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"The Zombies are still in the game and still playing for keeps”
- American Songwriter
“The new material is absolutely enchanting”
- Goldmine Magazine
"Still-hungry group flexing their creative muscles"
- MOJO Magazine
“Everyone plays like they were dealt a perfect hand”
- Den of Geek
“These 60’s legends are proving that it’s still the time of the season”
- Rolling Stone UK
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Rock & Roll Hall of Famers and winners of South By Southwest’s (SXSW) 2023 Grulke Prize for “Career Act”, The Zombies, return for a 4-week tour across North America this October. The dates are in support of the band's critically acclaimed new album, Different Game, available on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital streaming worldwide via UK indie label, Cooking Vinyl Records, which charted Top 20 in both the U.S. and U.K. when it was released earlier this year.
Tickets for all tour dates (listed below) go on sale to the public today, Friday, June 23rd at 10am local time. Special VIP ticket packages are available, which include premium seating, autographed red vinyl of Different Game, and exclusive limited-edition merchandise.
https://www.thezombiesmusic.com/tour
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Refusing to rest on the laurels of a 6-decade career, The Zombies excitedly launched their new album with multiple performances at this year’s SXSW Festival in Austin in March, followed by a 5-week sell-out tour back home in the U.K. As founding keyboardist and primary songwriter Rod Argent relates, “There are bands that I revere and adore, but many of them all seemed to stop…. at least in terms of having the same enthusiasm and energy for creating new stuff. That’s the reason I'm in this, to carry on with the creation of new music, because that's so enticing. It's so lovely. And to be 77 years old and to be told the other day that the algorithms show the main audience on streaming is between 22 and 37. That's ridiculous, quite ridiculous. But again, very satisfying.”
The SXSW appearances marked their 10-year anniversary at the famed festival, known primarily as a showcase for emerging artists, where their performances garnered rave reviews and culminated in winning the prestigious Grulke Prize for “Career Act”.
"The 15-song set list at Stubb's included timeless hits from the band's early years as part of the British Invasion music wave of the 1960s, as well as fresh sounds from "Different Game," ... The 2,200-person venue was packed with swaying, dancing and cheering from fans in front of the stage and by the concession stands." - Austin American Statesman
“Performing throughout the week, mostly to kids below the age of 25 ... and screaming “LEGENDDDD!”" - Rolling Stone
As a fitting bookend, the band also premiered a new feature documentary at SXSW, entitled Hung Up On A Dream, slated for public release later in 2023, chronicling their unusual journey since forming in the small British town of St. Albans in 1961 to becoming underdog Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees in 2019. The film is directed by musician and filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, and co-produced by Schwartzman’s Utopia Films, The Ranch Productions, and Tom Hanks’ Playtone.
The Zombies began work on Different Game, after their 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and a USA tour with The Beach Boys auteur Brian Wilson. The band, which features founding keyboardist Rod Argent and lead singer Colin Blunstone, along with drummer Steve Rodford, guitarist Tom Toomey and bassist Søren Koch, hoped to finish writing and recording the follow-up to their Billboard-charting 2015 album Still Got That Hunger during a busy 2020 touring schedule, but COVID-19 had other plans for them. As Argent explains, “the band was not content to record remotely.”
Despite the Pandemic, The Zombies made the past 3 years productive, finishing the album, and giving fans previews of their new songs with a live-streamed concert from Abbey Road Studios London in 2021, and finally returning to the road with 65 concerts across North America and Europe in 2022 on their “Life Is A Merry-Go-Round” Tour.
Different Game consists of 10 unique tracks produced by Rod Argent alongside the band’s long-time live audio engineer Dale Hanson, capturing both the performance of a tight live band and the introspection of its septuagenarian frontmen. Eclectic and experimental, with rollicking rockers and tender string-infused ballads, and inspirations ranging from Bach’s Mass in B minor to Beach Boys-esq harmonies, Different Game has invited comparisons to the original Zombies’ 1968 masterpiece Odessey and Oracle.
