Electricity’s power lies in its ability to cover so much ground so quickly. It can rocket down to earth from clouds above, rendering everything in between altered forever. Tilly & the Wall’s live performance is no different; their unencumbered energy spreads from stage to crowd like lightning through water.
The show was held in the rec-room style basement of Wash U’s performing arts building. So many people had jammed into the room the kids were perched on top of the curtain rigs around the stage. Everyone sat high above in bright t-shirts, sweeping bangs out of their eyes like cockatoos preening on a branch. Since smaller, more intimate performances tend to be the best the expectation for Tilly was high.
Ceiling lights were killed, spotlights were set, and the band came outstomping like syncopated thunder. Each member played like they meant it and seemed like they were actually having…fun. That’s right. Fun. Kianna, the bassest/singer/noise maker, even jumped off the stage with her wireless mic to twist out with the crowd. The encore even kicked major ass; the band asked the crowd what their last song should be, so I screamed “Nights of the Living Dead!” as hard as I could along with a few hundred others in the crowd. The entire show ended in a cascade of euphoria, tap dancing, and, due to the incredible heat, lots of sweat. Not a bad sweat, mind you, but one coming as the product of expelling an intense amount of energy. This energy was like it was born in the voices, hands, and the all-the-way-down-to-the-feet of these performers, an energy so powerful and unfaltering it could be called ‘electric.’
*Photos by Joe Wallace
