Customer Reviews

Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of the Zombies: Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Great show, but if you want the complete show and have an all region dvd player , spend the extra bucks to get the English Import!!! Missing from the American release of this show are 5 songs. Say You Dont Mind, Misty Roses, Old and Wise, Just Out of Reach, and Summertime. The performance, video and sound are however brilliant. I only gave the American release 4 stars because of the hatchet job they did to this dvd. Too bad!!! Dont understand why this was done!!!

In the broadest sense, I think it's fair to say that the Zombies got a raw deal. They were one of the most talented and intelligent bands during the latter part of the British invasion, and yet they were thrown on the scrap heap of history. Two ridiculously catchy hit singles swept through America during our '64-'65 obsession with the London scene; "Tell Her No" and "She's Not There" combine raw rock and roll with a jazz sensibility that still sounds fresh today. Subsequently, their record company rewarded the band by refusing to issue their brilliant psychedelic album masterpiece entitled "Odessey and Oracle." Thankfully, Al Kooper (of Blood, Sweat & Tears, the Dylan sessions, et. al.) saw the folly of this decision and begged Columbia to right the situation. Eventually, the album saw daylight, but sold poorly, despite the extracted single that became a best seller. "Time of the Season" sounded ahead of its time in 1968, despite the fact that it was recorded nearly two years before its release. Eventually, the band collapsed under the weight of so much indifference, and the most we've heard since then is the occasional project by keyboardist Rod Argent.
"Live at Bloomsbury Theatre" celebrates the reunion of Rod Argent with vocalist Colin Blunstone. Technically, they alone cannot represent a reforming of the Zombies, since songwriter/vocalist Chris White has always been an integral part of the band. His absence is felt, but after so much time, it's nice to hear these tunes, even without White's crucial input. The CD is a generous 2-disk set containing 25 songs, while the DVD pairs the song selection down to a less unwieldy 15 tracks. The editing is a good thing, allowing the video to hold the viewer's interest significantly better than the CD collection. All of the major hits are here, including Argent's best-known solo work, such as "Hold Your Head Up" and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You." The performances are admirably executed, often utilizing a string section to augment that standard rock and roll configuration of the actual band. Argent sounds great and Blunstone is in fine voice throughout. In summation, "Live at the Bloomsbury" is a fine but faulted collection, never quite transcending its aura of nostalgia, while glossing over the absence of Chris White. B Tom Ryan

The Zombies were always the most underrated of British Invasion bands, and the crowning insult from history was having their best album, Oddessey and Oracle, come out after their breakup and disappear under the radar. In my opinion that record is one of the best rock records ever produced, with song writing that rivaled the Beatles best. It's a tremendous treat, then, to have this concert video of Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone performing many of those songs with a strong backing band. The production is perfectly appropriate for the band, too, with classy lighting and a minimum of quick cuts and other examples of the director upstaging the band. The sound is good, too. The real treat, though, is in the performances. The most exciting thing about this DVD is finding that Colin Blunstone has lost none--absolutely none--of his incredible voice. His range is still there and his judgement is flawless in every situation. He sings with passion and joy and a set of pipes that no singer has rivalled since the 1960s (for a real treat, find a CD called Five Live Zombies, which features the early Zombies doing a lot of R & B--you won't believe what Colin does with that material). The whole band plays with feeling and verve; no bored resting on laurels or phoning in the performances. It really feels like it's 1965 again. And it doesn't get better than that. There's a companion CD of this concert, and it contains 25 songs as opposed to the DVD's 16; I can't figure out why they didn't include the entire show on the DVD. Usually in this cases, the DVD has more material than the audio CD. It makes this disc shorter than you might expect and certainly shorter than I would like. Other than that, though, it's a slam dunk.

I saw the Zombies last night on tour in New Hampshire. In short, they were fantastic!!! The high harmonies, tight arrangements, great keyboard work...all here! This band is more than a nostalgic act...it is a viable group with valid things to say musically. They belong alongside any top act currently performing. If you get to see them on their current American tour, don't pass up the opportunity. This DVD, which I purchased along with the CD set when it first came out, is a first class document of this wonderful band. High caliber performances and fine recording quality. Of all the remaining British Invasion bands, the Zombies, along with the Moody Blues, are simply the best. Pick up this set for a truly great listening and viewing experience. Fine, fine stuff, indeed!!

