Pumpkin's show rock's nobler side
7/31/98 concert review
Boston Globe
By Jim Sullivan
Thanks to Eve for the review.
The Smashing Pumpkins are in the midst of a 13 city smallish venue charity tour and God love-em they raised over $100,000 for Boston's Aids Children program last night at the Orpheum theater donating 100% of the take and promising to write another check for $30,000 or so Monday to cover production, theater rental fees and the like.
On the downside it was at the Orpheum and it is summer. There is, really, one reason you don't see (m)any Orpheum shows during the summer. The old house lacks air conditioning. (The pot smoke just hung in the dank air) The Don Law promoting company is well aware of the ventilation problems and explained it to the Pumpkins who said damn the humidity full speed ahead. As it turned out 2,700 fans and seven touring Pumpkins, three core members plus four traveling musicians got a bit lucky. Last night was warm and wet but as far from the worst Boston can do.
First things first: this was far better than the fall 96 pumpkins show at the Fleet Center, where the band seemed determined to do as much damage to their music as possible. it was sonic destruction on a jaw dropping Dylan-esque scale. Aside from the charitable concerns this was a show to pump up the new album Adore. it's a quieter more vulnerable sounding effort than their shout-it-out-loud mega-breakthrough double disc mellon collie and the Infinite Sadness and it's not the easiest sell. yes it's got Corgan's curdling vocal snarl and at times, his brilliant guitar playing but its not the big knockout punch of yore. Thus, Corgan and company need to sell those songs in concert by rocking 9most of them) up and out.
The Smashing Pumpkins are the arena rock fan's easy choice for best alt-rock band. Or:the Smashing Pumpkins are the alt-rock fan's arena rock pleasure. Corgan's baby has grown up in public and taken a lot of strange turns. They are an odd mix of things both prickly and comfy. During last nights two hour set we heard balladeer Billy, bill and the ants,Pink floyd pumpkins, Page-n-plant pumpkins, the Blue man group/Stomp pumpkins-and just about all of Adore. this is a band that does not lack for ambition. If they bite off more than they can chew-and they will do-they can always spit it back out.
We heard the Smashing Pumpkins in all it's phases:from resplendent to pretentious, from space acoustic guitar and piano to full tilt electric guitar and synth effects. As said before we did not often hear the Pumpkins in melody shredding mode, but when we did- their deepest foray into skronk and dissonance was a triple percussion into double guitar blitz rendition of Bullet With butterfly Wings it was killer. Corgan was hissing Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage without a care for the melodic line. And it worked. A rocketship to the city of multiple crescendos. What a conundrum this band is. Cool and uncool, light and heavy.
Corgan looking like a rock and roll Nosferatu, is a serious minded chap. (He smiled only before the first encore 1979 when he presented the check to the AIDS program folks. His mates bassist D'arcy and guitarist James Iha barely registered an emotion all night. (Fair enough they did their musical jobs. you want action go see smashmouth.) touring drummer Kenny Arnoff was by far the most animated of the bunch. two percussionists flanked Arnoff, a jack of all trades/master of all formats guy;some of the percussive grooves were massive and exhilarating. David Bowie's keyboardist Mike Garson provided some exquisite touches. In Daphne Descends the band crosses over into arching 70's style prog-rock. As the regular set hit the home stretch, the Pumpkins did Shame -a gentle chiming melody line built to a clanging meaty climax and Corgan sang Love is good all the time. (deepak pumpkins?) Then came For martha where corgan showed as a guitarist he like many was moved by Eric Clapton's layla (original version) and the band boarded the train to glory. It was indeed a Smashing Pumpkins day in Boston Mayor Thomas Menimo declared it so.