Colin Blunstone at City Winery

Colin Blunstone was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, and attended school in nearby St. Albans, where he met his future band mates in the Zombies. In 1961, the band won a local contest, where the prize was the opportunity to record a demo. The song, "She's Not There," led to a recording contract with a major label and four hit singles before the band split in 1968 over management issues. Blunstone then worked briefly as a clerk in the insurance business before launching a solo career in 1969. He enjoyed hit singles in other countries but had little success in the United States. He teamed periodically with his former Zombies band mate Rod Argent, and in recent years the duo has also performed live and recorded as the Zombies. Blunstone's 11th and most recent solo album is 2012's On the Air Tonight. Blunstone will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of The Zombies in 2019.

With no new album to promote at City Winery tonight, Colin Blunstone played a set of his better-known songs, many of which were soft-rocking, mid-tempo cover songs. He introduced many of the songs with anecdotes, sharing how they came into his repertoire. As his four-piece band (guitarist Manolo Polidario, keyboardist Peter Billington, bassist Elliot Mason, drummer Steve Rodford) opened each song, Blunstone's light, velvet voice wrapped itself around the lyrics and melodies, periodically ascending to an unusually high range. Often the songs evolved largely into vehicles for Blunstone's climb to the high vocal registers. As could be expected, the audience responded with the most enthusiasm to the Zombies hits, but also left impressed with Blunstone's soaring and sweeping vocal gymnastics.

Setlist:

1. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (Jimmy Ruffin cover)
2. The Wild Places (Duncan Browne cover)
3. I Don't Believe in Miracles
4. Any Other Way
5. So Much More
6. Caroline Goodbye
7. The Tracks of My Tears (The Miracles cover)
8. Single Man's Dilemma
9. Though You Are Far Away
10. Time of the Season (The Zombies song)
11. Wonderful
12. Beginning
13. Keep the Curtains Closed Today
14. Andorra
15. Misty Roses (Tim Hardin cover)
16. Dancing in the Starlight
17. Now I Know I'll Never Get Over You
18. Planes (Elton John cover)
19. Say You Don't Mind (Denny Laine cover)
20. Old and Wise (The Alan Parsons Project cover)
21. She's Not There (The Zombies song)
22. Just Out of Reach (The Zombies song)