THE ZOMBIES w/ THE STRAWBS - Rock Log 092411

Randall, Chuckie Love, Homework, Grove City Bob and I met up at the Den for our second Zombies show in less than a year.  If you read our last review (Rock Log 091110) you will find that the show received a less than enthusiastic review, but nonetheless positive.  This year we were hoping for a little more.  Well we got it, but absolutely none of it was good.  Holy Mackerel What a Colossal Waste of Time!

The Den was crowded tonight my friends.  As 8:00 neared I felt myself getting borderline giddy with anticipation of The Zombies.  Well, that giddiness was not only delayed but eventually extracted stepped on and thrown to the curb by something I have never seen before in all my Days o’ Denning…a warm-up band.  Huh?  The Zombies, bless them, have not needed an opening act since the Zapruder film was made public.  The Zombies ARE a warm-up band.

Upon realization that the three elderly gents on the stage were not Zombies but in fact The Strawbs, my rock sails lost their wind.  Not a soul in our Concert Klatch had ever heard of The Strawbs, and with good reason…they were bad.  Not bad instrumentally or vocally, just real bad music.  It was forty five minutes of some of the worst music I have ever heard.  It was a blend of one cup acoustic Jethro Tull, one cup Ray Conniff Singers and eleven cups of dog shit...and I do not like to bust out the swear words.

After our trip down repulsive avenue with The Strawbs, The Zombies finally came onto the stage at 9:00pm.  They opened with their classic song, I Love You.  Okay, I’m coming back now, starting to forget The Strawbs.  Colin sounds great, Rod is energized, I’m digging it and then POW!  The words no, and I mean no, band from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s should ever say.  “We would like to do some songs off our new album".  NOOOOOOO!  You are a novelty act, just bang out the tunes that get the blue hairs remembering the days when they had a libido, shut up and move on to the next show.  NO MUSIC FROM YOUR NEW ALBUM!  I became increasingly more enraged with each song.

After five vanilla new songs, Argent began to speak of their legendary album, Odyssey and Oracle.  But by this time Randall, C-Love and Primanti Bob had left as The Zombies recent tunes combined with The Strawbs, forced them to leave in favor of pulled pork sandwiches.  Homework and I plodded through the three songs from O & O and then had to leave ourselves.  The show was that bad and leaving immediately after an eight minute version of Time of the Season seemed to be the right thing to do. 

Here’s the deal, and opening act should get the crowd going, not completely enrage them until the only option is leaving mid-show, which is unprecedented I remind you.  I will never go anywhere to see The Zombies again, not because they are that bad, but simply because I am fearful of a Strawbs sighting.  Tonight I revised my list of life's three biggest fears, which are, in the correct order:

1.       Tragedy involving kids or wife

2.       Boner in church

3.       Strawbs in concert        

This show was the worst I have seen in sometime and may just give The Association a run for their money.  Bad stuff.

Vick