Colin Blunstone, The Zombies’ founding frontman, will release a new live album and concert video soon documenting a special show he played in London in 2024 that included a full performance of his debut 1971 solo album, One Year. One Year and More: Live from Union Chapel is due out on November 21 and can be pre-ordered now. It will be available as a two-CD set, a DVD, and a deluxe box set featuring all three discs.
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One Year and More was recorded on November 21, 2024, at Union Chapel, a historic building that serves as a church and a concert venue. The show was the last of a four-concert engagement at Union Chapel. The concerts began with Blunstone performing an opening set featuring a few Zombies tunes, other selections from his solo career, and some covers. That was followed by a second set during which Colin performed One Year’s 10 songs in order.
Colin was accompanied by his solo touring band and the Q Strings string quartet. Blunstone’s group featured keyboardist Dave Bainbridge, guitarist Chas Cronk, bassist Søren Koch, and drummer Steve Rodford. Bainbridge and Cronk were longtime members of The Strawbs, while Koch and Rodford have been part of The Zombies’ touring lineup for years.
More Details About ‘One Year and More: Live from Union Chapel’
In a statement, Colin reflected on the special concert.
“On the 25th of November 2024, I performed my first solo album One Year live in its entirety for the first time at London’s Union Chapel,” the 80-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said. “Looking back this was not an undertaking to be taken on lightly knowing that One Year encompasses so many different genres of music. With very little rehearsal time my solo band … and the incredible Q Strings took on the challenge without a moment’s hesitation.”
The box set includes a 24-page booklet featuring photos from the concert and an autographed and numbered certificate. The discs and booklet come packaged in a gold foil–embossed box with gold satin lining.
You can check out a trailer for One Year and More: Live from Union Chapel at Blunstone’s YouTube channel.
The promo features video clips of some of the performances, as well as Colin commenting about the show.
“It’s really a celebration of my first solo album, which is called One Year,” he says. “It was a very unusual album in that there was a rock band involved, but also a lot of wonderful string arrangements by an arranger called Chris Gunning, many of them quartet arrangements. [T]he first half [of the concert] is more of a rock show using songs that I’ve recorded over the last 60 years.”
A full video from the show of Blunstone performing “I Don’t Believe in Miracles” has debuted on his YouTube channel. The song, which was written by Russ Ballard, originally appeared on Colin’s second album, Ennismore, which was released in 1972.
Blunstone’s Upcoming Tour Plans
As previously reported, The Zombies retired from tour in 2024 after founding keyboardist Rod Argent suffered a stroke. Since then, Blunstone has focused on his solo career. Next up for Colin is a 2026 U.K. tour running from a May 7 concert in Newport through a May 28 show at Union Chapel in London.
One Year and More: Live from Union Chapel Track List
First Set
- “Time to Move”
- “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”
- “Wild Places”
- “Levi Stubb’s Tears”
- “Tracks of My Tears”
- “Hung Up on a Dream”
- “Andorra”
- “Any Other Way”
- “Old and Wise”
- “I Don’t Believe in Miracles”
Second Set: One Year
- “She Loves the Way They Love Her”
- “Misty Roses”
- “Smokey Day”
- “Caroline Goodbye”
- “Though You Are Far Away”
- “Mary Won’t You Warm My Bed”
- “Her Song”
- “I Can’t Live Without You”
- “Let Me Come Closer to You”
- “Say You Don’t Mind”
Encore
- “Just Out of Reach”
Photo by Christie Goodwin
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