The Tea Party is touring!

1ThoughtKnown

No, not THAT tea party .... Canada's Tea Party. The boys from Windsor have released their first album in ten years and are touring in support.

Saw the show tonight at the Metropolis in Montreal. Great show. They did a lot of medleys, mixing some of their favourites together, and tagged Kashmir and All Along the Watchtower. Have not heard the album, but liked the new stuff I heard tonight. Will download it when I get home to Calgary.

They are touring through Canada next couple of weeks, and also threw in a show in Buffalo tomorrow night and in Seattle at the shoebox in mid-December. I'm not sure what kind of following they have in the US, but they were big in the 90s North of the 49. They also tour Australia and Europe.
Save Me, The River, The Bazaar, Heavens Coming Down and Fire in the Head, Temptation and Sister Awake are some great tunes.

If you are looking for a good show, check out their website for tour dates. They are really talented musicians, experimental rock n roll and I like Jeff Martin's lyrics and vocals. Cheers!

HughFreakingDillon

I was disappointed in the new record. Have seen them several times in the past, so will be skipping this one. Their shows are incredibly contrived and rehearsed, down to even the between song banter (jeff martin tells the same fucking stories at every single show). If you have not seen them before, then i would recommend, but if you have, it will most likely be very familiar.

PJfanwillneverleave1

To hear Sister Awake live should be a reason to go.

1ThoughtKnown

paulonious said:

I was disappointed in the new record. Have seen them several times in the past, so will be skipping this one. Their shows are incredibly contrived and rehearsed, down to even the between song banter (jeff martin tells the same fucking stories at every single show). If you have not seen them before, then i would recommend, but if you have, it will most likely be very familiar.

Can't argue with any of these points, and to be honest, the tags were not seamless. It appeared clunky at times. Martin was using a middle eastern guitar of some kind to play Little Drummer Boy, into Save Me (my personal favourite), then into Alll Along the Watchtower, then back to end with Save Me.
It wasn't perfect, and Martin is an ego maniac no doubt.
But the three of them were enjoying themselves. The crowd in Montreal was into it. You can do worse things than spring 37.50 for a two hour show. These guys are talented.

HughFreakingDillon

1ThoughtKnown said:

paulonious said:

I was disappointed in the new record. Have seen them several times in the past, so will be skipping this one. Their shows are incredibly contrived and rehearsed, down to even the between song banter (jeff martin tells the same fucking stories at every single show). If you have not seen them before, then i would recommend, but if you have, it will most likely be very familiar.

Can't argue with any of these points, and to be honest, the tags were not seamless. It appeared clunky at times. Martin was using a middle eastern guitar of some kind to play Little Drummer Boy, into Save Me (my personal favourite), then into Alll Along the Watchtower, then back to end with Save Me.
It wasn't perfect, and Martin is an ego maniac no doubt.
But the three of them were enjoying themselves. The crowd in Montreal was into it. You can do worse things than spring 37.50 for a two hour show. These guys are talented.

Absolutely.

PJSiren

I love the tea party! Wish I could make the seattle show!!! None of my friends know who they are, I love it when I find fellow fans! :-p

2-feign-reluctance

Will check them out. Never heard!

1ThoughtKnown

By the way the show in Seattle is at the. Showbox. Lol... Damn autocorrect.

caifan82

I LOVED The ocean at the end (Specially the tittle track)... it's 1000x times better than seven circles. It might not be as good as Transmission, but it's great.

Too bad I will probably never see them live.

HughFreakingDillon

caifan82 said:

I LOVED The ocean at the end (Specially the tittle track)... it's 1000x times better than seven circles. It might not be as good as Transmission, but it's great.

Too bad I will probably never see them live.

yeah, heard the show in the Peg was good. My buddy went and saw them in Toronto, and loved it. Yeah, Seven Circles is not a good album. probably the main reason why the broke up after that. The drummer and the bassist wanted to keep going with that commercial sound, but JM didn't.

I'm kind of surprised they've never been to Mexico.

unforgiven

I've seen Jeff a number of times the last few years, he now lives, or was living, in sydney and he plays the pub circuit here. A lot of the shows I've been to are free shows in very small pubs.

Mad Mohab

Splendor Solis and Edges of Twilight are two incredible albums, wonder why they fell off so bad? If ever a vinyl rerelease was called for...Also love the first low budget album before SS.

HughFreakingDillon

Mad Mohab wrote: »

Splendor Solis and Edges of Twilight are two incredible albums, wonder why they fell off so bad? If ever a vinyl rerelease was called for...Also love the first low budget album before SS.

what do you mean by "fell off so bad"?

caifan82

Yeah, I don't agree about that... In my opinion the only bad Tea Party album is "Seven Circles"... "Transmission" is by far my favourite, and was released after the 2 albums mentioned.
And the new one... well, I do think it's very VERY good. And sounds amazing in green vinyl!

