The Tea Party Performed At Massey Hall For The Canada’s Walk Of Fame Headliner Concert Series – 09/24/15

(Toronto. ON) – A milestone has been reached for the Windsor power trio The Tea Party. They celebrate the 20th anniversary of their breakout album The Edges of Twilight  The Iconic Album – Live  with a new remastered version and tour. The Canada‘s Walk of Fame Festival presented The Tea Party as part of the the headliner concert series at the historical Massey Hall Theatre on September 24th 2015.

Performing their iconic album with the obvious notes of influence from Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin, encompassed a set of 12 tracks and 90 minutes of head bobbing induced music. Martin had no trouble getting the crowd jumping to their feet during the intro song Fire In The Head with the simplest encouragement. A 20 minute intermission followed by another hour of their classic hits such as Heaven’s Coming Down and Temptation ensued. Martin easily engaged the audience with tales from their past, recounted a story of when they first became popular, receiving a bag of “Fungas”  to enjoy. Ingesting the entire bag had him thinking he was indeed Jim Morrison.

This album is filled with tracks that are loaded with Eastern / Indian musical influences coupled with Voodoo inspired drum circles performed by all three members. Burrows substituted the standard drum sticks for timpani mallets and occasionally his bar hands. Chatwood bounced from bass to mandoline and keyboards while Martin switched guitars with each progressing song. Martin played a version of a citar and even had a theremin.

The acoustics emanating from this old theatre where bold and broad. The stage encompassed a huge backdrop video monitor that displayed kaleidoscope inspired psychedelic images, old statues and a lonely tree in a field. I was enthralled by the experienced musicianship each member displayed. Imagine the talent you remember coming from these guys in the 90’s and multiplying it ten fold. A sense of second nature as each member played. A true display of excellence.

If I’d have to rate this performance, I’d have no issues giving it a 10/10. It wasn’t shrouded with crazy stage props or over the top theatrics. Just a straight skilled performance. It was certainly enough to carry them through the evening without all that extra fluff, and it was apparent that the crowd enjoyed the evening.

The set list was comprised of :

The songs from Edges of Twilight
1. Fire In The Head
2. The Bazzar
3. Correspondences
4. The Badger
5. Silence
6. Winter Solstice/ Sister Awakes/ Pain It Black (The Rolling Stones Cover)
7. Turn The Lamp Down Low
8. Shadows Of The Mountainside
9. Drawing Down The Moon
10. Inanna
11. Coming Home
12. Walk With Me

Greatest Hits:

13. Writing’s On The Wall
14. The Ocean At The End
15. Heaven Coming Down
16. Save Me / Kashmir (Led Zeppelin Cover)
17. Temptation (Encore)