ABC RadioThe Zombies‘ tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of the making of their acclaimed 1968 album Odessey and Oracle marched into New York City’s Town Hall on Saturday.
The sold-out concert’s centerpiece was a performance of the full album featuring the band’s four surviving original members — frontman Colin Blunstone, keyboardist Rod Argent, bassist Chris White and drummer Hugh Grundy — augmented by the current non-founding members of the group.
The show began with a set by the current Zombies lineup — Blunstone, Argent, bassist Jim Rodford, drummer Steve Rodford and guitarist Tom Toomey — that showcased the British Invasion band’s early hits, some lesser-known tunes and select songs from its latest studio album, 2015’s Still Got That Hunger. It also included a rendition of “Hold Your Head Up,” the prog-rock classic by Rod’s 1970s band Argent. The power and range of Blunstone’s voice was impressive throughout the set, as was the virtuosity of Argent’s keyboard playing.
After an intermission, the expanded Zombies lineup took the stage and proceeded to deliver a faithful and inspired recreation of Odessey and Oracle, a collection of inventive baroque-pop tunes highlighted by multi-layered harmonies and keyboards.
Among the many standout performances were “Care of Cell 44”; the vocal-harmony-heavy “Changes”; and the sparse and eerie “Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914),” which was sung by White. Capping off the set was The Zombies’ smash “Time of the Season,” which brought the crowd to its feet for a lengthy ovation.
The concert was enhanced by video projections that included archival photos, kaleidoscopic images and animated artwork incorporating handwritten lyrics that accompanied specific songs. These art pieces also appear in the recently published Zombies coffee-table book The Odessey.
Here’s the concert’s full set list:
Set One:
“I Love You”
“I Want You Back Again”
“Moving On”
“Edge of the Rainbow”
“She’s Coming Home”
“Tell Her No”
“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”/”Bring It on Home to Me”
“Roadrunner”
“Just Out of Reach”
“Chasing the Past”
“Hold Your Head Up”
“She’s Not There”
“The Way I Feel Inside”
Set Two: Odessey and Oracle
“Care of Cell 44”
“A Rose for Emily”
“Maybe After He’s Gone”
“Beechwood Park”
“Brief Candles”
“Hung Up on a Dream”
“Changes”
“I Want Her She Wants Me”
“This Will Be Our Year”
“Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914)”
“Friends of Mine”
“Time of the Season”
Encore:
“She’s Not There” (reprise)
And here are the remaining North American dates of The Zombies’ Odessey & Oracle 50th Anniversary Finale Tour:
3/28 — Boston, MA, The Wilbur Theatre
3/30 — Ridgefield, CT, The Ridgefield Playhouse
3/31 — Northampton, MA, Calvin Theatre
4/1 — Montreal, QC, Canada, Cinéma Impérial
4/2 — Toronto, ON, Canada, The Danforth Music Hall
4/4 — Royal Oak, MI, Royal Oak Music Theatre
4/5 — Lorain, OH, The Lorain Palace Theater
4/7 — Biloxi, MS, Golden Nugget Casino Hotel Biloxi
4/8 — Atlanta, GA, Variety Playhouse
4/9 — Nashville, TN, Tennessee Performing Arts Center James K. Polk Theater
4/11 — Springfield, IL, Sangamon Auditorium at University of Illinois Springfield
4/13 — Chicago, IL, Thalia Hall
4/14 — Chicago, IL, Thalia Hall
4/15 — Madison, WI, The Barrymore Theatre
4/17 — Minneapolis, MN, First Avenue
4/18 — Winnipeg, MB, Canada, Club Regent Casino Concert Bowl
4/21 — Vancouver, BC, Canada, The Commodore Ballroom
4/22 — Seattle, WA, The Showbox Presents
4/23 — Portland, OR, Aladdin Theater
4/25 — Berkeley, CA, The UC Theatre
4/28 — Indio, CA, Stagecoach Festival
4/29 — Los Angeles, CA, The Theatre at Ace Hotel
5/4 — Houston, TX, The Heights Theatre
5/6 — Dallas, TX, aTrolla Festival
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