Gig Review: Tilly – The Feathers Inn, Lichfield (3rd August 2023)

Lichfield isn’t the normally the place you’d go to take in some live music in the West Midlands when you have the likes of Wolverhampton and Birmingham swallowing up all the major tours as well as the grassroots scene. Nor is your literal home normally the place where you play your first gig. Yet, The Feathers in Lichfield is packed for songstress Tilly and her band to take on their debut gig and tick both of those boxes.

Having visited The Feathers a couple of times before, I knew what to expect and dragging a couple of friends along who live nearby, it would be rude not to have gone along really. Even more so when you consider this gig is the launch for Tilly’s excellent debut single “Best Breakup Ever”. Doors have barely opened and there’s not much space left other than towards the back but given the performance which takes place, it doesn’t matter.

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Introducing themselves by way of showing the video for the song, the teenager and her band are raring to go. From that initial single, it’s obvious who Tilly draws her inspiration from and you can hear elements of Avril Lavigne, Halestorm, and Paramore, the latter of which is even less surprising when they race through a thrilling rendition of “Misery Business”. Meanwhile, opening song “Youth is Wasted” is one of the highlights, harder-edged than the debut single but it still has a nice pop gloss finish to it, and frankly, its title makes sense – it is wasted on the young.

Naturally, it’s the single itself which has the enraptured crowd’s excitement hit fever pitch. The pop punk number has everyone singing and even a bit of moshing for good measure. Allowing the crowd to do the work on the catchy chorus, Tilly herself sings without the aid of the microphone and makes the evening all the sweeter than it already is. And as the song hits its finish line, it’s the end of the planned set but as people demand it, there’s another round of “Youth is Wasted” and earlier number “Happy Now” to serve as a victory lap.

It’s a short but sweet set and for a band’s first ever gig, myself and my friends are thoroughly impressed with the band’s tightness and Tilly as a performer – small in stature but massive on stage, owning it like someone far older than a teenager. With bags of enthusiasm and knowing how to work a crowd; she’s not shy. And if this is what she and her band are like just now, give them a year and some solid gigging under their belts and we could be witnessing something very special.

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Tilly: official | facebook | instagram | youtube

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