Mad Mohab

Each to their own I guess, nice to hear they still have support. Was there ever a vinyl for the first two?

caifan82

Not sure about SS, but there are some vinyl reissues of EoT floating around ebay...

HughFreakingDillon

Mad Mohab wrote: »

Each to their own I guess, nice to hear they still have support. Was there ever a vinyl for the first two?

I've never bothered looking since 90's canadian vinyl is pricier than gold.

HughFreakingDillon

Jeff Martin is doing another string of Australian dates, solo acoustic, and is selling his upcoming EP at the shows apparently.

HughFreakingDillon

unforgiven said:

I've seen Jeff a number of times the last few years, he now lives, or was living, in sydney and he plays the pub circuit here. A lot of the shows I've been to are free shows in very small pubs.

you going to any of his solo gigs this month? Want to pick up his new ep for me???

HughFreakingDillon

caifan82 said:

I LOVED The ocean at the end (Specially the tittle track)... it's 1000x times better than seven circles. It might not be as good as Transmission, but it's great.

Too bad I will probably never see them live.

Did you buy the cd? I am wondering if it included a booklet! I already bought digitally, but may huy the disc if it has liner notes. But it felt really slim in the store.

HughFreakingDillon

2-feign-reluctance said:

Will check them out. Never heard!

Ask Matt. I sent him Edges of Twilight on cd as well as their double live lp as part of the care package. He hasn't mentioned anything, so my guess is they aren't his thing! Lol

HughFreakingDillon

Sitting here with a drink listening to Ocean at the End again. I am actually liking it. Must be the frame of mind I was in when I bought it. I can't believe Jeff Martin is hosting a trek across Morocco with him. See the country with him, and then he performs for you at night. Got an extra $8000 to spend? That would be an experience of a lifetime.

PJfanwillneverleave1

2-feign-reluctance said:

Will check them out. Never heard!

Listen to the original sister awake from the Edges of Twilight albumfor rawness and this is the live version more refined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lVtx2PTIE0

Amazing band!

OP- Saw them numerous times. Commodore Ballroom and some theatre in Winnipeg were standout shows.

toolie

Years ago I saw I Mother Earth, Our Lady Peace and Tea Party play some outdoor festival by Calgary. Probably 95 or 96?? Anyways Tea Party came on right at dusk. Was a surreal show. Have loved outdoor shows ever since.
Have seen Tea Party a few times since then, have never been disappointed. Glad that they are touring again.

HughFreakingDillon

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

Will check them out. Never heard!

Listen to the original sister awake from the Edges of Twilight albumfor rawness and this is the live version more refined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lVtx2PTIE0

Amazing band!

OP- Saw them numerous times. Commodore Ballroom and some theatre in Winnipeg were standout shows.

That would be the Walker Theatre (now known as the Burton Cummings Theatre-we just call it The Burt).

1ThoughtKnown

The more I hear Water's On Fire off the new album the more I love it. I think its my wife's favorite song now haha.
Lyrically it is a song of a tortured soul, but it is beautifully dark.

1ThoughtKnown

Going to see the boys again here in Calgary on the 24th. Rock on

PJ_Soul

The Edges of Twilight is being reissued - presales on for a Sept 25th release. It's remastered, so who knows if it will sound awesome. I also don't know how they're sourcing it.... I'm really hoping it sounds amazing!!!! But I`m going to wait until after the release and can read the reviews on it. I love this album, but only really want it if the quality of the remastering and pressing does it justice..... Or maybe I`ll get it in any case, lol. It is such a great album. And it`s $25 CAD from amazon, so that's nice.

BTW, this band is fucking fantastic - I always felt like they were generally underappreciated (though I admit they went downhill after Alhambra.. but man, those first four albums are incredible!)

PJ_Soul

So they are touring again in the spring - anyone going to a show? I've got tix for April 1st in Vancouver... I kind of feel like nobody is going to show up though, given the apparent lack of interest that I'm noticing!

PJfanwillneverleave1

PJ_Soul said:

So they are touring again in the spring - anyone going to a show? I've got tix for April 1st in Vancouver... I kind of feel like nobody is going to show up though, given the apparent lack of interest that I'm noticing!

I've seen them about 15times.
They're an incredible live band especially in smaller venues.
The commodore ballroom and the Burton Cummings theatre in Winterpeg were the best places I saw them.
Saw them in Victoria too.
If they make it a little further east I would go in a heartbeat.
They won't have any problems selling out they have a cult following.

RobbyD462

I've seen them 6 or 7 times the first being on the Transmission tour in Calgary at Mckewan Hall at the UofC.

I have front rows to the show in Victoria
and I'm happy that they are coming.
Vancouver gets pricey with the ferry accommodations and everything else.So I probably would have passed if there wasn't a Victoria date.