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Corgan's Pumpkins Finally Come Home |
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Written by UNA DELIC / Photos by BARRY BRECHEISEN
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Wednesday, 17 December 2008 |
More than a decade after their glorious rise to fame in the then-dodgy alleys of the Wicker Park music scene, The Smashing Pumpkins returned to Chicago to play a four-show extravaganza. On Dec. 7, 1996, they were the featured headliner in the first show ever at the now historic Double Door. On Dec. 7, 2008, they played a show at the Aragon with The Frogs, their same opener from ’96.
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Smashing Pumpkins
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 Entertainment
Art
Aragon Ballroom
Chicago, Il
December 7, 2008
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Corgan seemed to be nostalgic, trying to pump soul and meaning into a Chicago music scene he doesn’t particularly like nowadays. Yet, he was very clear that after these four return-shows, the Pumpkins would rarely play their “old stuff”. A self-imposed last hurrah, on a reunion tour, with a new album, and songs like “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and “Zero” making thirty-something drunk women reel on their heels, splashing their beers on anyone unfortunate enough to be within their reach. Kanye’s got nothing on Billy’s self-image, but could conceit and artistic vision pull him through this? Or did he bite off more contradictions than he can chew?
“Tonight, Tonight” was the fist song on the list, and erected fists from the crowd, lighters sparked on, and a wave of anticipation broke. Alternating the greatest hits from Adore and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the first third of the show had a good flow, excited and mellowed in beat with the crowd. Corgan slowed down the momentum with “A Song For A Son” and some fiddling with a harmonica. He called out a member of the audience for having his middle finger stuck up throughout the show, insulted his beard, then tried to patch his rant about Chicago bands with an awkward, “God Bless!”
The new tracks, “99 Floors,” and extended versions of “Gossamer” and “Superchrist” held their own, although the prolonged jams made the general mood of the show stray. Kicking up the dust, The Pumpkins jammed a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Set the Controls”, with Corgan’s brother Jesse on percussion. The nostalgic tone was back, too, when the wails of “Ava Adore,” “1979” and “Disarm” concluded the show.
Billy Corgan’s attitude is still as honed as ever, and his love-hate relationship with “the city by the lake” makes for a concert that showcases his eagerness to relate to his audience, his bitterness against being pigeonholed in his past achievements, and his eventual return to the oldies that continue to hold him at superstar status. Like the man, the set list is a bit disconcerting, but although it’s tempting to be put off, if you stick it out, there will be a reward at the end. Corgan’s not a crowd pleaser, but he is inevitably a showman, and The Pumpkins have at least a couple more decades of tensions to rock out.
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Written by Guest on 2008-12-22 05:25:55
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