It was a night of great music last night at Charlottetown’s PEI Brewing Company as headliners The Tea Party performed for the the first time ever in the province! The venue itself provided the perfect setting for a live and very intimate show that allowed the performers to connect deeply with their audience. This date is smack in the middle of a VERY success tour of the Maritime provinces.
The night started out on a great note with the first act of the evening, and special guests – The Proud Sons! The five-piece Winnipeg group consisting of
Ryan McConnell (Lead Vocals), Jay Mymryk (Drums), Jason Stanley (keys) and brothers Kyle Meyer (guitar) and Jesse Meyer (bass) performed a set that made you feel like you were back in the “good old days” of singer/songwriters and strong live stage presence paired with strong and beautiful harmony vocals that kept the crowd engaged and highly entertained throughout their set.
Not long after came the main event of the evening – The Tea Party finally graced the stage. From the moment Jeff Martin, Jeff Burrows and Stuart Chatwood walked on the stage, you knew the crowd was in the palm of their hands – and they were. The beautiful and haunting lyrics sung by Martin, combined with the bone chilling melodies of Chatwood paired with Burrows incredible skills as a percussionist had the crowd fixated and connected with the band during the entire set, and singing right along with every word. Throughout the night, one thing I really loved was Martin would always take a moment to engage with the crowd in some way and tell a quick story in between songs, which I know they loved. The band featured tracks from their latest release “The Black River, “ in addition to classic tracks such as “Psychopomp”, “Temptation”, and “Heaven’s Coming Down,” among many many others.
The Tea Party finish up their amazing Maritime run with a sold out show at Halifax’s Marquee Ballroom tonight (03/21) and another sold out show at Truro’s Marigold Cultural Center on Saturday, March 23.