The Waits

London-based band, Will Tallis' brainchild.
A quintet featuring a guitar player / singer, a drummer, a cellist, a bass player and Alexander Balanescu himself, playing the violin!

The name "The Waits" is inspired by 16th century bands going from town to town to play for the audience, paid by the local mayor. They're like "Shakespeare on the rocks"!

The concert starts: "Shadow Walking" could be compared to pop rock anthems by The Verve, Muse, Coldplay or Queen. The string section stresses the epic patterns of the songs.
On "Rubedo and Heads & Hearts": Tim's voice is close to Richard Ashcroft in this melodic tune. A very Smashing Pumpkings song structure, with classical touches. "Such Sweet Sorrow"..."Say a Prayer for Yesterday" says Tim as if he was talking to Shakespeare... "Another World" is close to Arcade Fire. We also get to hear a first ever performance of "Sonnet 155", their new song. The band has released a demo EP "Shadow Walking" and offers us to download 3 songs for free on the internet. "Flight of Angels" is inspired by Rimsky Korsakov, with a magnificent intro by the Romanian master, Balanescu. The song sounds even bigger when the entire crew gets in. English mysticism with Slavian orchestrations...Freddie Mercury's images come to mind... The Waits is set to storm the charts ! - musicinbelgium.net

I had already fallen in love with Will Tallis as a solo artist but I was not at all disappointed to see him in his new band. He remains the same. As physical in his performance, as captivating as ever, inhabited by his music. This band shows a real consistency, a true complicity. When I speak about complicity, I refer to the short glances between all band members, their mutual smiles but most of all, the way that they render Tim's compositions on stage. They share all the breaks, silences and explosions of the songs. An awesome band ready to break globally!
Difficult to say which instrument I liked the most. It was so good, just perfect. Each musician could be compared to a craftsman contributing to a piece of art. This kind of music could be a total failure if the central piece of the band, the singer, wouldn't have been as good as Tim can be.
I'd like also to stress the presence of an exceptionally gifted violinist (Alexander Balanescu). Marble-like face, totally concentrated on his art. He could have played in front of the Queen Elizabeth contest jury not releasing a single drop of sweat. The drummer was also incredibly talented. Energy, power, strong breaks, sober. Perfect!
I knew some of the songs via Myspace but they were not yet rooted in my mind. But, as strange as it may seem, my body started following straight away the grooves of the music.
I was even foreseeing the breaks of the songs. What an efficient structure! Tim, the singer, is so inhabited by his music that you just have to catch his eyes to live the songs second after second. It was so good to move along.

I would like to talk about a song which starts like a celtic ballad...I would like to talk about a song which starts with a long violin intro, subtly becoming a kind of waltz even if actually delivering the power of a devilishly electrified anthem!

This music was made by a genius !

If the band does not become BIG in Europe...I won't understand... - Mumuse, a fan on Myspace

On Saturday, we were invited to a private concert at the Brewery Mill in Floreffe. An unusual setting to see a promising British band called THE WAITS, who had already played on the Friday in Courcelles before a gig in Mons on the next day. This concert was a surprise gift offered by their Belgian Manager, Frédérick Tubiermont, to two brothers having completed a biking world tour after 11 months. The audience consisted of family and friends, including older men and ladies not really accustomed to the passionate lyricism of this Soho-based band. Presented as "The band Shakespeare would have founded had he known electric guitars", The Waits features a muscled bass-drums section, a charismatic singer, Will Tallis, with a strong powerful voice and Alexander Balanescu, the virtuoso founder of the Balanescu Quartet, best known for their Kraftwerk covers. A royal quintet for one hour of feverous tunes, epic, and delivering an awesome sound. The encore was even more spectacular with Tim Arnold's very personal cover of Piaf's "Je Ne Regrette Rien". After such a successful series of gigs, there are already plans for a new 8 to 9 day tour in the forthcoming months... - Actua24.be, Xavier Diskeuve