Tea and Sympathy (album)/Comments - Touring and Promotion

Touring and Promotion

Fanning toured much of Australia to support Tea & Sympathy. Prior to the launch of two major tours, Fanning held a number of low-key album launch shows. These drew praise from critics—Time Off's Ben Preece reported, "The chemistry between the Powderfinger frontman and his band (nicknamed The Gap Jazz School Choir) is excellent and their constant in-between song banter is hilarious. Then, of course, there’s the music." He commended the multiple genre changes during the 90-minute performance, as well as Fanning's vocal showcase.

The Which Way Home? tour, named after the album's sixth track, was announced on 2 December 2005, and lasted from through February to March 2006. Fanning performed in Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Perth and Brisbane. He was joined on tour by Perth band The Panics and Brisbane singer Andrew Morris. On 11 August, Fanning announced that tours across the United States and Canada would follow the album's 8 August North American release. An 11 September UK release was also announced with Dew Process revealing that numerous London shows had already been sold out.

Performances in London attracted much expatriate support; Fanning joked, "I think I have about 14 English fans". The performances were received positively; musicOMH's Barnaby Smith rated his 4 September showing at London's Arts Theatre four stars, commenting on Powderfinger-esque "loud, anthemic, guitar-driven rock in a '70s vein", and praising Fanning's utilisation of the piano and guitar as part of his performance, as well as his dedicating the song "Give It All Up" to the recently deceased Steve Irwin.