Delta Will Releases Transcendental Visits at The Piston

Date of show: March 7, 2013
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo

Coming down from space to share his new album Transcendental Visits with us was Delta Will. With the help of Charles Tilden, this “interstellar visitor” created his own little sonic world with only a guitar, looping pedal and trusty laptop. The audience was highly willing to join him in this experience, eagerly clapping along from the start. A multimedia performance, there was also a projector rigged up to display photos from the BBC – from dinosaurs to wildlife to modern day city life – said to have taught him about Earth.

Starting with the experimental distorted backing beats of “Ways To Enchant,” he quickly enthralled us all with his otherworldly charms. Next song “Dharma Blues” on the other hand held a folk-blues inspiration combined with how I perceive electric guitars would sound in space. Even when just working the laptop or skillfully looping, he was able to hold our attention throughout his set.

There was an undeniable quirky – and at times even a little bit wacky – quality to Tilden that made him immediately likeable. Wearing special glasses in order to see life on Earth, he mentioned that in the weeks leading up to the show he had encouraged earthlings to put on a printed-off pair of the glasses and strike up an Internet-based conversation about what they would see through them if they were visiting from another planet. It’s little things like these that truly make a musician unique and memorable. He agreed to grace the audience with one more song – a brand new one – in exchange for being named an honourary human. Changing to an acoustic guitar, this track was perhaps the most genuine and real feeling of the set. And for that, we should feel honoured to have him as one of us!

Next up, Delta Will plays The Supermarket on Wednesday March 20 as part of Canadian Music Week.