1997 was an epic year. Steve Jobs returned to Apple, J.K Rowling published her first Harry Potter book and Pat Rafter won his first US Open. In Australia, fans of award-winning and genre-defying The Tea Party were celebrating the release of the band’s third studio album, Transmission.
Transmission reached #3 on the charts – the highest charting album ever for the band in Australia, earning double platinum status on top of accolades globally including a 1998 Canadian JUNO Award nomination for “Blockbuster Rock Album of the Year.” 20 years later the band have embarked on a large-scale tour of Canada and the US to celebrate the anniversary of this seminal, smash-hit record. And now it is Australia’s turn!
The Tea Party will perform Transmission in its entirety; the national #TX20 tour will kick-off on October 27 in Perth and continue to Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane before finishing in Sydney at the Enmore Theatre on November 10. The Tea Party haven’t performed in Tasmania since the 90’s.
The Tea Party live shows are a transportive, soul piercing experience where their unique sound is delivered with stunning force and magnitude; galvanising crowds like only a true rock band can. Each show on the #TX20 tour will culminate with a set of greatest hits certain to deliver the majestic and unrivalled energy The Tea Party have been rocking since 1990.
The album contains classic The Tea Party hits and live show favourites such as Temptation, Psychopomp, Release (for which all profits were donated to the White Ribbon Foundation), Emerald and the title track Transmission. Transmission was merging of their already established “Moroccon Roll” with an industrial edge creeping into the fore.
“It’s a pretty angry record,” suggests Jeff Burrows, drummer/percussionist for The Tea Party. “Jeff Martin was in a good head space, but he was going through a lot of personal things that brought out a lot of aggression.”
Transmission was experimental and considered dark and diverse. Jeff Martin created lyrics that explored intense and often unexplored subject matters:
Jeff Martin says “We went into the deepest, darkest depths to bring back the light. ‘Psychopomp’ for example, provides a glimpse into the afterlife, ‘Army Ants’ echoes with imagery borrowed from the dystopian works of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, while the album’s biggest hit ‘Temptation’ speaks to the all-consuming power of relentless desire.”
The striking, eye capturing album artwork was painted and designed by bass/keyboardist Stuart Chatwood and is a piece called “The Earth We Inherit”.
Earlier this year, Melbourne and Sydney were given a very special treat; two sold out The Tea Party performances with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Youth Orchestras respectively. These shows had not been performed on Australian soil before or since 2002 in Canada. Music from the band’s most recent album, The Ocean At The End, was also performed alongside the hits and earned praise like never before.
#TX20 is a chance to see one of the most powerful voices in music, Jeff Martin, alongside the hypnotic musical union of drummer Jeff Burrows and bass/keyboardist Stuart Chatwood celebrate an extraordinary rock milestone in some of Australia’s most iconic and magnificent theatres.
“One of the all-time great progressive rock acts. A transcendent experience” – The Music, Melbourne, 2017
“It would be inaccurate to say that The Tea Party members have reinvented themselves, but correct to say that the band has managed to reconstitute itself, reignite the passion of fans who were passionate about the band before its demise and has attracted a whole new fan base. Let’s hope that The Tea Party marks another anniversary of another album in similar style very soon, because this performance would have been the highlight of many a punter’s 2017 musical calendar” – What’s My Scene, Melbourne, 2017
“What they gave us tonight was one of the best nights musically and truly one of the best concerts I’ve seen in a long, long time and I swear it’s going to be hard to see the band again as I feel I can never see them again without an orchestra so I’m sorry fellas… but in saying that they’ll be back in Australia in late this year for the ‘Transmission’ tour and I’ll be there. So at the beginning I said all I wanted to say was wow and am going to finish this review of The Tea Party with the Sydney Youth Orchestra by saying exactly that. WOW “ – May The Rock Be With You, Sydney 2017
AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES: THE TEA PARTY ‘20 YEARS OF TRANSMISSION’
Friday 27 October, The Astor Theatre, Perth
www.astortheatreperth.com or 1300 111 369
Thursday 2 November, Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
www.ticketmaster.com.au
Friday 3 November, The Odeon Theatre, Hobart
www.ticketek.com.au
Saturday 4 November, The Forum, Melbourne
www.ticketmaster.com.au
Thursday 9 November, The Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane
www.ticketmaster.com.au
Friday 10 November, The Enmore, Sydney
www.ticketek.com.au
TICKETING INFORMATION:
My Ticketek is offering their customers an exclusive pre-sale on Perth, Hobart and Sydney shows from 10am, Thursday 22 June 2017.
Ticketmaster is offering their customers an exclusive pre-sale on the Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane shows 10am, Thursday 22 June 2017.
The general public will have the opportunity to purchase tickets from 10am, Monday 26 June 2017.
For more information on the upcoming #TX20 Tour, visit www.teaparty.com and www.teglive.com.au
VIP, Meet and Greet Packages will also be available for sale.
