On November 19th 2011, I saw Tea Party for the seventh time.
It was also the seventh time my best friend Craig saw the Tea Party, we had seen the Tea Party together five times and once without the other each prior to the 19th. It was also the first time Tyson saw the Tea Party. But Craig and Tyson were not the only old friends I saw that night, Jeff Martin, Stuart Chatwood, and Jeff Burrows were there too.
Music is a like a friend. Rush said as much in “Spirit of Radio,” and it is true. When I Listen to music I loved when I was young and I have not heard in a long time it is just like visiting an old friend. In the case of Tea Party seeing them live again after all these years was something more than then just hearing them, and seeing them. It almost felt at times their eyes fell upon Craig and I and the look on their faces was one of recognition and familiarity. They had returned to see their long standing and loyal fans, they returned to see their old friends, they had returned to see us.
Obviously there is a level of personal sentiment in this above paragraph but I cannot deny that is exactly what it felt like, and I dare suggest there is some level of truth in the Tea Party reunion, it was not just the three men were back together again, they were with their fans again, they were with me again.
There two moments that I remember best from that night.
The first was when Jeff Martin, announced that The Tea Party was back for good, and he promised a new album to be released in 2012. So we all have that to look forward too.
The second was the moment they played “Correspondences.” I immediately thought of Jenn Carlson, and began to look around in the chance she might be there. She was the only person I knew who had seen Tea Party live more times than myself, and her favourite song was always “Correspondences.” I did not see her, but I knew somewhere, somehow she was happy. In that moment the stars shinning down on us had granted a special moment. The Tea Party were back and playing her favourite song, so surely happiness was in the air everywhere; surely she must be happy.
“Correspondences,” is another Tea Party song that if you ever bought “Edges of Twilight,” or listened to the band with any intensity, you know this song, and you know it well. But a casual listener runs the gambit of never hearing “Correspondences,” hence The Music In Review is here to lend you a hand.
After the last Music In Review I am left with very little original material to say. Everything I said about “Psychopomp” applies to “Correspondences.” Same band, same theme, same style, same message, same personal attachment. Still this is a song too strong and too powerful to go without mention. “Correspondences,” is one of those songs where every serious Tea Party needs to consider as their favourite; the brightest Tea Party relic somehow forgotten by radio disk jockeys, and somehow ignored by the producers, a long a lost jewel whose value is priceless.
At the end of the show, Jeff Martin asked if we would come see them again, to which I thought, “will you come back to see ‘us’ again?” I said as much to Craig and Tyson, and we enjoyed a short laugh, but it was true, by this point in time it feels so much more like Tea Party come to see Craig and me. They pay us a visit. We always welcome them to our home, Calgary, and we always will. They are our old friends visiting us, it just so happens they perform an awesome rock concert for us every time.
In summation; Tea Party are back, and I give a salute and thank you to my old dear friends Jeff Martin, Stuart Chatwood, and Jeff Burrows, your music has enriched my life in ways I could never repay.
Until next year, keep on rocking in the free world.
- Colin Kelly
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