THE ZOMBIES – ANNOUNCE U.S. & U.K. DATES By SFL Music March 8, 2024 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAMERS THE ZOMBIES ANNOUNCE U.S. & U.K. DATES CELEBRATING THEIR 60 YEAR RECORDING CAREER “The Zombies are still in the game and still playing for keeps” – American Songwriter “The new material is absolutely enchanting” – Goldmine Magazine “Still-hungry group flexing their creative muscles” – MOJO Magazine “Everyone plays like they were dealt a perfect hand” – Den of Geek “These 60’s legends are proving that it’s still the time of the season” – Rolling Stone UK NEW ALBUM ‘DIFFERENT GAME’ AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE ON COOKING VINYL RECORDS Album link: https://thezombies.lnk.to/differentgamePR ***For Immediate Release*** February 16, 2024 2023 was a whirlwind year for The Zombies. They released a new album, Different Game, to widespread critical acclaim and chart placements on both sides of “the pond”. The band premiered a documentary at South By Southwest (SXSW), taking home the prestigious 2023 “Career Act” Grulke Prize for their live performances at the famed Austin festival. USA and UK tours followed, playing to capacity crowds, plus festival performances over the Summer, while at the same time, the original lineup won the rights to their 1960’s recorded catalog. They closed the year curating their first ever hometown festival in St. Albans, UK, the city where the band formed in 1961. It seems the whirlwind will continue into 2024, as The Zombies have just announced the final leg of their Different Game tour in late March/early April, with a string of dates throughout the SouthEastern US, where they will also set sail for the On The Blue Cruise, a floating festival featuring Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, The Alan Parsons Project and many more. For these USA dates, the band are rehearsing some Zombies “nuggets” to perform alongside new material in advance of their UK tour in May/June, “Celebrating 60 Years on Tape”, which will commemorate their remarkable recording career, beginning with their chart-topping 1964 debut single “She’s Not There” and continuing to today with Different Game. The UK tour culminates at London’s Barbican Theatre, a show that will include special guests like Paul Weller, Irwin Sparks (of Hoosiers) and Simple Minds vocalist Sarah Brown. The American leg of this anniversary tour is being planned for Fall 2024. The Zombies began work on Different Game after their 2019 induction into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a USA tour with Beach Boys auteur Brian Wilson. The band, which features founding keyboardist Rod Argent and lead singer Colin Blunstone, along with drummer Steve Rodford, guitarist Tom Toomey and bassist Søren Koch, hoped to finish writing and recording the follow-up to their Billboard-charting 2015 album Still Got That Hunger during a busy 2020 touring schedule, but COVID-19 had other plans for them. As primary songwriter and producer Rod Argent relates, “the band was not content to record remotely.” Despite the Pandemic, The Zombies persevered, and the album cover for Different Game exemplifies the independent and hard-working spirit of a band that refuses to rest on the laurels of a 6-decade career, and comes from a photo taken by Rod Argent during a touring misadventure in the Arizona desert in Summer of 2022. Singer Colin Blunstone explains: “We were traveling from Southern California to Tucson, when our tour van’s engine suddenly caught fire! We spent about 5 hours stranded in the remote Arizona desert, but thanks to our intrepid team and crew, we were rescued and made it to our next show! It was a harrowing experience, but also beautiful and surreal.” 2023 marked The Zombies’ 10 year anniversary at SXSW. The band performed 2 free shows, showcasing both their hits from the 60’s and songs from their new album for the first time live. The show at Stubbs Bar-B-Q garnered these reviews from: “The 15-song set list at Stubb’s included timeless hits from the band’s early years as part of the British Invasion music wave of the 1960s, as well as fresh sounds from “Different Game,” … The 2,200-person venue was packed with swaying, dancing and cheering from fans in front of the stage and by the concession stands.” – Austin American Statesman “Performing throughout the week, mostly to kids below the age of 25 … and screaming “LEGENDDDD!”” – Rolling Stone The Zombies’ experience and behind-the-scenes look at 2023’s SXSW was documented and released as a music video for their track “Merry-Go-Round. The festival awarded the band with the Grulke Prize for Career Act and in honor of the award, the band donated the $10,000 prize to Oxfam America. Different Game was released in advance of their feature documentary entitled Hung Up On A Dream, which premiered worldwide at the SXSW film festival, slated for release in 2024. The film is directed by musician and filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, and co-produced by Schwartzman’s Utopia Films, The Ranch Productions, and Tom Hanks’ Playtone. Different Game track listing: Different Game Dropped Reeling & Stupid Rediscover Runaway You Could Be My Love Merry-Go-Round Love You While I Can I Want to Fly Got to Move On The Sun Will Rise Again U.S. Tour Dates March 26 – Rams Head – Annapolis, MD March 27- The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA March 29 – The Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA March 31 – Carolina Theater of Durham – Durham, NC April 2 – Charleston Music Hall – Charleston, SC April 3 – Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA April 5-10 – On The Blue Cruise April 11 – Culture Room – Ft Lauderdale, FL April 12 – Capitol Theatre – Clearwater, FL UK Tour Dates May 21 – Lighthouse Theatre – Poole, UK May 22 – Exeter Corn Exchange – Exeter, UK May 24 – Buxton Opera House – Buxton, UK May 26 – RNCM Concert Hall – Manchester, UK May 27 – City Varieties Music Hall – Birmingham, UK May 30 – Playhouse Whitley Bay – Whitley Bay, UK June 1 – The Queen’s Hall – Edinburgh, UK June 4 – St George’s Bristol – Bristol, UK June 7 – Barbican Centre – London, UK June 14 – Brewery Arts Centre – Kendal, UK June 15 – Eden Festival – Moffat, UK July 28 – Lattitude Festival – Southwold, UK About The Zombies: The Zombies formed in the historic Cathedral city of St Albans in 1961 with Rod Argent (Keyboards/Vocals) and Colin Blunstone (Lead Vocals), alongside Chris White (Bass), Paul Atkinson (Guitar) and Hugh Grundy (Drums). Their first single ‘She’s Not There’ on Decca Records, rocketed to the top of the charts in 1964 on both sides of the pond. They were the second UK band following The Beatles to score a #1 hit in America, infiltrating the airwaves with sophisticated melodies, breathy vocals, choral back-up harmonies and jazzy keyboard riffs. The original line-up disbanded just prior to achieving their greatest success – the worldwide chart-topping single ‘Time of the Season’, from their swan-song album ‘Odessey and Oracle’, ranked in the Top 100 of Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time.’ To this day, generations of new bands have cited The Zombies’ work as pop touchstones, and the band continues to be embraced by new generations of fans. Following the break-up of the original band, Blunstone went on to develop an acclaimed solo career, while Argent rocked arenas in the 1970’s with his eponymous band ARGENT, but the legend of The Zombies continued to take on a life of its own. By the start of the new Millennium, Blunstone and Argent were inspired to resurrect The Zombies, which has led to several critically-acclaimed new albums and 2 decades of worldwide concert performances. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CHECK THE ZOMBIES WEBSITE https://www.thezombiesmusic.com/ THE ZOMBIES SOCIALS YouTube Spotify Apple Music Facebook Twitter Share It!
