On sale Thursday, 5/22 at 10am ! $35 ADV | $38 DOOR Doors 6 pm | Show 7:15 pm This event is Fully Seated Colin Blunstone Website | Instagram | X/Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Colin Blunstone stood on the stage of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on March 29, 2019, a huge grin on his face, and basked in the glorious sight of 17,000 starstruck music fans cheering on the band he’d co-founded an astounding 55 years earlier. “This wonderful occasion,” the singer told the crowd, “is an absolute joy and makes it very, very worthwhile. Thank you!” The “wonderful occasion” was the long-awaited induction of The Zombies into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group—key figures in the fabled British Invasion of the ’60s—had been eligible for induction for decades and now it was finally their turn. Although The Zombies had only scored three Top 10 hits—“She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No” and “Time of the Season”—the last climbing the charts some two years after the group had already disbanded, they were still adored and their influence had only expanded through the years. An album they’d recorded in 1967, Odessey and Oracle, virtually ignored in its own time, had subsequently been recognized as one of the most brilliant works of its era, routinely finding its way into “best of all time” lists and inspiring raves from fellow musicians and rock fans of all ages. One such admirer, Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, delivered the speech at Barclays inducting The Zombies. She called Blunstone’s voice “wondrous,” adding, “The tone and timbre of it is like silk and velvet and linen woven through each and every syllable you sing. Your voice is just plain sexy!” “It was incredible. It’s a validation,” says Blunstone about the Hall of Fame induction. “It makes you feel that what you’ve been doing had some value.” For all of the accolades bestowed upon The Zombies, though, the band’s brief initial tenure is only part of the total Colin Blunstone story. Graced with one of the most distinctive, alluring and soulful voices in contemporary music, one that is every bit as strong today as during The Zombies’ early years, Blunstone has also enjoyed a long and fruitful solo career. He has released 10 albums of his own over a period spanning more than 50 years, and has lent his remarkable pipes to the recordings of many others, most notably the Alan Parsons Project, who featured Blunstone on their 1982 hit “Old and Wise,” as well as on several albums. It all began officially in 1971, with the release of Blunstone’s debut solo album, One Year. Much like Odessey and Oracle, the LP enjoyed only limited appreciation in its own time, with the single “Say You Don’t Mind” (written by former Moody Blues singer/future Wings member Denny Laine) finding its way to the UK top 15 (although both the album and single evaded the public’s collective ear in America). Ironically, perhaps, it was nearly a Zombies album in all but name, co-produced by two of Blunstone’s former bandmates, keyboardist Rod Argent and bassist Chris White; the pair also co-composed three of the songs on One Year and Argent, the band recently formed by the keyboardist, served as Blunstone’s accompanists on a few tracks. Other tunes on the album incorporate a string section, giving One Year a lush baroque sensibility that perfectly complements Blunstone’s expressive vocal style. “I think One Year and [the 1972 follow-up album] Ennismore are probably the two strongest solo albums,” Blunstone says today, but there were periods of doubt when he wasn’t even sure whether he wanted to continue; he even held down a menial day job for some time while he sorted out his role in the rock pantheon. “I didn’t know if I really even wanted to get back into the music business,” he says. “I was so saddened by the demise of The Zombies. I wasn’t sure I wanted to put myself through that again.” Like many in his field, he was feeling overworked, over-pressured, particularly by the grind of touring. “Something has to give if you are touring constantly and trying to record constantly. You have to make choices. So my solo band came off the road around ’73 and then I joined Rocket Records and I recorded three albums for them.” Although Rocket co-founders Elton John and Bernie Taupin encouraged Blunstone, who lived in California for part of that period, the singer wasn’t able to replicate the acceptance he’d enjoyed with The Zombies. He recorded a cover of the Motown hit “What Become of the Broken Hearted” with the British keyboardist Dave Stewart (not the Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame) and accepted Alan Parsons’ invitation, while keeping off the road for many years. Both preceding the Parsons involvement, and after, there were other solo albums—Echo Bridge, The Light Inside, The Ghost of You and Me—that found critical favor and pleased devoted fans but did not receive wide distribution. Finally, at the urging of a keyboardist friend, future Deep Purple member Don Airey, Blunstone returned to live performance. The two formed a band that lasted some 18 months. “After Airey left”, says Blunstone, “I had another keyboard player who turned up 10 minutes before the show and didn’t know any of the songs. