Friday night at Casino NB was one that brought me back in time, a couple decades it’s kind of scary to say, to a very loud (one of the loudest I’d been too) bar show featuring Canadian rock Trio, The Tea Party. I really like these general admission shows that the crowd on the floor isn’t seated, that they stand and have the bleachers in the back for those that want to sit.
Tonight the opening act was Niagra Falls band “The Mandevilles” whom I’d only heard one song about on YouTube previously and enjoyed (Hangovers).
Serena Pryne – The Mandevilles – Casino NB ~ Refrain Photography
The lead singer Serena Pryne has a voice like serated silk that belts out songs with a liquid ferocity that reminds me of a young Melissa Etheridge, her stage presence that of a rocking Sass Jordan. She enjoys the music she is performing, and well she should, it’s fantastic. The band members behind her are tight and in sync with their singer, rocking in perfect rythm, throwing in well timed harmonies as needed. I urge you to check them out and pick up their self-titled CD (which I did at the show) as it is fantastic and will be a subject of a future review here on refrainmusic.com
At their prime in the 1990s and up until 2005, the band re-formed in 2011. The Tea Party released eight albums on EMI Music Canada, selling 1.6 million records worldwide, and achieving a No. 1 Canadian single “Heaven Coming Down” in 1999.
Jeff Martin – The Tea Party – Casino NB
The band was rock solid (sorry, bad pun) all night, they never missed a beat, with thier classic material or their new stuff off their newly released album “The Ocean At The End” that this current tour is the back beat of. As the bands played the crowd seemed to swell in numbers, the group circling the stage swelling back almost to the soundboard and bleachers at the back of the room. Singer Jeff Martin asked the crowds merchy at one point, saying that he now lives in the warmth of Australia and almost the instant he stepped off the plane in Toronto he had a head cold, so be kind. Even referencing the fact that he never thought he’d be on stage with the Tea Party…actually drinking tea!
The band rolled through songs like “The River” and a fantastic version of “Sister Awake ” and the crowd ate it up. They ended the show on a high note, but the crowd wasn’t done with them yet, pulling them out for encores and absorbing everything that that the Tea Party had to throw at them, getting the crowd to sing the chorus of one of their most popular songs in “Temptation”.
A great night was had by all at this show, many telling me it was one of their favorites in recent memory, both with having an awesome opening act and a well rounded headliner. Thanks to The Mandevilles, The Tea Party, Casino NB, and PPRL for having me in for a great night of music yet again!