Review | The Tea Party at Commodore Ballroom

As a teenager I was obsessed with classic rock music. While most of my friends loved the pop sounds of the times, I was wrapped up in Hendrix, Zeppelin and the Stones. One day I heard a song called The River by a little Canadian trio called The Tea Party. They quickly became my guilty pleasure. I found myself in a record store buying both of their current albums(1991′s The Tea Party and 1993′s Splendor Solis). I became quickly obsessed.

Over time, as with many things, I grew out of the band. Not for lack of loving their sound, but for a lack of new music. Then by 2005 it was done, they had broken up due to the all to common “creative differences”. Another great band has vanished.

During 2011, some announcements were made saying the band had returned and were planning on playing some shows. I was ecstatic. Over the summer, the group got together and did in fact power through some one-off gigs, but there was not mention of a tour. Then it happened, they officially announced No Politics…Just Rock & Roll Tour for 2011. First stop on the outing would be Vancouver. I was over the moon.

So after a few years of waiting, on Tuesday night I found myself standing front and center at the Commodore Ballroom. The lights had just dimmed and three figures had shuffled out on the stage. I took a deep breath just as the lights came back on. Before me stood Jeff Martin, Stuart Chatwood, and Jeff Burrows. I immediately felt like a young, pop obsessed groupie. It was at that moment that I could finally identify with images I am sure we have all seen. Images of those overly enthusiastic fans crying and screaming at the feet of the Michael Jackson’s of the world. Not that I was crying but I was in pure awe.

With all that said I am prepared to report a really honest account of the bands presentation.

Jeff Martin, came out and seemed just as I remembered him, all be it a little older and a little heavier. He worked around the stage with a flowing rhythmic rolling of his body. He truly embodied the Moroccan Roll they made so famous. During the first two songs, Writing’s On The Wall and The Bazaar, it seemed like the excitement of the night had exasperated the lead singer. The vocals were good at best. Upon closed inspection, you could see Mr. Martin rolling his jaw around as if he has just fired back some hefty rails back stage. I was a little shaken that the whole night would go ff as mediocre.

As the group jumped into Walk With Me for song three, things started to come together. Stuart Chatwood, was very aggressive on the stage. He stomped his foot and lunged his body with power. At times I found myself turned more towards Chatwood’s presentation over Martin’s. Jeff Burrows, is by no means a showy drum player. But what he saves up in performance, he makes up ten fold in ability. He wailed on those skins, like some sort of speed fueled hell beast. I could feel every beat, hitting me in the gut.

As the night went on the set list became tastier and tastier, check it out:

Set List
Writing’s on the Wall
The Bazaar
Walk With Me
Psychopomp
Correspondences
The Messenger (Daniel Lanois cover)
Fire in the Head
Heaven Coming Down
Walking Wounded
Sun Going Down
The Halcyon Days
Requiem
Save Me / Last Goodbye (Jeff Buckley cover)
Release
Temptation

Encore:
Winter Solstice / Sister Awake / Paint It Black / Sister Awake (Reprise)

By the end of the night, the nostalgia had overcome me. I was singing blindly to every song, and rocking back and forth with my mosh put neighbors. Martin, Chatwood, and Burrows have something amazing together. They were able to prove that something that special never really dies. They rocked the fuck out of the Commodore Ballroom. I bow my hat to The Tea Party, for delivering one hell of a show.

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Tagged as: Commodore Ballroom, set list, The Tea Party

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