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack. At that point I phoned Rod Argent.” At first, Colin’s fellow Zombie, who had become a successful producer, wasn’t sure he wanted to return to live performance either. “He played six dates, really enjoyed it, and then we had to have a sit-down and talk about what we were gonna do,” says Blunstone. It seemed obvious: Adding bassist Jim Rodford, Argent’s cousin, who had been a core member of the Argent band as well as spending a lengthy tenure with The Kinks, they began playing concerts. The shows were all received enthusiastically but, they soon discovered, audiences wanted to hear more Zombies music. Reluctant at first to trade in on the legacy, Blunstone and Argent spoke with the surviving Zombies, who gave the two their blessing. The Zombies were back! Twenty-five years of prolific touring and new music followed, including the highly regarded albums As Far as I Can See... (2004), Breathe Out, Breathe In (2011), Still Got That Hunger (2015) and Different Game (2023). Although Jim Rodford passed away in 2018, his son, Steve Rodford, held down the drum stool; Tom Toomey played guitar and Danish musician Søren Koch occupied the bass position. Despite his busy Zombies schedule, Blunstone still fit in two solo releases - On The Air Tonight in 2012 and now Less is More in early 2024, a set of 5 unheard demos, where each track showcases those velvety vocals accompanied only by acoustic guitar. Blunstone still loves what he does. Although The Zombies’ touring career has now come to an end, with Rod Argent’s decision to retire for health reasons in 2024, Blunstone is refocusing on his solo endeavors while also celebrating The Zombies’ legacy. He will continue recording and touring with his solo band, giving audiences a mix of his own material and Zombies’ favorites. He will never get tired of playing “She’s Not There,” “Time of the Season” and the rest. “We play the hits because people want to hear them, and we enjoy playing them. I think there’s a sort of a mystique about The Zombies. We’d underestimated how much interest there was in The Zombies. Completely.” Rooney Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify Rooney’s history dates back to 1999, when founder and frontman Robert Schwartzman was still in high school. After meeting his bandmates through mutual friends and building a loyal West Coast following over the next few years, the group entered a major label bidding war and eventually signed with Geffen/Interscope Records. The partnership led to a series of sales successes—for starters, their 2003 self-titled debut album reached Gold record sales status and their releases thus far classify Rooney in the highly coveted Platinum selling artists catergory. The album’s US singles proved to be radio worthy when songs like “Blueside,” “I’m Shakin,” and “When Did Your Heart Go Missing” crossed over Alternative radio to Top 40 radio, earning the band high chart positions, as well as significant television exposure. Rooney spent a majority of the album cycle for Calling The World touring and promoting the music internationally, earning the band 3 top 10 radio hits, including a #1 song with “When Did Your Heart Go Missing.” The band performed on major festival around the world, such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, Summerfest, Rock em Ring, Rock im Park, and Summersonic to name a few, and multiple TV appearances such as Letterman, Leno, Kimmel, The Today Show, Conan, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Indie Spirit Awards, and The Critic’s Choice Awards. The band’s debut was regarded as one of Rolling Stone’s ‘Band’s To Watch,’ and VH1’s “You Oughta Know” artists, where the music video for “When Did Your Heart Go Missing” reached #1 most played. Schwartzman took a hiatus from touring in 2015 to focus on filmmaking, specifically producing and directing feature films. He has maintained a prolific directing career, recently completing his fifth feature film, THE GOOD HALF (2024), starring Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David Arquette, Alexandra Shipp, Matt Walsh and Elisabeth Shue. The film debuted at Tribeca film festival, which is where his first feature, DREAMLAND (2017), made its debut. Other films he’s directed include THE UNICORN (2019), THE ARGUMENT (2020), and the first ever feature documentary on British Invasion legends THE ZOMBIES, coming to theatersFall 2024. Schwartzman also composes original music for his films so he’s managed to bring his musicianship and songwriting passion to filmmaking. In 2018, Schwartzman founded the buzzy independent film distribution company Utopia, which has been releasing breakout films out of majors film festivals such as Cannes and Sundance, and championing new voices in cinema. Even with Schwartzman’s parallel career in the film industry, he’s managed to write, produce, and release crowd pleasers, such as singles “I Can’t Get Enough,” “My Heart Beats 4 U,” “Why,” “Do You Believe” and “Second Chances.” Rooney plans to release new music this summer (2024), songs recorded and featured in The Good Half, which will be a part of the film’s soundtrack. Rooney is also gearing up for a new album release, dropping in 2025 (date tbd). May 2023 marked Rooney’s official 20th Anniversary of the debut self titled album, which originally won fans over with its instantly hooky songs and well crafted arrangements. Many songs on the debut album were later featured on the hit TV series The OC, where a more commercially leaning, global audiences would first discover Rooney’s sun-soaked melodies. Rooney joins Jeff Lynn’s ELO farewell arena tour beginning late Summer through the Fall of 2024, sharing the stage with one of Rooney’s biggest musical influences.