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The W - Music - SLCR #273: The Tea Party (March 18, 2017)
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KJames199
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Since: 10.12.01
From: #yqr

Since last post: 226 days
Last activity: 7 days
#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 8.70
I can write this in 15 minutes before bed, right?

A little better than 20 years ago (god), Pat invited me to go see The Tea Party with him at Louis'. I didn't know anything about The Tea Party and I didn't really know Pat that well - it was the first time we ever hung out without Deserée around - but he had a spare ticket and knew that I was generally up to go see any band for any reason. Apart from being historic in my friendship with Pat, this gig was fondly remembered because it was Halloween and there was a girl there in a genie costume (think Barbara Eden) that remains memorable to this day. Even without that, I had a fine time though Pat was somewhat disgusted that I was so ignorant about the band yet still found myself with a coveted ticket for the sold-out show.

Back in 2011, 6 years and 110 reviews ago, I saw The Tea Party for the second time, this time because Mika wanted to go. During that 15-year span between concerts, the band went on hiatus for many years. I was barely more familiar with them the second time out and wasn't really super pumped to go, but they put on a really good (and, again, sold out) show. Though they sounded the same as ever, their personalities had softened over the years and that was a pleasant surprise. Also, I'm pretty sure that this was the last show I ever went to at the Distrikt but if I have 15 minutes, I'm not about to fact-check that.

Now it is 2017. There's been another Tea Party album since then. They still own teaparty.com and I don't imagine that's as valuable as it would have been back in 2011 but it's still probably worth something. They've moved from the late lamented Distrikt to the much larger casino but this show still sold out a month in advance. This makes three straight shows where I've been surprised by how popular they are and you'd think maybe I'd learn something from this.

It was also the first time I've ever been to a sold-out show at the casino where they offered general admission standing room on the floor. You can fit a lot of people in there. And there were some characters. Mixed in with a ton of people who looked like me (old doughy dudes in Louis CK cosplay), there were definitely some interesting choices of attire, haircut, and makeout technique. It was some of the best people watching I've had outside of Las Vegas.

The Tea Party has been around for quite a while, and this was the 20th anniversary tour for their album Transmission. I had an earlier album, The Edges of Twilight, but was only familiar with Temptation, the big single from Transmission. I had big plans of giving the album a once-through before the show, but when I went into my Apple Music, one of my daily playlists it chose for me was Jukebox Hits: '90s Alt, Vol. 1, so sorry guys, you lost out to Spacehog and Marcy Playground.

Someday I'll remember that whenever I hear a song that sounds vaguely familiar, like the most generic 90s alt-rock song possible, it's always, always Silverchair. But I digress.

Anyway, as one would expect, The Tea Party played all of Transmission, though not in order. This nicely solved the issue that can develop with these play-the-whole-album anniversary shows; namely, everyone knows the hits from the first half of the album and nobody knows the back half. This let them build to and close with Temptation instead of starting with it.

After no opener and a bit of a late start (20 minutes - not even worth noting at most shows but an eternity in casino time), playing Transmission took about an hour. After that, they took an intermission and came back for the second half. Or the third third, really, since the second part was only about a half-dozen songs. There were a few more songs I knew (Heaven Coming Down, Sister Awake, The Bazaar) and also a selection of covers, including Heroes and Paint It, Black.

I mentioned before that the band's personalities had softened over the years. Back in the day, they wrote dark, moody, mysterious songs. Now, they joke about writing dark, moody, mysterious songs. I can't see The Tea Party of 20 years ago doing that, and I especially can't see them starting Sister Awake and using that to segue into U2's With or Without You because it was St. Patrick's Day yesterday and it kind of fits, so why not?

Like at the previous shows, I was not really the intended audience but I still thought they were quite good. If you want actual musical opinions, I don't know. I liked the harder stuff better than the more ballady parts. The Middle Eastern influences that have always been their differentiators are always interesting. They mentioned some of their 90s contemporaries like I Mother Earth and Moist, and I liked The Tea Party's show better than when we saw those bands at the casino. (Mika liked I Mother Earth best of the three. But we still appreciated your efforts, guys from Moist.)

Back in the day, I'd go to shows with Pat and he'd go to the bathroom and come back and report on weird goings-on. As such, it was only fitting that Mika came back from the bathroom to let me know that someone was loudly complaining that the casino was cleaning the bathroom during intermission (note: this was not actually happening) and that if the four people ahead of her in line didn't hurry up, she was going to piss in the sink. This is not something that I've ever encountered in the men's room. I wondered what kind of person does that, since most drunk dudes I encounter at concerts just want to be loud and don't bother with making words. Luckily, I was able to find out! As we were leaving, a very tipsy but very friendly lady told us how much she liked our glasses (specifically Mika's; I only got added into the compliment through some initial confusion) and wished us a good night. I was later informed that this was piss-in-the-sink lady. I was pleased to make her acquaintance and glad that, wherever she eventually wound up peeing, she had a pleasant evening.

UPCOMING CONCERTS
• Bill & Joel Plaskett w/Mayhemingways (March 23)
• Lisa LeBlanc (March 30)
• I Love The 90s feat. Salt N Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Color Me Badd, Young MC, and Rob Base (April 1)
• The Last Waltz Remembered feat. Corb Lund, Matt Andersen, Amy Helm, & the Russell Broom House Band (April 5)
• BA Johnston w/Napalmpom (April 28)
• kd lang (August 26)
• Guns N' Roses (August 27)
• Martha Wainwright (October 22)



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Since: 12.2.02
From: Cleveland, Ohio

Since last post: 1456 days
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#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.31
Transmission is 20? Damn we're old.




"As you may have read in Robert Parker's Wine Newsletter, 'Donaghy Estates tastes like the urine of Satan, after a hefty portion of asparagus.'" Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock

KJames199
Scrapple
Moderator








Since: 10.12.01
From: #yqr

Since last post: 226 days
Last activity: 7 days
#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 8.70
    Originally posted by whatever
    Transmission is 20? Damn we're old.
I wasn't a big enough Tea Party fan to have that affect me, but the show was also on the 20th birthday of Ben Folds Five's Whatever and Ever Amen. We're old indeed.



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iTunes Top Downloads -- December 23, 2018 This is a moment in time snapshot of the current top downloads from iTunes. We take a snapshot each week at the same time and post it here. To preview the songs, click on a link.
- The-W iTMS Affiliate, iTunes Top Downloads -- December 23, 2018 (2018)
Related threads: SLCR #272: Blackie & The Rodeo Kings (March 8, 2017) - SLCR #271: Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt (March 1, 2017) - SLCR #270: Big Wreck (February 9, 2017) - More...
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