Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary
- Andres Galvez
- Jul 24
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 29
The Bellwether, Los Angeles
July 19th, 2025
Review by Andres Galvez
On July 19th, I was invited out to The Bellwether to capture a film screening of Hung Up on a Dream, followed by a live performance by Rooney and The Zombies very own Colin Blunstone, and finally closing with a live Q&A hosted by KCSN host, Nic Hacourt.
Starting with the movie screening (I was not allowed to take photos during this), the documentary was incredible. I had grown up listening to the Zombies, knowing their music, but I never knew the struggles that they had to go through during their entire career. The love and passion for music, yet having to face a lack of effort from managers and lack of compensation, even on long, guiding tours. This resonated strongly with me, it's not unlike what we go through as photographers, often taking work for little to no pay, ultimately, it's our passion and we love doing the work that we do, but it is tough...
Following the Screening, Rooney took the stage to perform songs from their 2023 debut album such as "Blueside" & "If it were up to me".
Mid way through Rooney's set, Colin Blunstone of The Zombies joined them on stage to perform some of their hit songs such as "She's Not There", "Time of the Season", & "Caroline Goodbye". Even today Colin's voice carries incredible presence. Colin along with Rooney performed an amazing show and had the audience standing and singing along from start to finish. especially when he started with "Time of the Season".
Lastly to close out the night, Robert Schwartzman and Colin Blunstone were joined by Nic Hacourt of KCSN for a Q&A session. Robert was able to give his reasoning on why he chose to revive "Hung up on a Dream", which was started in 2013 but then abandoned. Robert was able to tell us about his love for cinematography and music and how this was a great opportunity to work on a project that really designated with him. He later described how he was able to find some of the footage and images in the film after being lost for so many years, even when the band members themselves thought there was no media.
Nic then focused on Colin, asking him to describe the experience of watching back film from their start. Colin did not know that any images or video even existed until Robert brought this film back to life. He also gave us a first hand accounts of being in a hotel and having broken the bed after horsing around with his fellow band members. They scrambled to get the bed fixed but then were "lucky" enough to get kicked out of the hotel because they had too many women running around looking for them. This is just one of the many first hand accounts he gave us.
Although different from the typical shows I cover, this is probably one of my favorite experiences. Getting to watch a documentary and then getting to hear live first hand accounts of what actually happened is pretty incredible. Hung up on a dream will be doing one final live screening in Los Angeles on August 7th at the Grammy's Museum Do not miss is it, this is a must watch!! Tickets can be purchased here: HUNG UP ON A DREAM: THE ZOMBIES DOCUMENTARY
Credits
Venue: The Bellwether
Featured Film: Hung up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary
Artist: The Zombies - Colin Blunstone
Q&A: Nic Hacourt - KCSN Host
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