Arthur Lee, Lou Reed, and John Martyn have all been at it.
Back from the dead, The Zombies are road-testing their seminal album,
the famously misspelled Odessey & Oracle, 40 years after its original release.
Caught live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire London on one of their three nights in March
2008. Lee toured successfully for years with Forever Changes, Lou Reed has
just done Berlin (again) and Martyn did Solid Air last year.
Odessey And Oracle is widely regarded as their Pet Sounds or Sgt.Peppers. From
the sound of things it was a magical night for band and fans alike as they roll
back the years to the Summer Of Love.
Their unique blend of Baroque pop, beat and psychedelia doesn’t seem to have
dated one iota. Pure 60s pop opens the set, with the sunshine groove of the
hook-laden Care Of Cell 44 sounding much like the surf sound of the Beach
Boys, consolidated by fab close harmonies, indicative of the time. Things cool
off for the divine piano-led beauty A Rose For Emily, with some deft
lead vocal swapping - this should be on everybody’s iPod: it’s one of the
finest songs of the 60s.One of their most channelling moments has to be the
full on vocal a Capella close to a stirring Maybe After He’s Gone.
A major highlight is the awesome recreation of complex opus-like Brief Candles
with Blunstone delivering one of his finest vocal performances of the night.
This is followed by the psychedelic classic Changes, featuring masterful
close harmonies once again. Their earlier pop template returns on the Beach Boys/Turtles-sounding
extravaganza: the hum happy melodies are mind-boggling.
Upping the psychedelia, This Will Be Our Year smacks of Sgt.Peppers – storming
brass and whopping chorus bringing a massive response. The hits – Time Of
The Season, Tell Her No and She’s Not There are just magnificent.
On CD2, now called The Zombies Touring Band, they delve into solo work
by Blunstone and Rod Argent. I Love You, a B-side of Whenever You’re Ready,
peaking at 110 in America in 1965, sounds fantastic. It should have been the
A-side.
One of the show’s major highlights is the stunning tear-jerking ballad Her Song,
sung by Blunstone and strings only – wow! Hi solo hit Say You Don’t Mind
is equally impressive.
Finishing a great night, they unleash Argent’s (Rod Argent) brilliant Hold Your Head Up,
complete with extended organ improvisation.
1. Care Of Cell 44
2. A Rose For Emily
3. Maybe After He’s Gone
4. Beechwood Park
5. Brief Candles
6. Hung Up On A Dream
7. Changes
8. I Want Her, She Wants Me
9. This Will Be Our Year
10. Butcher’s Tale
11. Friends Of Mine
12. Time Of The Season
13. Tell Her No
14. She’s Not There
Disc 2:
1. I Love You
2. Sticks And Stones
3. Can’t Nobody Love You
4. What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
5. Misty Roses
6. Her Song
7. Say You Don’t Mind
8. Keep On Rolling
9. Hold Your Head Up
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
