Zygote W/ Beyond Rusty, Mint
Feb 3, 2006
The Opera House


While most people in high school go to a lot of concerts by touring international bands, I was going to Zygote concert after Zygote concert, actually I have no idea how many I went to and to be honest it would probably depress me a little to know. When Zygote played their last official concert in 2002, it was the end of an era for a lot of people. Four years later, Zygote had reformed for one show in June at the Opera House, which had sold out to the point where there were scalpers on the street selling tickets for $100, so the band decided to play another show roughly six months later.

Since this concert was four years since the last one and with the better part of the crowd under 19, it was enlightening. Clearly, Zygote’s mix of funk, jazz, hard rock, and jam band was still being enjoyed by younger audiences and traditions such as the unofficial Zygote chant, “Just can’t fuck with the ‘Gote” are being passed on.

Opening bands Mint and Beyond Rusty had obviously either been inspired by Zygote or had a lot of the same influences, although each had their own style and fans that were happy to see them play. The Opera House filled up fast throughout the night, but there were good chunks of people there from the very beginning.

By the time Zygote hit the stage, if the Opera House wasn’t at capacity, it was close and from the balcony all you could see was the sea of people across the main floor. Since most people expected the usual favourites they weren’t disappointed as the band played almost everyone’s favourites. The only things people couldn’t predict was what covers the band would pull out, as they’d been known to open songs with pieces of covers or start playing one of their songs and midway through play a cover.

The only line up change from the last official show was Rick Welbanks (joined by singer/guitarist Jeremy, bassist/vocalist Amir, guitarist Ovakim and percussionist Shlag) taking on the role of drummer for the second time. And if you didn’t know there was a different drummer before you may not have noticed, he fit right into the band.

Other surprises of the night included a four-piece brass section (2 saxes, a trumpet and a trombone) that played with the band for four songs and brought a new spin. The covers were a definite highlight ranging from Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls On Parade” to Muse’s “Hysteria,” a cover so near perfect I wished they played the whole song.

Songs like Green Root, Two Tales, Nejuan and Silver Gypsy were all met with the entire crowd singing along, but as expected, nothing went over quite like the Flower Song. Although Jeremy, changed the verses the dirty chorus stayed the same and everyone there knew every word of it.

Everyone in the band seemed like they were having a good time and occasionally seemed a little shocked at the response of the crowd. They’ve all gotten better as the years went by, but Amir especially seemed like he’d grown a lot as a musician and an entertainer, possibly due to the fact that he was front man for Feebo (joined by Ovakim and Rick), as well as recently recording a solo EP.

Seeing the band again for the first time in four years reconfirmed my idea that if the band had stuck together they could’ve made it in the music industry and since their fan base keeps growing even without them releasing any new albums in years and only playing two shows since they broke up, apparently others agree.

The only question I have is that, if teenagers are still so responsive to this kind of music, why aren’t more people playing it? It seems that as long as there’s an audience ready for them Zygote will still play the occasional shows and if you have an opportunity to see them, take it, you won’t be seeing anyone like them anytime soon.



Zygote's Set List

1. Green Root
2. Swimming In Chlorine (Bulls On Parade intro)
3. Fast Funk
4. Two Tales
5. Nejaun
6. Static
7. Sting
8. Ladies
9. C (Brass comes out)
10. Girl Next Door
11. Flower Song
12. Camouflage
13. Hysteria/Moot
14. Silver Gypsy (Say It Ain’t So)
15. I Did It For You
16. Weather


- Alyssa Caplin

Check out Trevor's latest column about working with Amir on his first solo EP

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