Holy shit! It's cold here. The day started at 10 degrees Fahrenheit and barely got warmer. I thought a walk to the Royal Ontario Museum would be be a good start - only 1.5 miles - but by the time I arrived I was so cold, my jaw was frozen. Not only that but I arrived a 1/2 half hour before opening. So I went across the street to the Second Cup for a hot chocolate - just to hold (the first of a few of these this weekend).
The Museum itself is a work of art. Architect Daniel Liebskind leaves his distinct mark as the building reminds me of Crystals (another of his designs), next door to Aria, where I used to work. You walk in and get the obligatory dinosaur skeleton to amaze you from the get go. The first floor was full of Asian artifacts, as well as a First Peoples Special Exhibit.
The 2 totem poles that the stairs circled up to the next floor were stunning. Leading up to the Natural section of the Museum. Dinosaurs, bio-diversity, birds and mammals, and a large increase in the number of children were the main features of this floor. The standout for me on this level was a model of the sunken HMS Erebus, a ship that was abandoned in The Victoria Strait in Canada in 1848. The wreckage was only discovered in 2014, and the model shows it still in good condition, apparently only in 10 metres of water.
On the 3rd level was the World artifacts. Grecian, Roman, Egyptian, Middle Eastern, African and Asia-Pacific artifacts held my attention for a long time.
Lastly was Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit on the 4th level. These photos were amazing and deserving of all the accolades they received. Saw a couple of Aussies in the mix. Scott Portelli and his photo of cuttlefish was amazing and Douglas Gimesy's very Australian "Caring for Joey" photos. Categories ranged from land to sea, urban to wildlife, and even age groups (some of the 10-13 years olds stuff was brilliant.
After about 4 hours, I left the museum and caught the train to Union Station (I would've preferred to walk, but the cold was too much for me. I walked over to St Lawrence Market. I thought there would be a great spot to eat there, but it is more of a market for locals, with butchers, fishmongers, florists, bakers etc. Before coming away I did some research on Lonely Planet and picked a few places to see and eat at. One of those was Schnitzel Queen. It's hard to find schnitzel in the US, but this place (in the dodgy part of town the Concierge told me not to go to) was fantastic. Lunch at 3pm was a Schnitzel BLT the size of my head, and my first Coke in about 10 years. It was well worth the walk.
From there I wandered around town aimlessly until eventually I ducked into a shopping center just to get out of the cold. Once out the other side, I was on the street where the hotel was, and decided a hot chocolate and a rest were on the cards before I headed out again in an hour.
At 6.30 I caught the 2 trains needed to get to the Danforth Music Hall. Train timing was perfect and in with time enough to spare I wandered up Danforth Ave to Greektown, spotting some places for dinner tomorrow, before going into the venue.
Tonight I am in a seat on the balcony. Ideally not how I'd see the Tea Party, but still after all the walking I'd done today it was nice to sit down.
The Road Heavy opened, playing some Southern Blues/Rock. A good size audience reacted well to this local band,who would not sound out of place in any southern honky-tonk.
October 1999 at the Central Coast Leagues Club was the last time I saw the Tea Party. With my leaving Oz for England and eventually living in the US, and their extended hiatus, the opportunity had not arisen until now to see this great band again. Thunderous applause greeted the band and the opening 1-2 of Army Ants and Babylon was top notch. I had forgotten how good this album was, but with great versions of Release and Temptation (amongst others), it was easy to get back into the night.
The 2nd set started with their most rocking song, Writing's On The Wall, which was the highlight of the night and a hell of an crowd energizer. The Bazaar was my much needed Edges of Twilight fix, and it was also great to hear the All Along The Watchtower and Stairway To Heaven woven into Heaven's Coming Down - which seemed to be the favorite of the Canadians.
This night ended with a medley of the underrated Winter Solstice and the awesome Sister Awake, with snippets of The Stones' Paint It Black and Bowie's Heroes. The Tea Party are definitely still a band who put on a great show, no less that my last gig 17 years ago, and have a following that still worship them - as shown by both shows selling out here in Toronto.
The Crap Facts:
This is my 415th concert.
Danforth Music Hall is the 118th venue I've seen a concert in.
Toronto is the 50th city I've seen a concert in.
Ontario is the 14th state I've seen a concert in.
This is my 2nd concert in Canada.
The Road Heavy are the 489th band I've seen.
This is my 6th Tea Party concert.
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