Review: In Clearwater, The Zombies play a different game from their '60s British invasion peers

You’d think that with a name like The Zombies (which lead singer Colin Blunstone still doesn’t quite get), it would make sense to milk any hit singles released before Woodstock was a thing.

If you look at fellow British Invasion-ers still on the road, you’re not going to find much brand-new material (well, minus The Rolling Stones’ explosive new album Hackney Diamonds). In a recent interview with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Zombies keyboardist, and main creative force Rod Argent said that while he doesn’t necessarily intend to be way different every time inspiration strikes, he’s one for evolving his sound with every album, including the band's latest, Different Game.

“We always try and do things for real, and I think in a sense, that's the most honest way to approach things,” he explained, later adding that he never has hit singles and sales in mind when he’s in the studio.
The only way that the band lives up to its name is how the current lineup (featuring Blunstone and Argent, as well as guitarist Tom Toomey, bassist Søren Koch, and drummer Steve Rodford) technically is a zombification of the original band.

After recording their magnum opus Odessey and Oracle in 1967—their sophomore album that was released a year later—The Zombies broke up due to a lack of financial security on most members’ ends. But following a few spontaneous gigs together in the late-‘90s (and hearing superfan Tom Petty intersperse old tracks into his concert setlists), Argent and Blunstone brought in some new musicians to cover for those who didn’t want to tour full-time anymore (most of which are still alive), rising the band from the dead and proceeding to record and tour fairly regularly.

Their Friday night set at downtown Clearwater’s Bilheimer Capitol Theatre with opener  Bruce Sudano was the band’s last U.S. tour date before heading home for a U.K. tour, and Blunstone—dressed in a loosened black tie and grey-olive blazer—was quick to admit that while he was bummed to be leaving the States, he was glad to be heading back overseas.

“We will be going home, so that’s always a pleasure as well. Well, not always, actually,” he laughed.
The 82-minute set kicked off with a collection of bangers from the mid-1960s, including George Gershwin’s “Summertime” serving as a successor to set opener “It’s Alright With Me,” which had only been played live once, in 1964, before this year. The rollicking opening section even forced Argent to restart his entire rig after finishing “Sticks and Stones.”

“We didn’t have this trouble when we first started, I can tell you.” Blunstone quipped. “A couple of acoustic guitars, and some kind of box to bang the drums on. We thought we were great…”

He then proceeded to warn all the men in the close-to-sold-out room that any singing along during the high notes of “I Love You” should be done while “exercising a degree of caution.”

“You’ll be singing soprano for the rest of your life,” he joked.

Once said high notes were taken care of, Argent took to the mic to go on about the good press that Different Game received on both sides of the pond and promised to play four songs from the record (which was more than what was pulled from Odessey and Oracle). While the upbeat, gospel-esque “Merry-Go-Round” and divine C-sharp sounds of the title track didn’t stir up as thunderous of a response as, say, “Tell Her No,” part of me feels like much of this crowd didn’t even know that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were even still making music at all until months ago.

Now granted, Odessey and Oracle did get its own set, as per usual, but in a smaller way than normal. Opening track “Care of Cell 44,” “Schitt’s Creek’s” very last song “This Will Be Our Year,” and album closer-slash-unexpected smash hit “Time of the Season” were the only tracks dusted off, and on the latter’s long note that ended the last word of the album—“loving”—Argent’s lower harmony vocal quivered about halfway through. Not so much in an old and deteriorating way, but more so in the sense that Argent may not have known that Blunstone was going to hold the note for as long as he did. Or, plain and simple, he didn’t breathe deeply enough beforehand.
In shows past, all three tracks have made the Odessey set, along with Argent taking lead vocals on “I Want Her, She Wants Me,” or Blunstone making fans feel for lonesome old Emily on “A Rose For Emily,” so it would be understandable if one felt that the cult classic got the shit end of the stick for once. But knowing how heavily this run of shows is leaning on new material (and how on fire The Zombies remain, even 60 years in), there’ll surely be other chances to cross “Beechwood Park” or “Friends Of Mine” off of your live music bucket list.

Before the epic jam sesh finale of “She’s Not There,” and the original-members-only rendition of “The Way I Feel Inside,” Colin exited the stage and gave Argent a good seven minutes to go absolutely crazy on his organ and keyboard rig during a break in the keyboardist’s eponymous band’s hit “Hold Your Head Up,” which was dedicated to “women everywhere, in societies all around the world.”

We love our British Invasion bubblegum pop, yes, but I could see The Zombies toying around with electronica or jazz on their next album before we get anything brand new from Herman’s Hermits or The Yardbirds. Not that we’re owed anything, but it definitely wouldn’t be something a quintet of actual zombies would do.

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