It’s been a banner year for legacy acts on the live music touring circuit. With more than a quarter left to go, 2019 has already seen Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr hit the road separately, Elton John continue his seemingly never-ending Farewell Yellow Brick Road trek, Dead and Company revive for their annual summer swing and The Rolling Stones wrap up a three-year, three-leg romp with another nine-figure payout.
That parade of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers continued on a pleasantly cool Thursday evening in September, when Brian Wilson and The Zombies dropped into Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre for the latest stop in their Something Great From ‘68 tour. The two acts offered a double dose of delightful nostalgia for a crowd that, while hardly homogenous, likely sported more silver up top than the foxes scampering through the surrounding hills of Griffith Park.
The Zombies, who were inducted into Cleveland’s Rock Hall earlier this year, put together a stirring set comprised of old classics sprinkled with a pair of newer tunes. Vocalists Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, the latter of whom also covers the keyboard, offered a brief preview of what was to come before diving in with “Tell Her No”. The band then dallied through “Merry Go Round”, a new song written over the summer for the Zombies’ upcoming album, and “Edge of the Rainbow”, from 2015’s Still Got That Hunger, before bringing back the first song the group ever recorded: “She’s Not There”.
To round out their end of the proceedings, the Zombies then welcomed back their other two original surviving members, bassist Chris White and drummer Hugh Grundy—along with Darian Sahanaja from Brian Wilson’s band on the Mellotron—for a cover-to-cover run-through of 1968’s Odessey and Oracle. That album includes two of the band’s most notorious tracks: “A Rose For Emily,” which brought the Zombies back to life when it was featured as the theme song of the popular podcast, S-Town, and “Time of the Season”, which has been in permanent rotation on just about every classic rock radio station known to humankind over the past half-century.
All told, the Zombies proved that, as a band, they are alive and well. Blunstone crooned as if no time had passed from his prime, Argent was spunky on the keys, and the blend of old and new members romped joyously through the group’s most noteworthy record, all the while accompanied by 1960s-style animations on the screens.
Brian Wilson, on the other hand, was a bit more subdued during his set—and understandably so. After decades spent battling physical and mental ailments—some of which are associated with past substance abuse—the 77-year-old Inglewood, California native is best suited to live performance from the bench behind his grand piano, with ample artistic support.
On this night, that support was more than ample; it was spectacular. With Al Jardine to his left, Sahanaja to his right and Blondie Chaplin featured throughout, Wilson and company wound their way through the core of the Beach Boys’ catalog, for which this band’s leader was largely responsible as a songwriter and composer.
From the very top, Wilson had the audience dancing to “California Girls”, lent a new meaning in riper age to the phrase “I Get Around”, and assured all in attendance that everything with this group will turn out alright on “Don’t Worry, Baby”.
The band welcomed Blunstone and Argent back to the stage for a rousing rendition of “God Only Knows” before inviting Chaplin out for a run of songs authored by Wilson’s late brother, Carl Wilson, including “Feel Flows” and “Long Promised Road”.
Brian Wilson w/ – Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent (The Zombies) – “God Only Knows” [Partial]
[Video: Brandon Weil]
Wilson dug deeper into the Beach Boys’ extensive repertoire with “Diamond Head”, “Passing By”, and “‘Til I Die”, and Jardine took a spry turn on lead vocals during “Lookin’ at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)” before the collective closed things out with a run of timeless hits. That final chapter began with some “Good Vibrations”, answered the call on “Help Me, Rhonda”, and kept things rockin’ and a-rollin’ during “Barbara Ann”.
The band dropped the surprise of the night when they invited Billy Idol onstage for some singing and prime air-guitaring on “Surfin’ USA” and “Fun, Fun, Fun”. Finally, they ended the evening intimately as everyone gathered around Wilson’s piano for “In My Room”.
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As Wilson and his cohort exited the Greek Theatre stage and boarded the bus into the night, they did so knowing full well that 2019’s spectacular run of classic acts will continue as summer gives way to fall. The Who, for one, will bring their “Moving On!” tour to L.A. in October. Shortly thereafter, Southern California will get an extended listen to Wilson’s work when Mike Love brings his half of the Beach Boys to the region as part of a string of shows that’s set to run into 2020.
Brian Wilson and The Zombies will continue to tour through the Pacific Northwest next week. For a full list of upcoming dates on the Brian Wilson/The Zombies Something Great From ’68 tour, head here.
You can check out a gallery of photos from the show at the Greek in L.A. below courtesy of photographer Brandon Weil.
