The Tea Party - The Reformation Tour - Live in Australia (2012)(1).mp4

The Tea Party are back - insert big happy sigh here- with their latest offering, a Live in Australia - The Reformation Tour DVD. Frontman Jeff Martin reassures us that the band are back for good, and will have a new album out next year.
They came into our hearts in the 1990’s, taught us the word esoteric and made a huge imprint on our Aussie souls and it's worth noting that Australia has the biggest Tea Party fan base outside of Canada.
After a seven year break, it was due to the amount of hunger and support that the band realised it was time to get back in action again. Their last few records lost that esoteric feel and become more rock without the influences that made them so popular. Hopefully they’ll get back to their roots and create more of the music that made them so big.
Whilst the band sound amazing on record, they are cracking live, watching the band perform is a perceptual and mystical experience, breaking into the real and surreal. Their sound is rock influenced with blues and a fresh eastern accent that has provided them with an edge that is perhaps quite different and insanely craved after.
After 20 years of performing they are now back on track singing pretty much the same songs live, that they were singing when they broke up in 2005. Which is great but I would have loved to have heard some different songs.
One can only hear "The Messenger" so many times (sorry to those who love the song), where it would be fantastic to hear "The Majestic Song", "Emerald" or "Great Big Lie" to mix things up a little. So the only let down for me, is that the setlist hasn’t changed considerably since 2005.
The boys are clad in the usual black apparel, with Jeff Martin (who you note doesn’t take off his leather jacket at all) on vocals; and what gorgeous vocals they are. When listening to him I don’t think I hear a word he actually says, I just hear the gentle tone of his accent and I’m taken away again.
Martin also plays the guitar, acoustic guitar, esraj, and bowed guitar. Stuart Chatwood kicks the bass and grips the keyboard like he is playing his last show on earth, reaching out through those keys and strings to bring a sound that is unique to The Tea Party.
He also dabbles in harmonium, mandolin, acoustic guitar and backing vocals leaving Jess Burrows on the podium hitting those drum skins like they want to be hit. Dabbling in percussion and backing vocals, he draws strength into each song and leads the band into a beginning and conclusion, bringing sweat and a damn good beat.
This performance is in Sydney at the Hordern Pavilion. Kicking off with rapturous applause the band sink their teeth into classics such as "The River", "The Bazaar" and "Lullaby", before taking the mood into "Psychopomp" and the glorious "Correspondences".
"The Messenger" and absolute classic "Fire In The Head" rips the room up and launches punters into dancing hysterics (Martin says “this song would have been a great ring tone if they existed back in the day”). "The Badger" and "Shadows On The Mountainside" are performed in true Tea Party form.
"Sun Going Down" (acoustic guitar style) brings out the boys mashing the stage, like no time had ever passed between shows and Martin controls the room turning the song into a Hill Song. Much ad lib is brought forth before a big instrumental end.
"Halcyon Days" is a favourite of mine, as it displays esoteric influences and strikes a chord in my heart. Martin plays a double scaled guitar but uses the 12 string side, the guitar riff is boisterous and catchy. "Save Me" (plenty of crowd shots here), "Heaven Coming Down", "Release" and "Temptation" follow with a stellar light show, before thrashing of the guitar sends the crowd into uber drive.
We see plenty of footage of Martin’s tonsils! "Winter Solstice" almost takes us home before "Sister Awake" makes the grand finale (after a pause for a missing guitar. Martin still gives us a yell “And you’ll look to the heavens above, and taste its deceit”.
But as the fans will know, it’s not a short tune, at over eight minutes in length. The band finish off their set in fine form, taking home no doubt, the hearts of all who attended, leaving their mark on all the fans.
“We are The Tea Party, and we are here to stay”
Bonus Material included was filmed at Cherry Bar in AC/DC lane, Melbourne and and its almost worth getting the DVD just for this small gig. Close and intimate footage in the realm of a red curtained venue which invites ambiance, and will no doubt make you wish you were there.
The boys have a chat before each song, Martin lives in Australia whilst Chatwood and Burrows live in Canada, so they discuss how they work through their intercontinental issues! A gem of a bonus DVD, you won’t be disappointed.