TORONTO - Jeff Martin scratched that nearly seven-year itch again and the result is pretty good.

As the lead singer/guitarist for hard rock trio The Tea Party, Martin made some impressive inroads through the mid ‘90s and into the new millennium. But the group – also featuring drummer Jeff Burrows and seasoned bassist/keyboardist Stuart Chatwood (who resembled Dieter from Saturday Night Live’s Sprockets skits) – hit a wall in 2005 and disbanded, something Martin recently said was “not amicable to say the least.”

Judging by the band’s quite impressive return to form Thursday night at a well-filled Sound Academy, all that conflict is water under a heavily influenced Zeppelin-esque bridge.

“We’re back….,” Martin said following the Middle Eastern-tinged The Bazaar following a chunky, heavy Writing’s On The Wall which got the nearly two-hour show underway.

Currently on a small Summer Twilight 2011 tour which has touched down at some festivals, The Tea Party were not only fighting fan expectations but also an audience physically drained from the ridiculous high temperatures outside. “I would like the Sound Academy to pay their air conditioning bill,” Martin later said with the sweat literally dripping off his hands. “Other than that, no complaints.”

And there certainly were hardly any complaints with the material chosen, whether on the somber, sparse and haunting Psychopomp, the groove-riddled yet intricate Fire In The Head or during Heaven Coming Down off 1997’s Triptych effort. Early in the night only Correspondences – a tune the group said was a personal favorite – went awry.

Of course the Led Zeppelin comparisons are nothing new for the band and that was quite evident on several occasions. During Lullaby Martin began waving his hand around a Theremin a la Jimmy Page while later bringing out a cello bow to slide over his electric guitar strings. Heck, even a lyric from the beautiful Delta blues romp Sun Going Down – one which really energized fans – contains “…in through the out door,” the title of Led Zeppelin’s 1979 studio album.

With smiles all around, Martin had even the most fatigued fans shouting out lines to several songs in a give-and-take format. He also pointed out after The Messenger that had Ringtones been invented in back 1995, the group would have been millionaires many times over. “You got a message,” Martin said in his deep tone which easily recalls The Doors’ Jim Morrison.

The Tea Party beefy sound didn’t register well during the psychedelic vibe on The Halcyon Days but the tender Release more than made up for it.

As Burrows delivered more drum fills than some would have thought probable, The Tea Party wrapped up with a decent but far from divine Temptation before returning for The River and Sister Awake, the latter working in a portion of The Rolling Stones’ Paint It, Black.

Despite saying he felt like he was in hell with the heat, both Martin and the fans found a little bit of heaven Thursday night.

SET LIST

Writing’s On The Wall

The Bazaar

Lullaby

Psychopomp

The Messenger

Fire In The Head

Correspondences

Heaven Coming Down

Sun Going Down

The Halcyon Days

Save Me

Release

Temptation

The River

Sister Awake