Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins are holding court at the Fillmore, doing an eleven night run. I had a ticket for Wednesday, night seven. I figured they'd be a pretty well oiled machine by then.

I was not wrong.

The funny thing about this show was that there was two ticket limit, and all tickets were will call. I figured this would mean a super long line getting in. The opener hit at 9, so I figured if we got in line at 9, we'd be in by the time the Pumpkins took the stage at 10ish. When I showed up a little before 9, the line was no where in sight. I guess people were eager to get in, cause when Dave SG and I strolled in, the place was at least eighty percent full. We opted out of the opener whom I was seriously not impressed with and chilled in the poster room. I got the lowdown on the insane 9 month journey he and Erin are about to partake on, snaking their way through South America.

The Pumpkins hit at 10, and it started with a couple acoustic Billy Corgan numbers. Let there be no mistake - this might be the Smashing Pumpkins - but this was really the Billy Corgan show. The only other original member was the drummer, who was as truly nutballz as I had hoped would be. Things ramped up quickly, and soon, it was totally punishing in the room. I've never heard sound like this. Yes, it was insanely loud, but it was a really thick, meaty loud that rocked your core. It is the way you are supposed to experience the Pumpkins. They brought along a ton of speakers to flush out the already generous Fillmore PA. Their stage setup was like a stadium rig.

They played a some stuff off the new album (of which I'm not a big fan of), a couple greatest hits, and a bunch of material I'd never heard. I'm gathering some of it must have been new, since the die hard fans weren't cheering during the song intros like they did for every other song. Billy's in fine shape. I learned that when he feels like it, he can totally shred. I found that I liked some of the stuff I didn't know more then the ones I did. They did a solid two and half hour set, mercifully letting us go by 12:30. I'd heard that he often doesn't finish up till after one. I just can't hang like that. I really wanted the poster (sweet sweet poster), and I staggered my way to the finish line. Totally worth it.

In retrospect, it was an awesome show. It certainly stands out from many other shows I've seen. He stretches out songs pretty far - sorta like an extreme metal jam band. Lots of musicality there in that band, fueled by distortion and the desire to kick your ass. Anyhow, here's a little capture to get a very distorted taste (my sad little camera mic) of what punishing is all about: