It’s been a long time coming, and there’s certainly plenty of anticipation inside Metropolis this evening, as Canada’s “Moroccan roll” heroes return to Montreal. Active throughout the 1990s and up until 2005, the band re-formed in 2011 and have delighted fans by finally releasing new material in the form of new album, The Ocean At The End.
Tonight’s set begins with the opening song from the new record, The Line of Control, which sets the tone for the evening nicely with its huge riffs and thundering drumming from Jeff Burrows. Jeff Martin’s vocals sound as dramatic and unique as ever during The Bazaar and he’s a commanding and confident frontman, seemingly more than happy to be playing again. He dedicates another new song, The Black Sea, to Chom 97.7 DJ Robert “Tootall” Wagenaar who’s too unwell to attend the show, and Lullaby to “all the babies conceived to the Tea Party’s music”.
The lighting tonight is suitably impressive, with definite “rock show” impact that’s not often seen in this venue, and the whole event has an air of classic rock concert about it. The Led Zeppelin influence is there for all to see and The Tea Party are happy to wear those influences on their collective sleeve, even segwaying into a cover of Zeppelin’s Kashmir before bringing out a bow to mimic Jimmy Page for a brief guitar solo.
As a band, The Tea Party make a big noise with just three musicians. Stuart Chatwood’s solid basslines are a huge part of their distinctive sound. For my personal tastes, it can often become a little too melodramatic and almost theatrical but the 2000 fans packed in to the venue tonight would probably disagree. Older songs are received with deafening roars of approval and offerings from their new album fit perfectly in place alongside those classics.
“Metropolis has been the home of The Tea Party forever” says Martin before asking for a moment of silence for somebody who reportedly took their own life in the venue just a few weeks ago. Many seem intrigued by this piece of news and it does feel a little awkward for a few seconds but normality is restored by the title track of The Ocean at the End which gives Martin a chance to really shine on guitar.
“Sex. Drugs. Rock n roll…” begins the vocalist. “You like that don’t ya? Well don’t blame me if you’re lead into temptation” he says by way of introduction to the epic Temptation which ends the main set in fine style. An encore of Heaven’s Coming Down, with a snippet of All Along The Watchtower, keeps the faithful happy before one final blast through Sister Awake which has a good chunk of the audience joining in on vocals.
It’s great to have The Tea Party back doing what they do so well. They’ve contributed so much to the Canadian music scene and remain well respected. Tonight, in Montreal, they show exactly why that is and nobody goes home disappointed.
Setlist:
The Line of Control
The Bazaar
The Black Sea
Psychopomp
Fire in the Head
The 11th Hour
(with Halcyon Days intro)
Lullaby
Water’s On Fire / Release /Water’s On Fire
Save Me / The Messenger / Kashmir / Save Me
The Ocean at the End
Temptation / Transmission / Temptation
Encore:
Heaven’s Coming Down / All Along the Watchtower / Heaven’s Coming Down
Encore 2:
Winter Solstice
Sister Awake / Pulse / Sister Awake
Review & photos – Steve Gerrard
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