Bruce Sudano
Bruce Sudano (vocals, guitar) / Gary ?? (guitar, backing vocals)
When news of this tour broke, the original choice for support artist for The Zombies was Bruce Sudano but, somewhere along the line, a change was made and it was announced that the British leg of the tour would see him supplanted by American pair, Rogers & Butler. Come the night and, hey presto – it was Bruce Sudano!
After the first song, Sudano addressed the audience saying that he was willing to bet that nobody in the audience would have ever heard of him – but he’d have been wrong as I had done my homework when his name had been announced in the press. An American singer-songwriter, record producer and arranger, Sudano was born on 26th September 1948 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. By the time that he later met and married German singer and disco diva Donna Summer in 1980 he already had a string of US hits under his belt. Summer died in 2012 but Sudano continues to write and release material.
Arriving on stage at about 8:10, he was accompanied by Gary (sorry – I can’t recall his name at this point) and proceeded to sing five or six songs which filled about half an hour, a standard acoustic support set these days. To be honest, none of the songs were known to me – or the audience in general it would seem – even though he did play snippets from a couple of his bigger hits, as well as songs from his latest EP, ‘Ode to a Nightingale’.
He is clearly a competent singer, writer and guitarist but I’m sorry to say that ultimately, he did nothing for me, and I’m pretty sure that his music will remain next to anonymous on these shores.
Footnote. As we enjoyed a swift pre-gig pint in the pub next door to the venue, we went to sit at a table in a window, a long table occupied by only two elderly chaps in t-shirts. As we approached, one of them spoke; I didn’t catch what he said, but Steve briefly responded as we shuffled along the edge of the table to the other end. If only we’d known…
Setlist: included Coney Island Days
The Zombies
The ‘Life is a Merry-Go-Round’ tour
Colin Blunstone (vocals) / Rod Argent (keyboards, vocals) / Tom Toomey (guitars) / Søren Koch (bass) / Steve Rodford (drums, percussion)
Now this was a real blast from the past! I bought tickets for this gig in March 2022 but, as with so many tours, the Covid-19 pandemic laid waste to many a plan and I was left hoping that the septuagenarian stars of the band would still be around by the time of the rescheduled gig! ☠ Only two of the original band – Blunstone and Argent – are still involved, but these days 40% is a remarkably high percentage for a band with its roots in the early 1960s. (Drummer Rodford also has an association with the band for many years now as well as with other solo performers.)
This gig also afforded me another chance to meet up with old Penthouse pal Steve Toal, and this time his younger brother Gary tagged along, having travelled up from Sheffield. Other than a chance meeting in Meadowhall HMV decades ago, I hadn’t seen Gary for the best part of forty-five years, but he was still instantly recognisable! 🙂
I would suggest that this was a near sell-out gig, with several rows of seating on the dance-floor (making photographs difficult – see below) although I will admit to being surprised by the age demographic because there were far more younger people than I either expected to see or have seen at similar gigs recently. And, by “younger” I mean early 20s and 30s; remember, The Zombies have been around in some incarnation or other since 1961…
The years were rolled back by some quality songs, although I did feel as though some of them couldn’t have sounded more ‘sixties’ if they had tried. In fact, they could easily have been lifted straight out of an Austin Powers film soundtrack! With a decent back-catalogue and a new album to promote there was always going to be a mix of the new and the old on offer. I have to admit that I am not really conversant with the band’s material, although I do know the big hits – ‘Time of the Season’ and ‘She’s Not There’ – but it’s fair to say that the highlight of the evening wasn’t even a Zombies song; that accolade belonged to ‘Hold Your Head Up’, a massive smash for keyboard player Rod Argent’s new band, Argent, and a song which is obviously tailored to each venue, because in the instrumental middle section, as well as Bach’s ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’, we were treated to ‘On Ilkley Moor Baht ‘At’!
Each song was introduced by one of either Blunstone or Argent and it was great to hear some of those stories. For instance, did you know that the chorus is really, “Hold Your Head Up, Woman!”, and not “Hold Your Head Up, Whoa-oh!”? No, neither did I. The band’s 1968 masterpiece ‘Odessey and Oracle’ was apparently a primer for such musical greats as Paul Weller, Dave Grohl and Jeff Lynne, and it seems that every man and his dog had hits with Zombies songs except the band themselves, leading to their split in 1971. A 2004 reformation brought about new music and the band continues to record with their latest release, ‘Different Game’, charting in the US at #15.
The setlist was indeed a good mix and it got rockier the further that it progressed, each subsequent song ending with increasingly rapturous applause and cheers. Audience participation was indeed regular and the assembled throng was clearly enjoying a very good time. The gig was brought to a close after just under ninety minutes with a cover of Denny Laine’s ‘Say You Don’t Mind’, a 1971 hit for Blunstone in his solo career. They had been good and I’m glad that I caught them when I did because it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that, at 77, both Argent and Blunstone will not be touring much longer, so this could easily have been their swansong.
And, in closing, I’d just like to add how pleasant it was for a change to leave a venue with my ears still working. This was proof – if ever any were needed – that you don’t have to simply crank the knobs up to 11 and blast your audience to smithereens in order to entertain them. Are you reading this, Nottingham Rock City?
At the time of writing I can only find one professional review of a gig on this tour, that at The Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne Minster on 5th April.
Setlist: Moving On; I Want You Back Again; I Love You; Different Game; You Could Be My Love; Tell Her No; You Really Got A Hold On Me/Bring It On Home To Me (The Miracles/Sam Cooke covers); Dropped Reeling & Stupid; Care of Cell 44; This Will Be Our Year; Time of the Season; Merry-Go-Round; Hold Your Head Up (Argent cover); She’s Not There; Encore: The Way I Feel Inside; Say You Don’t Mind (Denny Laine cover)
I bought a sticker!
Gigs'n'Stuff 