Tonight is going to be special, as tonight in the hallowed Sydney Opera House, The Tea Party are going to be giving us one of their very special “wind” shows on this “Elements” tour, and tonight not only will show off the powerhouse that the band is, but they will be backed by The Metropolitan Orchestra, and a fifty piece orchestra at that. So this as I said will be special.
As the orchestra tunes up and The Tea Party take the stage to huge applause and with a “Sydney, we made it… the Opera House” we get introduced to our conductor Sarah-Grace Williams for the evening and we are go. Jeff Martin sets the scene with a piece and the Les Paul is on for the true opener in ‘Temptation’ and this is amazing. It’s hard to comprehend everything going on right now as this is complete sensory overload in the best way possible. What I’m loving here is the way they’re balancing things as the orchestra stops and the band plays allowing Jeff Burrows to go crazy and then they kick back in and the level this goes to is amazing. Into ‘Psychopomp’ and wow is the only thing I can say. If that song wasn’t made for this then I don’t know what was. The power this song has taken on performed this way is absolutely insane.
Heading to Triptych with ‘Gone’ Jeff starts it acoustic as strings join him, and as more of the orchestra join this starts to fill out as even Stuart turns to watch the orchestra he’s as in awe as all of us. Something different with ‘ White Water Siren’ from The Interzone Mantras was great, but ‘Oceans’ and the story behind the song take this version to another level and this is spectacular. Stuart moves to a grand piano for ‘Correspondences’ which is a deep cut and damn, I can’t even explain that. The only word that comes close is epic. To one of their oldest newest songs with ‘The Ocean at the End’ which with some shredding in the middle lets Jeff do his thing and it just works so well, and it also shows the absolute professionalism of our conductor and her command of the orchestra as she watches Jeff to know where he’s going, or in this case not know, but she holds off the orchestra and allows absolute musical perfection to happen as things kick back into round out the song. I’ll keep saying this but that might just be my favourite of the night. Wow. Bringing out Elspeth Bawden to take Soprano vocals on ‘Walking Wounded’ and that was really different and worked so well. That flew, and it’s time for a quick break before they hit us with a second set.
And here we go for set two… heading back to 1997 and the Transmission album for ‘Release’ which really took on the perfect composition and had everyone standing and singing along but I must say those strings are unbelievable and in this room you can hear every single instrument and it’s just perfect. Discussing how the sound of The Tea Party balances with the orchestra and then giving us ‘Mantra’ and holy shit that just rocked the hell out of the place. Just wow. Elspeth returns for ‘Requiem’ and that has always been a big song but they made it bigger tonight and as it reaches that crescendo it is truly magical. Speaking of magical the intro to ‘The Messenger’ was jaw dropping. This really, really is special. Jeff’s solo was breathtaking and I just wish those not here were able to witness the power of these songs performed this way.
Ok here’s my favourite. I’ll always talk about how good ‘Heaven Coming Down’ is but tonight, I’m going all caps… WOW. Now that is a song that was made for this environment and it did not disappoint as the entire song and arrangement gave me goosebumps and somehow made me love the song even more. With some bow envy, Jeff shreds and in here it sounds unbelievable as ‘Save Me’ starts and rocks things up big time as he commands the crowd before silence as a stunning version of ‘Hallelujah’ is played, and the tone of Jeff’s voice gives this song new life and their take is brilliant, then they jump straight back into ‘Save Me to blow everyone away!!
The band take a very quick breather as Jeff throws on an acoustic and it’s time for ‘Winter Solstice’ and that 12 string sounds perfection in here and as that rings out we’re lead into ‘Sister Awake’ and it just rowdy in here. Big drums, and the electrics come out, and it sounds like absolute power. Just next level to close out the show, and I can’t even explain it completely. You just had to be here. A well-deserved standing ovation for the band and the orchestra and with that, we are done.
Impossible to sum tonight up properly, but The Tea Party are one of the best live bands you’ll ever see, and tonight backed by The Metropolitan Orchestra and with the amazing talent of Sarah-Grace Williams conducting them we were treated to something I know I’ll be talking about in terms of live show calibre for a while.
Mind blowing.
Essential Information
Venue: The Sydney Opera House
Date: February 11, 2026
Presented By: Live Nation
Website: http://www.teaparty.com
Set List:
Set 1:
Temptation
Psychopomp
Gone
White Water Siren
Oceans
Correspondences
The Ocean at the End
Walking Wounded
Set 2:
Release
Mantra
Requiem
The Messenger
Heaven Coming Down
Save Me / Hallelujah / Save Me
Encore:
Winter Solstice
Sister Awake