How wonderful to see this classy group perform live. Colin Blunstone's breathy tenor is still swoony, Rod Argent's keyboard work is still exceptional, and it is a tearful joy to hear those magnificent "Odessey & Oracle" tunes, which--as Mr Argent points out--were never performed live back in the Sixties. Technically, it's great: there is little of the frantic, jump-cut editing that spoils most concert videos these days; well-lit; clear sound. Every Zombies fan should get this, even the abridged American version.

The Zombies Are a perfect example of 60's and 70's groups that will never die. Like a fine wine they get better with age. The song selection and sound is the best you can get for a couple of "Old Farts." They sound almost like the singers they were over 30 years ago. I think they are better because they have mellowed out just fine. If you enjoyed the Zombies of the 60's then you will just love Live From Bloomsbury Theatre. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent will live forever in song and in our hearts.

Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent are better than ever. It's great to hear Zombies and Argent songs live. Some of the Zombies songs for the first time since they broke up just as thier masterpiece Odessey and Oracle came out.

I thought this dvd was very good and the quality was very good.The sound was excellent .
I wish more bands would record their concerts because to see some of these bands you would have to travel across the country .
Again I thought this dvd was very good and I was glad I bought it.

How the Zombies could have broken up before the release of the very great ODESSEY AND ORACLE album is one of rock's mysteries, though "It's Only Money" provides an answer--the non-writing members weren't making any. The protracted reunion of Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone which culminates in LIVE AT THE BLOOMSBURY THEATRE is a story with an extraordinarily happy ending, particularly for those of us who are their rough contemporaries. The five current band members--Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Jim and Steve Rodford, and Keith Airey--have grown into the chordally nuanced compositions of Argent/White and former Argent member Russ Ballard, and they never for a moment seem like sexagenarians pretending to be twenty again. To the contrary, they're thoroughly mature adult musicians who have discovered gold in the Zombies/Argent repertoire, and present it to their Bloomsbury audience through the very real joyfulness of virtuoso musical performances. The CD version of the concert (another five star purchase, in my view) indicates that the actual concert was more variegated than the more rocking DVD version, including a string quartet backing songs from Colin Blunstone's wonderful first and second albums, but the DVD nonetheless conveys the variety of musical influences (jazz, classical, and Motown) and divergent musical directions that made the Zombies/Argent more valued by musicians than by the record-buying public. The songs that that public would recognize are here, too, of course: the spectral "Tell Her No," the oldies radio standard, "Time of the Season," and "She's Not There" with a wonderful new instrumental bridge proving that Argent hasn't lost touch with his best-known composition. Here, too, are less familiar, but beautifully performed tunes: Argent's barrelhouse piano on "Keep on Rolling" is stunning, Blunstone's velvety vocals on "I Want to Fly" (his tribute to the Zombies' late guitarist, Paul Atkinson) and "A Rose for Emily" are perfectly complemented by the string quartet, and the extended encore of "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" should make all serious rock fans destroy their Kiss cover versions of Russ Ballard's great tune. No one is less objective about the Zombies/Argent than I am, obviously, but I was nonetheless wonderfully surprised that the Zombies had this much life left in them, and I couldn't be more grateful to them and to Rhino Records for producing this glorious concert DVD.

This concert, filmed in London in 2005, is a audio and video masterpiece; I will state up front
I have loved the Zombies since the British Invasion days, although they have in recent years
fallen way off my radar. Watching this video, I was immediately reminded how listening to this
band just makes you feel good all over again-great hook-laden pop songs and harmony vocals {Colin Blunstone
still possesses the voice of an angel, even in his 60's.] I have dozens of concert videos, and I cannot
imagine one recorded and mixed any better. Aside from the "must play" songs like "She's Not There" and
"Tell Her No" they draw heavily from the "Odessey & Oracle album, which when released was an overlooked masterpiece
but has since gained its rightful cachet as one of the greatest Rock albums of all time. A nice touch is the usage of a string quartet on some tunes. The video, although not High-Def, is very good and shot without gimmicky and
busy camera angles. This is a fine reminder of time gone by, when good songs and good singing meant something.
I was fortunate to see them live for the first time this year [2011]in Conn. and they are still doing their thing very well. Buy now, you won't be disappointed.
M.B.