Concert Review: The Zombies at City Winery, NYC 9/27/11

I went to see The Zombies’ 50th Anniversary show in Manhattan with a slight sense of trepidation. After all, this was the band who first turned me on to the possibilities of rock and pop music when I was knee high to a grasshopper back in Ontario, Canada, where I sat entranced, staring at the psychedelic cover of their now classic album of psych-pop, Odessey and Oracle, as its miraculous songs rolled by one after another on my record player.

Would the Zombies – could the Zombies – possibly still sound the same and conjure up the magic they had, it seemed, effortlessly emitted from the grooves of that vinyl all those years ago?

I needn’t have worried. After a cautious start, befitting a band of British music veterans who know that a warm-up is essential to a great performance, the Zombies, including original members Colin Blunstone on vocals and Rod Argent on keyboards and vocals, found their sweet spot on the night’s fourth song, “Breathe Out, Breathe In,” the title track of their ace new album. From then on, it was clear sailing.

This night, as Argent stressed between songs, was all about “connections,” in which the songs played were not only by the Zombies proper, but by their various inspired solo and group offshoots. One of the best of these was the evening's fifth song, “I Don’t Believe In Miracles,” a yearning ballad of lost love penned by Russ Ballard (the vocalist for Argent's eponymous '70s group), which also became a solo hit in England for Blunstone.

“Any Other Way,” another offering from the latest Zombies platter, its catchy chorus sounding like a hit the band had been playing for years, pushed the concert's momentum forward quite nicely. Then came the moment many in attendance had been waiting for: a six-song mini-set culled from Odessey and Oracle.

Of these, “A Rose For Emily” highlighted the delicate vocal interplay that is the band’s trademark, with Blunstone and Argent still sounding fresh and unaffected by the years that have passed since they first recorded the song. “Beechwood Park” was suitably eerie, drenched in Argent’s organ stylings, while “Time of the Season,” the band’s biggest hit, retained its feel of the Dionysiac lust and danger underlying the innocence of the Summer of Love.

Article Author: GutterCandy

GutterCandy is the bi-coastal writing duo of Chris "Gutter" Rose (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Johnny "Gutter" Walker (New York City).

Johnny Walker (Black) was a Contributing Editor at the seminal online rock magazine, Addicted To Noise / Sonicnet, from 1995-2001. …

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