Courtesy of Brian Wilson
After playing a series of U.S. headlining shows earlier this month, The Zombies team up with Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson for a joint tour that kicks off Saturday in Las Vegas.
While The Zombies’ headlining concerts featured just the band’s current lineup, these upcoming shows with Wilson will include all of the group’s surviving founding members. They’ll be performing their acclaimed 1968 album Odessey and Oracle, which was actually released after the original band broke up.
Zombies frontman Colin Blunstone tells ABC Radio that after playing Odessey and Oracle on tour in 2017 and 2018 in honor of the album’s 50th anniversary, they weren’t planning to do it again — but couldn’t turn down the chance to tour with Brian.
“It would be a little bit difficult to not take up that invitation, really,” Blunstone admits. “And we’re thrilled to play Odessey and Oracle on the Brian Wilson tour.”
That being said, Colin insists that “there are no plans to play Odessey and Oracle actually ever again after this.”
He adds, “I think there comes a time when you have to say, ‘OK, we’ve celebrated that album and now it’s time to move on,’ and we’re probably at that point now.”
Colin notes that after the tour with Wilson, he and Zombies co-leader Rod Argent plan to “put our emphasis on the future, which is the current lineup and new material.”
To that end, the singer reveals, “[W]e’re currently writing and recording brand-new material for a brand-new album, which will probably come out…next year.”
Blunstone says his band will be performing at least one new song on the new tour.
Here are all of The Zombies’ joint tour dates with Wilson:
8/31 — Las Vegas, NV, The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
9/1 — Indio, CA, Fantasy Springs Casino
9/6 — Phoenix, AZ, Comerica Theatre
9/7 — Pala, CA, Pala Casino
9/8 — Santa Barbara, CA, Arlington Theatre
9/12 — Los Angeles, CA, The Greek Theatre
9/13 — Oakland, CA, The Fox Theatre
9/14 — Murphys, CA, Ironstone Amphitheatre
9/16 — Seattle, WA, Paramount Theatre
9/17 — Portland, OR, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
9/19 — Sandy, UT, Sandy City Amphitheater
9/20 — Denver, CO, Paramount Theater
9/22 — Milwaukee, WI, Riverside Theater
9/23 — Cincinnati, OH, Taft Theatre
9/24 — Detroit, MI, Masonic Temple Theatre
9/26 — New York, NY, Beacon Theatre
9/27 — Waterbury, CT, Palace Theater
9/28 — Upper Darby, PA, Tower Theater
9/29 — Rockville, MD, Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center*
* = without Wilson; Rogers & Butler open for The Zombies.