“Different Game” spotlights the Zombies’ traditional strengths, from the gurgling organ sound and R&B soul of “Dropped Reeling & Stupid,” the celestial Beach Boys harmonies of “Rediscover” (influenced by touring partner Brian Wilson’s “In My Room”), and the confessional ballads “Run Away” and “You Could Be My Love” (a slam-dunk hit if Adele ever decided to cover it), to the rock ‘n’ rollicking “Merry-Go-Round” (complete with honky-tonk piano), and the orchestral chamber pop of “I Want to Fly” (a re-recording from Blunstone’s first solo album), along with his “The Sun Will Rise Again,” a father’s message to his daughter.” - Variety Magazine
"Making music on par with their prime material. The songs are so exquisite and defined. It almost sounds like Odessey & Oracle revisited, yet with its own distinct songs." - Rock and Roll Globe
“Aside from the fact that the new material is absolutely enchanting — a fine follow-up to Odessey and Oracle in every regard — Blunstone’s voice remains a marvel as far as modern music is concerned. It’s still capable of reaching the higher octaves and his tone and technique can easily compare with a trained vocalist half his age.” - Goldmine Magazine
Different Game track listing:
Different Game
Dropped Reeling & Stupid
Rediscover
Runaway
You Could Be My Love
Merry-Go-Round
Love You While I Can
I Want to Fly
Got to Move On
The Sun Will Rise Again |
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North America Shows:
Sunday, Oct 1 - Massey Theatre - New Westminster (Vancouver), BC
Monday, Oct 2 - Washington Hall - Seattle, WA
Tuesday, Oct 3 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR
Thursday, Oct 5 - Palace of Fine Arts - San Francisco, CA
Friday, Oct 6 - Alex Theatre - Glendale (Los Angeles), CA
Saturday, Oct 7- Belly Up Tavern - Solana Beach (San Diego), CA
Monday, Oct 9 - Lensic Performing Arts Center - Santa Fe, NM
Wednesday, Oct 11 - Boulder Theater- Boulder, CO
Friday, Oct 13 - Fitzgerald Theater - St. Paul (Minneapolis), MN
Saturday, Oct 14 - South Milwaukee PAC - Milwaukee, WI
Sunday, Oct 15 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
Tuesday, Oct 17 - Queen Elizabeth Theatre - Toronto, ON
Wednesday, Oct 18 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Royal Oak (Detroit), MI
Thursday, Oct 19 - Brown County Music Center - Nashville, IN
Friday, Oct 20 - Ludlow Garage - Cincinnati, OH
Sunday, Oct 22 - MGM Northfield Park - Northfield (Cleveland), OH
Tuesday, Oct 24 - The Birchmere - Alexandria, VA
Thursday, Oct 26 - The Cabot - Beverly (Boston), MA
Friday, Oct 27 - Adler Hall at the NY Society of Ethical Culture - New York, NY
Sunday, Oct 29 - Keswick Theatre - Glenside (Philadelphia), PA |
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About The Zombies:
The second UK band following The Beatles to score a #1 hit in America, The Zombies infiltrated the airwaves with the sophisticated melodies, breathy vocals, choral back-up harmonies and jazzy keyboard riffs of their 1960’s hit singles “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No.” Ironically, the original lineup disbanded just prior to achieving their greatest success – the worldwide chart-topping single “Time of the Season,” from their swan-song album Odessey and Oracle, ranked in the Top 100 of Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time.’ To this day, generations of new bands have cited The Zombies’ work as pop touchstones, and the band continues to be embraced by new generations of fans.
Following the break-up of the original band, Blunstone went on to develop an acclaimed solo career, while Argent rocked arenas in the 1970’s with his eponymous band ARGENT, but the legend of The Zombies continued to take on a life of its own. By the start of the new Millennium, Blunstone and Argent were inspired to resurrect The Zombies, which has led to several critically-acclaimed new albums and 2 decades of worldwide concert performances.
About Cooking Vinyl Records:
Cooking Vinyl, established in 1986, is home to an eclectic mix of artists including The Darkness, Professor Green, Ladytron, Dave Rowntree, Don Letts, Passenger, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Billy Bragg, The Fratellis, Del Amitri, BABYMETAL, The Waterboys, Ron Sexsmith, The Jordan and many more.
Recent successes include: Shortlisted for the 3rd year running for the Music Week Awards - Best Label/Artist Services Company. Nina Nesbitt surpassing over 1 billion career streams and gaining 278 New Music Fridays across her most recent album campaign. Passenger securing #2 UK Album, #2 Swiss Album, #3 German Album, #6 Australian Album, Del Amitri #5 UK Album and highest German chart position of their career and BABYMETAL securing #2 Current Albums, #1 Rock & Indie and #13 Billboard Top 200 in the US.
Cooking Vinyl has consistently been at the forefront of the digital revolution and evolution. In 2005 the label set up its own online distribution company, Uploader, which was sold to the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA). Subsequently Cooking Vinyl then set up the independent distribution company Essential Music which was bought by Sony Red in 2016 and soon after became The Orchard UK.
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Robert Kinsler
