Review: Zombies rise after 30 years
By Erin Glass
March 3, 2004 9:00 p.m.
The Zombies walk again.
Vocalist Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent, both 58,
resurrected their 1960s British pop group for their first tour in
30 years, stopping at the Key Club last Friday night. But unlike
many reunion tours, The Zombies’ audience was not a geriatric
rockers’ convention.
The packed Key Club was full with not just everyone and their
oldies-obsessed mother, but every mother’s hip
twenty-something child dressed head to toe in the designer
pseudo-vintage uniform of L.A. scenesters.
And indeed, when Argent took his nimble fingers to the keys and
Blunstone slid his first note into the microphone, perfectly
echoing that golden marriage of sound that keeps radio stations
playing their singles today, it seemed as if the audience, as well
as the music, had escaped any evidence of age since 1968.
The set drew largely from their 1968 release, “Odyssey and
Oracle,” as well as hits from the two member’s solo
careers. After warming up the crowd with a few lesser known upbeat
tunes, Jim Rodford of The Kinks, who is accompanying The Zombies on
tour, caught the attention of every ear in the room when he plunked
out an intro bass line that’s embedded into the memory of
almost anyone who’s been within 50 feet of a jukebox.
Before Blunstone even asked “What’s your
name?” it was clear the room was about to be filled with the
sound of chart-topper “Time of the Season.”
But the aural experience wasn’t the song’s only
excitement. As Argent explained, it was one of the first times they
had ever performed “Time of the Season,” as well as all
the other songs off “Odyssey and Oracle.”
Although the album was a driving force in the classic British
invasion, and has spread its influence across decades and genres,
such as in indie-pop bands The New Pornographers and The Apples in
Stereo, The Zombies immediately disbanded after its release.
“Time of the Season,” wasn’t even a hit until two
years after its recording, due to it being relentlessly pushed by a
DJ in Boise, Idaho.
However, not every Zombies song was a hit, and to the
less-than-die-hard fans, the psychedelic ballads between
performances of singles may have seemed a bit like filler.
But still, Blunstone and Argent’s pop-happy energy bled
from the stage, and knowing the show was not just another night on
The Strip, the audience was also determined to be enthused.
Argent’s unabashed attack on the keyboard, and solos that
included swinging up his foot to hit the high notes, made rock
“˜n’ roll guitar shredding of today’s generation
seem sadly impotent. His roots in classical and jazz piano lent an
intelligence and sophisticated passion lacking from much of
today’s offshoots of British psychedelia, as well as any
other rock genre.
And with Blunstone’s fearless capture of high notes and
complex harmonies, the classic ’60s tunes achieved an almost
orchestral presence, allowing the audience a brief moment of
revelation that perhaps sincere musical talent is more rocking than
the dumbed-down direction of many follower groups today.
–Erin Glass
