September 11, 2006
The Zombies at 12 Galaxies, San Francisco. 9/7/06
Part of Little Steven's Underground Garage tour, The Zombies played with Phantom Planet and Woggles the other night.
Phantom Planet is far too self styled and major-label-indie-darling for my tastes, sounding a little Radioheadish which is only OK if you are Radiohead, and they had the gall (disguised as homage) to actually do a Zombies cover right before the Zombies came on. The Woggles were self-aping fun, the lead guy was all over the place, and as much as I'd heard raves about them, this was my first time seeing them. Entertaining if not particularly memorable.
The Zombies were elegant, classy and soaring. Insanely and inanely, I had only gained familiarity with their classic "Odyssey and Oracle" just prior to the show, tho friends-pundits had been expounding them for years to my stretched ears. I had always imagined them as probable lightweights, but that album immediately grabbed me as a timeless cornerstone of Left Banke / Big Star triage. Blunstone's vocals were bright and on the mark, Argent's keyboard chops and song stylings were deft. They did do Argent's 70's hit "Hold Your Head Up" replete with the swirling pre/post ELP keyboard gratuitousness that was a bit out of place. The crowd was appreciative as was I.
The Garage was a bit corporate, but the nice thing was getting coupons for $1 Rolling Rocks through part of the night. A worthy project by Little Steven.
Part of Little Steven's Underground Garage tour, The Zombies played with Phantom Planet and Woggles the other night.
Phantom Planet is far too self styled and major-label-indie-darling for my tastes, sounding a little Radioheadish which is only OK if you are Radiohead, and they had the gall (disguised as homage) to actually do a Zombies cover right before the Zombies came on. The Woggles were self-aping fun, the lead guy was all over the place, and as much as I'd heard raves about them, this was my first time seeing them. Entertaining if not particularly memorable.
The Zombies were elegant, classy and soaring. Insanely and inanely, I had only gained familiarity with their classic "Odyssey and Oracle" just prior to the show, tho friends-pundits had been expounding them for years to my stretched ears. I had always imagined them as probable lightweights, but that album immediately grabbed me as a timeless cornerstone of Left Banke / Big Star triage. Blunstone's vocals were bright and on the mark, Argent's keyboard chops and song stylings were deft. They did do Argent's 70's hit "Hold Your Head Up" replete with the swirling pre/post ELP keyboard gratuitousness that was a bit out of place. The crowd was appreciative as was I.
The Garage was a bit corporate, but the nice thing was getting coupons for $1 Rolling Rocks through part of the night. A worthy project by Little Steven.
posted by Henry @ 1:53 AM 
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