Colin Blunstone - Thalia Hall, Chicago, 16/7/2025

  by Lisa Torem

published: 17 / 8 / 2025

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Article

Zombies’ co-founder, keyboardist and chief songwriter Rod Argent is recovering well from a recent stroke and The Zombies are not currently touring together, but the 2019 Hall of Famers and British Invasion visionaries are awash in multiple projects, with studio albums in the works as we speak. One other exciting project involves Robert Schwartzman’s Zombies’ documentary, ‘Hung Up on a Dream'. The film screened in select U.S. cities, but Schwartzman, and Zombies’ vocalist Colin Blunstone decided to create a full-spectrum event at popular music venues—their pooled resources resulted in a seven-city tour on July 9 in New York, ending in Los Angeles. Schwartzman doubles as a front man. His alt-rock band Rooney recently opened for Jeff Lynne’s ELO. Tonight, with keyboardist Matthew Jordan and bassist Sean Sobash, the singer/guitarist’s unplugged iteration ran through a series of upbeat originals that got the near-full house amped. Then, Schwartzman invited Blunstone onstage to sing Zombies’ hits: ‘She’s Not There,’ the celebratory, ‘This Will Be Our Year’ and ‘The Time of the Season.’ Blunstone prefaced the latter song by lamenting: “I’ve been singing this for sixty years and I still don’t know where the “clap” and “sigh” goes.” Hopefully, we in the audience got it half-right. Before crooning the cerebral ‘Caroline Goodbye,’ he revealed that the story was about, “the first time I had my heart broken.” Throughout the set, Blunstone’s voice was in top form. He hit the highs, milked the lows and charmed the audience with his candid commentary. The evening ended with a comprehensive q & a moderated by Chicago-based author Mitch Myers. Schwartzman described his vision as “a bunch of people coming together who had a dream.” To the audience, he explained: “It felt like we should put it in music venues. It only works if you guys come out and see the shows.” Blunstone elaborated: “Robert had a discussion with our management company. He knows how musicians think.” Myers added: “The film’s so collaborative. It’s like we’re watching a band come together.” When Myers asked about the acquisition of stock footage, Blunstone replied: “Robert picked up bits of film that I didn’t know existed. We’re both quite eccentric. We’re having a wonderful time.” Myers marveled at the Zombies’ ultimate legacy. While many rock groups disbanded due to negative circumstances, these band members remained close. Blunstone quipped: “We were well-mannered but slightly crazy,” and concurred: “We did remain good friends.” Blunstone also pointed out, “It’s a 60-year story compressed in an hour-and-a half.” Although the original lineup broke up in 1968, the band idea resurfaced in 1999 when Argent and Blunstone started performing again. “We were just playing for the fun of it,” Blunstone recalled. But when fans kept requesting Zombies’ songs, the wheels started turning and they reformed with a new lineup in 2000. The audience at Thalia Hall included people who’d heard Zombies’ songs but knew nothing about the band history. After the film, several people commented that the band members came across as especially warm and sincere—in fact, one of the best features of the film was that we heard the sturm and drang directly from the source, or from those closest to the bandmembers, such as the late guitarist Paul Atkinson’s daughter, Lucy, who beamed as she talked about her father’s musical accomplishments as a label executive and promoter of popular acts. The archival footage and settings, especially of Abby Road Studios and the St. Albans area brought out the excitement of the origin story and the British Invasion era. But Argent’s pitch-perfect performance on a cavernous New York City pipe organ was a one-off setup. The film unveils fascinating stories from start to finish. For instance, when the original lineup disbanded in 1968 (they would get a hit record a year later, however, with ‘Time of the Season’), Blunstone was left with no “plan B.” He described the surreal experience of selling insurance and working for a record label under a pseudonym amid curious stares from colleagues. If you have an opportunity to stream ‘Hung up on a Dream,’ by all means, do, but there’s nothing better after a screening than hearing Blunstone rap about the band history with the actual filmmaker and to actively participate in the Zombies’ iconic music. Photos: Jeff Elbel

Band Links:-

https://www.thezombiesmusic.com/
https://en-gb.facebook.com/thezombiesm
https://www.x.com/TheZombiesMusic
http://www.colinblunstone.net/
https://en-gb.facebook.com/colinblunst
https://www,x.com/colinblunstone

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