CSS / Tilly and the Wall - Astoria


Another night, another gig at the Astoria. This time on a Sunday night where, after a weary weekend standing up the back was about all we could manage. It does provide a good view of the stage from up the top though, and both bands had an impressive light show and hyperactive performers so it was a spectacle. Tilly and the Wall are a 6 piece outfit from Canada with a three tap dancer assault rather than a drummer. Along with the two guitars and Keyboard player they all line up along the front of the stage and form the "wall". There is a fair amount of running around the stage going on in the background, and energy is high throughout the set.It's a shame that the sound is so muddy, and to be honest it doesn't improve that much for CSS later - the Astoria isn't always this bad - Explosions in the Sky had good sound, although the Arctic Monkeys weren't clear either really. Anyway, as a result of the sound quality and not really being that knowledgeable about the Tilly and the Wall back catalogue, I listened to their set wondering what might have been and thinking that the album certainly has the potential to have as big a sound as Arcade Fire or Devendra Banhard. As it was they just sounded a bit Wilson Phillips at times and although that is not necessarily a bad thing, it wasn't what I was expecting.

CSS and lead singer LoveFoxx in particular were an avalanche of energy, bounding onto the stage, around the stage, in and out of her catsuit and during the closing "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" into the crowd.They had similar sound issues to Tilly although the tunes seemed to come through a little better and their mirror ball lighting effects were even more dramatic.They are certainly a band around whom a big buzz has generated and the crowd down below us did seem to be going mad for them - I reckon they have a big potential and some real characters but until I hear them with better sound I'm going to have to reserve judgement.