I first saw the Tea Party way back in 1993 and incredible 31 years ago and don’t think I missed a tour yet, so to have them back again after what seems like an age (it’s only five years) is a real treat. Jeff of course lived for some time in Perth so it’s great that we get to kick off this long overdue Tour in the golden West celebrating 25 years of Triptych, that crazy fifth album that sneaked in before the millennium descended upon us. It’s a powerful start to the tour.
Darkly lit at first, the stage at stages comes to light as the music fires up until images flicker on the backlit screen, underlining every chord. It’s subtle and designed to let the music do the talking and it creates an atmosphere that perfectly fits that wonderful record (of which we get a total of five selections tonight). In an eclectic set though, it’s not all about Triptych, more a celebration of a great band with new music not too far over the horizon.
From the crazy crash of ‘The Halcyon Days’ they had us, and by the time ‘Temptation’ descends the entire room is buzzing for more. This is a band that has it all and says it sonically as powerfully and engaging as legends like The Doors and Led Zeppelin must have done. There’s such diversity at play though in the catalogue it must be hard what to shine a light on with a new tour.
There is of course the grandeur of ‘The Bazaar’ and Triptych favourite ‘Underground’ which tonight is augmented with Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’; but there’s also a rare cover of Tim Buckley’s ‘Last Goodbye’ as covers go, this is arguably as good as it gets..
Highlights for me though, might just be the live debut of the deep cut ‘These Living Arms’ from Triptych, a great song only ever released as a single in Canada. Add to that the rare pairing of the classic ‘Save Me’ with ‘Samsara’ and the irreplaceable ‘Heaven Coming Down’ and you might just have the perfect setlist.
Thankfully The Tea Party do epic encores and the combination of ‘Winter Solstice’ and ‘Sister Awake’, replete with injections of ‘Paint it Black’ by the Stones and Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ is monumental.
At one point Jeff simply states that the songs are just to make you feel good, and no matter which way you turn there are smiling faces all around you.
If you are considering attending the tour then I implore you to do so, not only are the band on fire, the huge pent up glory of the songs tonight juts lit up the venue and Jeff was just in the mood to talk regaling us with stories from the band’s long and storied career.
The Setlist
The Halcyon Days | The Bazaar | Underground (with Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed) | Psychopomp | Last Goodbye (Jeff Buckley cover) | Gone | These Living Arms | Save Me / Samsara | Heaven Coming Down (with With Or Without You by U2) | Temptation
