I like The Zombies for a few reasons. They may not have flooded the radio stations with hit after hit but The they had sophistication. The Zombies were very mature musically speaking. I have been playing guitar in bands since I could get my fingers around a fret board. The Zombies music sounds easy but is fairly complex to actually play.

The Zombies were mature songwriters. Next to the Beatles, this group was the second "British Invasion" band to score a number 1 hit on the Billboard charts.

The Zombies have a jazz influence running through most of their songs that translates very well into the general pop rock genre. There have been times I wondered if Steely Dan was not influenced by this pioneer group from England.

If you do not know who the Zombies are, you certainly heard a few of their songs. "Tell Her No", "She's Not There" and " Time Of The Season" were all over the charts and still get much airplay today because they are timeless classics.

My father gave me a call the night before The Zombies were coming to town to kick off their 2008 Summer tour in Detroit. Our city was the tour's first stop to play at "City Fest".

Dad wanted to know if we were going down to see The Zombies play. Hell yes, we would go. I didn't know they were going to be touring, let alone be in town. What a freaking treat this would be! To see The Zombies play for free! My God, I would have paid more than a few bucks to see this happen!

Basically, The Zombies are doing their old standards and also including new material for this tour. Testing the waters, so to speak. They will not be releasing anything new until 2009.

So on July 3rd, The Zombies came to Detroit for "Tastefest", a part of the "City Feast" calendar of events to unfold throughout this summer.

Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone are two of the original Zombies on this tour. Both of these original band mates were and still are the anchor for the group. Argent with his signature keyboards and Blunstone the vocalist.

The Zombies were scheduled to start at 8:30 PM and we were stuck in traffic. I was freaking out because I did not want to miss a single song. We got over to the pavilion at 8:50 PM. The Zombies had not come out on stage yet. They were waiting for us to get there.

The Zombies opened with a song I had never heard before called "I Love You". About twenty seconds into this number, my father was losing some color in his face and was transfixed. I was getting concerned, so I shook him on the shoulder and inquired.

"I have not heard this song in more than twenty some years." my father mumbled to me. Turns out later The Zombies never recorded "I Love You" as one of their songs. They had written it, then gave it to a "one hit wonder" group called "People" back in the late 60s. Dad told me later he had totally forgotten about this song. He had the single when he was a kid, then played it until it would not play anymore.

The night was warm, with a nice breeze and no sign of rain. The crowd was upbeat and a very mixed age group was in attendance for this Zombies concert. I did not try to fight my way to the stage. We actually did not have to do this. The sound system was exceptionally loud and we all had a good view of The Zombies as they performed.

After opening with "I Love You", dad got some color back into his cheeks, then Colin thanked the audience for turning out to hear them play. Blunstone was very gracious and we all had the feeling he was extremely sincere to the audience.

The next song was very Motown. Whether or not The Zombies did "What Becomes Of A Broken Heart" because they were in Detroit, I will never know. This old Jimmy Ruffin ditty got to everyone, though. They had the entire crowd now.

The sound system was not the greatest. The Zombies enthusiasm overcame the technical issues. They were very well rehearsed and professional, throughout the entire concert.

The Zombies covered everyone of their biggest hits and also include some new material I found very "hot". Usually when older groups come out with new material, it's forgettable. Two of their new songs totally had me, though.

Suddenly, my father was off in "la-la land" once again. Then my wife's eyes started to flood with tears. What the hell was happening? Well, I did not recognize the song for about 30 seconds and I don't think anyone else really did either for a moment.

Argent! OMG! Rod Argent was that group - "Argent"! Argent did a big hit in the 70s called "Hold Your Head Up" and now The Zombies were doing this song as if it was the original cut! When the chorus came in, everyone was singing with it! I looked around and found that almost everyone knew this old song and was totally taken by surprise as much as we were.

What a great way to kick off this concert summer. I would have paid to have been there for The Zombies. I loved the show. I know my wife did. I think my dad had some very bittersweet moments through it all, but he came out of it Ok. If The Zombie are going to be playing anywhere near you this summer, you should check it out.