Ontario’s own beloved band The Tea Party performed two sold out shows at the Danforth Music Hall Recently. Their direct support was Human Kebab, knows as Jason Parsons from the band USS. He has a side gig as a DJ, currently spinning remix tunes every Saturday night on 102.1 The Edge radio station, called Mill Street Mixtape.
Generally I’m not a fan of DJs opening live performance gigs, however Human Kebab reeled me in instantly, playing a heavier set then I expected. Inter-twining songs from Metallica / Three Days Grace / Disturbed / Our Lady Peace / Black Sabbath / Eurythmics / Marilyn Manson just to name a few. He provided a highly energetic set, jumping and bouncing around, and the crowd digged it. I’m not 100% convinced it was a good matched up for The Tea Party, however I loved it!
9pm came around and the Danforth Music Hall was busting at the seams, waiting in anticipation for The Tea Party to hit the stage. The lights dimmed and the crowd went nuts!
Black River would be their opening song for the evening. This single was released November 9th, 2018 and has incurred them a Top 10 spot within Canada. The first of it’s kind for the Tea Party in 14 years. Jeff Martin joked just when he though they were out they got sucked back in.
Apparently they had practiced for the first time the day before after a 3 month break. It wasn’t apparent to me. I suppose after such longevity it comes natural, although Martin debunked the statement “It’s like driving a bike” saying it’s far from it since he wrote such complex songs.
The 11 song set list featured some remixes of their most popular songs like Save Me / Little Drummer Boy / The Messenger / Kashmir / Hallelujah and back to Save Me. Another mashup was Heaven Coming Down and U2s With or Without You. Tempation remained in tact, while for the Encore Sister Awake blended with Painted Black and Heroes. I personally would have preferred less alterations to their songs, but the fans ate it up.
It’s obvious that the Tea Party are certainly still relevant, everytime they’ve performed within the last few years they consistently sell out, prompting more shows to satisfy the demands of the die hard Tea Party fans. I don’t foresee their flame burning out anytime soon.
