The last time Calgary & Edmonton experienced the Tea Party live in concert was a summer tour opening for Def Leppard in 2005. Singer Jeff Martin abruptly quit the band shortly after, and went on to a solo career. Bassist Stuart Chatwood created music for video games, and drummer Jeff Burrows became a afternoon DJ in Windsor and later joined Canadian super group Crash Karma. Much to fans excitement, the band reunited in the summer of 2011 for a series of festival dates in Ontario. After testing the waters they embarked on a full-blown Canadian tour that brings them to the Edmonton Events Centre on November 18^th and Flames Central in Calgary on November 19^th.

"We tried to make it happen the previous year and scheduling conflicts made it never work out. Jeff had a new album coming out with 777, I was busy with Crash Karma and Stu is always busy so it didn't work out. The following March preceding festival season our old agent, who was always trying to spearhead gigs because he would get offers for various festivals. He said 'worst case scenario, you get together and try it out, you don't like it, and everyone goes on with their successful lives.'" Burrows explained. "I have always been open to getting back together, I never left the Tea Party, it was just not going. After a couple of meetings which were a little nerve wracking in the beginning everything worked out. It has been a bit of a process, on stage it was incredible and fun and you forget how blessed you are to be given the opportunity to do it one time, and then I found myself on a big stage with two old friends again it was unreal. There are still issues that need to be sorted out just like anyone. We all want to be friends and communicate. I don't want to over-dramatize it, we are just three dudes. Our focus and outlook on things have changed, mine is my family – they are my religion, my politics, my everything. There are some kinks to work out to get where we once were and start a more mature style of relationship."

Once they got on stage, the magic that made them one of Canada's best live bands was recaptured. It was special to return to long time Tea Party territory like Montreal and Toronto, as well as a major show in their hometown of Windsor.

"You grow up with a band, have seen them since they first came out, you grow out of them in University and then you come back around and remember the band. You see the band grow, grow older, evolve. It is interesting to note as the person on stage, we recognize the people in the front rows that have always been in the front rows and we see you grow and change. It is an interesting marriage between the hardcore fans who will follow you to the ends of the earth, or the fan that gets angry with you if you change direction to grow and evolve. There is always such a huge respect for anyone who treats you so nicely. We have always made ourselves available and do as much as we can charitably. We are grateful for where we are so it was great to receive a reception. Going to the casino in Windsor was the best reception we received there ever because we had never received radio play in our hometown. We had a number one song with Heaven Coming Down and the only market not playing the Tea Party was Windsor. The radio situation was pretty shitty, but now I work for a radio station as my day gig and they play The Tea Party. I don't know if it woke people up to the fact that there was a band from Windsor. It made me really proud, I still live there and have friends and family in Windsor and we were very proud to be able to present the concert on this big stage and the person who brought us there was the man who signed us to a major label. So it was a full circle thing that was quite humbling."

GayCalgary & Edmonton Magazine caught up with Burrows the morning of the tour kick off – a pair of sold out shows at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom. Coming out west was made possible from the Ontario festivals, he said.

The offers were not coming in from the west coast, which fair enough we had been gone what promoter in their right mind would want to shell out money on a band that hasn't done anything in six years? I can understand that. Once the built in crowds from the festival and the positive reaction from those in Ontario spread, they thought it would work. The first Vancouver show sold out on it's pre-sale. This feels more like a tour. The summer festivals is more "weekend warrior" fly in, fly out thing. This time we are crossing the country living with each other on a bus. This will be the true test. I think everyone is in the right head space, we all agree we want to do this right and not cheapen it. We don't want to be a nostalgia band. After we are done touring in order for us to continue we need to write music, I don't want to be a band that just comes out and plays Temptation and Heaven Coming Down and that's it. We will always do those songs in the set but as an artist who likes to create you want to be able to do something that is why you chose the profession."

Dubbed "No Politics ... Just Rock & Roll" the tour comes after media coverage about interest from the US Tea Party political movement in purchasing their domain name – reports have a price tag sitting at around one million dollars. As great as it is to have The Tea Party in the media again, several outlets completely ignored the reuniting of the band.

"Some media are just grabbing headlines, you can't get everything. Worst case scenario people hit the website to see what it is about and see that we are touring. You can't police it and any type of press is helpful. It is all free for us at this point, we never asked for it but are getting it and thank you very much but it hasn't generated this crazy online sales on iTunes. No politics just rock & roll was something that Stuart's wife said and had nothing to do with us receiving offer after offer on our .com, it was about the internal politics of the band. We had been receiving offers for two years to the point that it became an annoyance. I can understand why some hardcore fans reacting to not 'selling out.' It has nothing to do with our music or anything, it's a .com. It has nothing to do with the music, I have bands I have followed since I was a kid and have never been to their website so it is foreign to me to see people react the way they do. The media reaction helps I guess. A brokerage company is dealing with the website now and we have removed ourselves from it."

Burrows' legacy continues with his son Nicholas who along with triplets Emily, Madeline and Bo Brout form The Indecent. The band was signed by Warner music's Rob Cavallo who has worked with bands like Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day, and Kid Rock to name a few. You can hear the pride in Burrow's voice as he talks of his son following in his footsteps.

"His mom and I are very proud of him and his ability as a very young man – he just turned 16 – to be as respectful and cool as he is. Teenagers are teenagers and he is a regular kid but he is the kind of kid that will go out of his way to help other people and steps up and helps me with anything I do charitable wise. Beyond that he is so much more talented then I am, he is blessed with a Jeff Martin/Stuart Chatwood type of character – he can write from his head, pick up a guitar, and have a song written and done in two hours and blow my mind. I think it is an amazing opportunity, he sees it as that, and he doesn't take it for granted. We are grateful and can't say enough about his friends and bandmates. It is tough to see him in this adult position at just 16. I may finally get to tour America on a tour bus."

To say Jeff Burrows is a busy man would be an understatement. In addition to The Tea Party he is still with Crash Karma, who are recording their second album, still hosts his radio show in Windsor, and contributes to charity through means like his annual 24 hour drum marathon among other charitable endeavors.

"I have an amazing wife that I have been with since high school. She is very accommodating, if I am out of town I try to bring them with me and we try and make it into an event. We do many charitable events together. I always have a voice inside of me complaining that I need a break, and the moment I have 24 hours of idle time I go stir crazy. I need to be doing things, idle hands drive me crazy. It is great to have such a great family in that sense. I have sacrificed and been away from my family a lot in order to achieve my success with my friends and my bandmates but in the end I hope it is worth it. The last thing I want to do is not be with my family and share my experiences with them."

Those who have followed the band – from playing at the Silver Dollar Casino in Calgary to headlining Edgefest 98 to playing with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra – have an idea what to expect this weekend. Those that have never experienced The Tea Party are in for a treat as from all accounts the magic is back.

"We have a set and the standards but we have been adding little bits of older songs that we haven't played in a long time. We know there are people in Calgary and Edmonton that will go to both shows so they will be slightly different. Both cities have always been so very cool with us and are very hardcore. It is going to be two amazing nights of rock n roll."