia, PA - Theater of the Living Arts *
10.03.10 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
11.11.10 - Malmo, Sweden - Debaser
11.12.10 - Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
11.13.10 - Cologne, Germany - Gebaude 9
11.14.10 - Frankfurt, Germany - Das Belt
11.15.10 - St. Gallen, Switzerland - Palace
11.16.10 - Fribourg, Switzerland - Fri.Son
11.17.10 - Grenoble, France - Le Ciel
11.18.10 - Basel, Switzerland - Volkshaus
11.19.10 - Mullhouse, France - Noumatrouff
11.20.10 - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
11.22.10 - Glasgow, Scotland - Stereo
11.23.10 - Belfast, Ireland - Mandela Hall
11.24.10 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
11.25.10 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
11.26.10 - Manchester, UK - St. Phillips Church
11.28.10 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Le Guess Who?
11.29.10 - Paris, France - Cafe de la Danse
11.30.10 - Bordeaux, France - Le Krakatoa Club
12.06.10 - Stockholm, Sweden - Soedra Teatern
12.07.10 - Stockholm, Sweden - Soedra Teatern
12.08.10 - Helsinki, Finland - Le Bonk
12.09.10 - Oslo, Norway - Parkteatret
* S. Carey
• The Tallest Man on Earth: http://myspace.com/thetallestmanonearth
• S. Carey: http://www.myspace.com/scareymusic
• Dead Oceans: http://www.deadoceans.com
• Jagjaguwar: http://www.jagjaguwar.com
