The Zombies have announced dozens of more concerts in the U.S. and Canada as part of their 2022, with many more dates in Europe to follow. The British Invasion band had previously revealed a U.K. tour for 2023.
A spring leg in the U.S. took place in April 2022.
The Zombies’ current lineup – founding members Colin Blunstone (vocals) and Rod Argent (keyboards), along with Steve Rodford (drums), Tom Toomey (guitar) and Søren Koch (bass) – have been recording the follow-up to their 2015 album Still Got That Hunger.
After decades of eligibility, the Zombies joined Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, and Roxy Music as the 2019 Class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Fittingly, the induction ceremony took place exactly 50 years to-the-day after “Time of the Season” reached the top of the U.S. charts.
Related: Our recap of the band’s induction
The Zombies first burst onto the scene in 1964 at the forefront of the British Invasion with hit singles like “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No.” The original members – Blunstone, Argent, Chris White (bass), Paul Atkinson (guitar) and Hugh Grundy (drums) first entered Abbey Road (then called EMI Recording Studios) in June 1967 armed with only a £1000 recording budget from CBS Records, and the ambition to self-produce their second album Odessey and Oracle. The band famously walked into Studio Two on the heels of The Beatles, who had just finished Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…benefiting from the Fab Four’s new advances in multi-track recording. Recalls Argent, “They left quite a few instruments lying around the Abbey Road Studios, one of which was John Lennon’s Mellotron, which ended up all over the album. I didn’t ask anybody’s permission; I just used it because it was there!”
Released in 1968, Odessey and Oracle was initially a commercial disappointment, leading to the band’s break-up. Ironically, one year later, the last track on the album, “Time of the Season,” became a hit single around the world, and over the decades, Odessey and Oracle, has been rediscovered as a pop touchstone.
Argent turned 77 on June 14. Blunstone turns 77 on June 24.
The Zombies 2022 U.S. Tour (Tickets for most of the shows are available here and here)
Jun 21 – Belleville, OH – Empire Theatre
Jun 22 – Mississauga, ON – Living Arts Centre
Jun 24 – Jim Thorpe, PA – Penn’s Peak
Jun 25 – Hammondsport, NY – Point of the Bluff Vineyard
Jun 26 – Munhall, PA – Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
Jun 28 – Kent, OH – The Kent Stage
Jun 30 – Cincinnati, OH – Ludlow Garage
Jul 01 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music
Jul 03 – Madison, WI – Barrymore Theatre
Jul 05 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Jul 07 – Winnipeg, MB – Club Regent Event Centre
Jul 09 – Calgary, AB – Deerfoot Inn & Casino
Jul 11 – St. Albert, AB – The Arden Theatre
Jul 13 – Victoria, BC – Alix Goolden Perf. Hall
Jul 14 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
Jul 15 – Everett, WA – Historic Everett Theatre
Jul 16 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
Jul 18 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
Jul 19 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
Jul 21 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s
Jul 22 – Ojai, CA – Libbey Bowl
Jul 23 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
Jul 24 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern
Jul 26 – Tucson, AZ – The Rialto Theatre
Jul 28 – Park City, UT – Egyptian Theatre
Jul 29 – Park City, UT – Egyptian Theatre
Jul 30 – Park City, UT – Egyptian Theatre
Related: Links to 100s of current classic rock tours
Watch them perform Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up” in 2022
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationSaw Argent (the band) in 1973, with Rod Argent Keyboards/Vocals) and Russ Ballard (Guitar/Vocals) and it was a very engaging and memorable show.
Of course, preferences are subjective, but Rod Argent, along with Brian Auger, are two of the most generally underrated and overlooked keyboardists in post-1965 contemporary music, both whom weaved rock, jazz, blues, funk, and some classical elements in their music, yielding some very unique compositions.
Cases in point; the “Time of the Season” and “Hold Your Head Up” keyboard segueways from Rod Argent, and Brian Auger’s smooth rendition of Wes Montgomery’s “Bumpin’ On Sunset”, as a few examples of journeymen’s talent.