Brian Wilson and the Zombies will link up for a North American tour this summer in celebration of their music from 1968 and beyond.
The tour will see Brian Wilson primarily perform selections from his two favorite Beach Boys albums, 1968’s Friends and 1971’s Surf’s Up, in addition to other classics and rarities from throughout the band’s discography. His touring band will feature forme Beach Boys members Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin.
As Wilson explains in a statement, “It’s been quite a year and I’m ready to go out and tour some music that makes everyone have a feel good vibe. The Friends album has always been one of my favorites, and I love the music from that time in history.”
The Zombies, who were inducted this year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will open each show with a full performance of their classic 1968 LP, Odessey and Oracle, in addition to selections from throughout their lengthy career. The British rockers will link up with Wilson after completing a brief run of North American dates on their own. The majority of the performances on the tour will also see current touring members Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone reunite with co-founding former band members Chris White and Hugh Grundy. The first two shows of the run—in Las Vegas, NV on 8/31 and in Indio, CA on 9/1—will not feature White and Grundy.
As Wilson’s bandmate Darian Sahanaja notes in a statement, “Any fan of Pet Sounds should immediately identify with Odessey and Oracle. Rich harmonic tapestries, baroque impressions with an underlying melancholy… classicism with an emotional yearning that I find common in both Brian’s songwriting and that of The Zombies. To be able to perform with both entities on the same bill is a dream within a dream within a ‘hung up’ dream come true.”
For a full list of dates, see below. Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 10th, at 10 a.m. local time here.
[H/T Rolling Stone]