Billboard Bits: Zombies, KC Blues Fest, Burning Brides

Ex-Zombies principals Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, who recently reunited for a string of shows and a collaborative album, are now planning a nine-date U.S. tour next month. The duo of vocalist Blunstone and keyboardist/songwriter Argent had a falling out after the Zombies broke up in 1967, only to reform a collaborative partnership for last year’s “Out of the Shadows” (Redhouse), which is available through Argent’s official Web site.

The duo — backed by bassist Jim Rodford (the former member of the experimental rock group Argent formed in the early 1970s), guitarist Mark Johns, and drummer Steve Rodford — played a series of U.K. dates last year as well as a four-show run at New York’s Village Underground.

The Zombies, one of the best-loved ’60s pop groups, had three top-10 Billboard Hot 100 hits with “Tell Her No” (No. 6), “She’s Not There” (No. 2), and “Time of the Season” (No. 3). Though they rose to fame as a singles group, their swan-song album, “Odessey and Oracle” (1968) is regarded as a critical highpoint of the late ’60s psychedelic pop era.

Here are Blunstone and Argent’s tour dates:

Sept. 18: Harrisburg, Pa. (Whitaker Center)
Sept. 19: Falls Church, Va. (State Theatre)
Sept. 20: New York (B.B. King’s Blues Club)
Sept. 21: Glenside, Pa. (Keswick Theatre)
Sept. 23: Buffalo, N.Y. (Trelf)
Sept. 24: Cleveland (Beachland Ballroom)
Sept. 26: Chicago (Abbey)
Sept. 27: Milwaukee (Mirimar Theatre)
Sept. 28: Minneapolis (First Avenue)

— Troy Carpenter, N.Y.

---

Robert Cray, Otis Rush, and John Mayall are among those who will appear Sept. 6-7 at the Kansas City Blues & Heritage Festival near the Liberty Memorial in the city’s Penn Valley Park. Cray will headline the four-band Friday night bill, while the daylong Saturday affair will feature Rush and Mayall, as well as Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Chris Duarte, and CJ Chenier, among others.

Formerly known as the Blues & Jazz Fest, the event has been resurrected by KC Spirit Inc., which also stages the city’s annual Spirit Festival. Tickets — $10 daily or $15 for both shows — are available via Tickets.com, and local outlets. For more information, visit the event’s official Web site.

— Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

---

Philadelphia-based heavy rock trio Burning Brides has been drafted as the support act for the first portion of upcoming Queens Of The Stone Age/…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead tour, which kicks off Aug. 30 in Washington, D.C. The Brides will be on board through a Sept. 18 show in Minneapolis; a second-leg opening act has not yet been announced.

The group recently signed to V2 and will on Sept. 24 re-release its latest File 13 album, “Fall of the Plastic Empire.” The new edition does not include any bonus tracks and, owing to frontman Dimitri Coats’ satisfaction with the original mix, has not been remastered.

Here are Burning Brides/QOTSA/Trail Of Dead dates:

Aug. 30: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Aug. 31: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
Sept. 1: Boston (Avalon)
Sept. 3: Providence, R.I. (Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel)
Sept. 5: New York (Roseland)
Sept. 6: Pittsburgh (Club Laga)
Sept. 7: Toronto (Kool Haus)
Sept. 9: Detroit (State Theatre)
Sept. 10: Cleveland (Agora Theatre)
Sept. 12: Columbus, Ohio (Newport Music Hall)
Sept. 13: Detroit (State Theatre)
Sept. 14: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Orbit Room)
Sept. 15: Chicago (Riviera Theatre)
Sept. 17: Milwaukee (Rave)
Sept. 18: Minneapolis (Quest Club)