Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent Bloomsbury Theatre, London

From page 108 of Classic Rock Magazine August 2003



Cover of August 2003 issue.
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Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent were singer and keyboardist respectively with the Zombies, British pop’s wonderkids of the late 60s – huge in America, one-hit wonders here. Rod subsequently went on to front progressive outfit Argent, while simultaneously producing several ballad-based albums for Blunstone.

That’s a lot of history, and much of it was captured on video this evening in front of a highly attentive, bookish- looking audience. Mind you, the Zombies were (crassly) promoted as the band with the most O Levels ever, so the library-like silence punctuated by wild applause wasn’t all that unexpected.

A string quartet enabled such Blunstone solo gems as ‘Say You Don’t Mind’ and ‘Misty Roses’ to be accurately replicated, while jazzy solos from Argent added new dimensions to the 60s pop.

Almost all of Argent’s (the band) classic farewell album ‘Odessey And Oracle’ was performed, despite never having been played live in the band’s lifetime.

Americans revere that record as we do The Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’ or ‘Smile’, and the spot-on harmonies of Blunstone, Argent and bassist Jim Rodford bear Beach Boy comparison.

Though ‘Hold Your Head Up’ and the Kiss-covered ‘God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You’ had the audience shaking what hair they had, it was Argent’s ‘Pleasure’ that not only proved to be the highlight of the evening but also aptly expressed the vibe. (Put the DVD on your Christmas list.)

Michael Heatley

Kevin Ayers
Thin Lizzy






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