Been too long
by Charos on 12/5/11Hamilton Place Theatre - HamiltonRating: 5 out of 5I grew up with The Tea Party as one of my all time favorite bands, I had the pleasure of seeing them live probably around 40 times, so you can imagine my disappointment when I learned they were no longer together and my comparative joy when I learned they had gotten back together and begun touring. So it was with a sense of high expectation and excitement I finally got the chance to see these guys in more than 5 years. The band played as flawlessly as ever, save a sight issue with Martin's pedal at one point the instrumental aspect was, as always, mindblowingly impressive. They are always capable of making the songs sound as though more than three musicians are playing at a time, and manage to give a "size" to the music most bands seem to lack live.
The one point that I did find somewhat distracting was that Jeff Martin obviously was fighting with a case of laryngitis. At the more harsh points of the songs (for example the screamed "Temptation") he had to resort to getting the audience to help him out. I can understand the frustration he must have felt, being unable to talk is one thing, having to go on stage and belt out songs with no voice is a borderline nightmare. To his credit, with the exceptions of a few shaky spots he managed to pull his vocals through and kept all the melody intact. An impressive feat for anyone who's been on stage trying to sing with laryngitis.
All in all, a spectacular return to form, can't wait for the chance to see them again, hopefully with Jeff's voice feeling a bit more back to normal. Kudo's to the band, consummate professionals, most artists would postpone the show or cancel.