Smashing Pumpkins play Rock Gods Edmonton
Billy Corgan can be forgiven for his massive ego that on more than one occasion almost put the kibosh on the Smashing Pumpkins – the iconic alt-rock outfit that made waves during the dying days of the ‘90s grunge movement. The flamboyant frontman has always been more into glitter than flannel, and it’s not hard to infer that his penchant for all that shimmers somehow made its way into his frontal lobe, rendering him one of the most narcissistic rock personalities since Gene Simmons.
Small wonder that bassist D’arcy Wretzy refused to rejoin the Corgan and his Pumpkins on their superciliously-themed “Shiny and Oh So Bright” junket that ended its tour at Edmonton’s Rogers Place on Sunday night. One wonders what persuaded drummer Jimmy Chamberlain and guitarist James Iha back into the fold. Iha hasn’t been with the group since its 2000 “farewell” tour.
Corgan’s at least smart enough to realize that with a personality large enough to fill the bowels of a hockey arena, he’d better live up to the marquee legend he created for himself. He and his band answered that with a three-hour endurance test for even the most faithful Pumpkin fanatic – with 30-plus songs, and a two-descant encore in a night that wavered between relentless ferocity and meandering self-indulgence that plagued with the patience of those who showed up just to hear the hits.
Oh, yeah, they churned out those hits, most of them from Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, ’90s outings often credited (or blamed) for helping blur the lines between mainstream and alternative music. The injection of a few covers – like David Bowie’s Space Oddity, Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven and the curiously-selected Fleetwood Mac obscurity Landslide – served notice that while Smashing Pumpkins still enjoy the status of being a modern rock staple, they were largely weaned on ’70s ear-bleeders from Black Sabbath and Queen to Rush and Cheap Trick. Yep, back to a time when musicians were glorified as rock Gods.
Corgan played the deity card with every hand dealt. After an animated treatment of Mellon Collie, Corgan hit the stage between two large screens backlit in white – an entrance aping Donald Trump’s grand entrance at the Republican National Convention in 2016. Soloing on acoustic guitar, Corgan strummed Disarm, a touching ditty that led to the rest of the band to viscerally change course on heart-pounding selections Rocket, Siva and Rhinoceros.
All that energy to kick things off added to the hero-worship hyperbole of the backdrops, including God-like figures that would have been more at home on the set of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. It was a theme that would surface frequently throughout the night, with larger than life images of Corgan himself highlighted by a rotating aura that appeared to have been lifted from a Russian Orthodox altar, as well as his face showing up on a series of tarot card projections. Somewhat more obvious was Thirty-Three, a tune that personifies the legacy of Jesus Christ, although it was tempting to believe Corgan meant the work to be autobiographical.
That left Iha to be the Archangel in charge of delivering the message to the masses. He did most of the talking, and introduced the musicians, which also included bassist Jack Bates, multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
“We’ve been rocking hard for 40 shows and this is our last one,” Iha told the crowd of mostly Gen-X types.. “We’ve almost lost our minds, but we’re glad you’re with us.”
Iha was far more adept on guitar duties than as a carnival barker. His licks were superlative, able to pick away at a rootsy selection like Blew Away, then create smooth soundscapes during parts of Stand Inside Your Love, and power-riff his way into intense pieces like Ava Adore and Zero, sometimes alternating between those genres within milliseconds. In the guitar blitzkrieg of the heavily drawn-out Porcelain, Iha traded rapid-fire lines with Corgan and Schroeder in a three-pronged assault rivaling the pomp and circumstance of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird.
For his part, Corgan’s no stiff on guitar, though his keyboard work on slower pieces like For Martha and To Sheila was tentative at best. That put more pressure on Kole to accentuate the sound on the ivories as she accompanied the lead singer.
Corgan appeared even more human later, when he finally broke down the barrier between himself and the crowd. Relating to his fans about driving around the city not knowing where he was, he couldn’t resist in sharing an epiphany.
“Then I see a sign: Deadmonton,” he said wistfully as cheers erupted. “I said, wow, that’s pretty cool! I wanna live in Deadmonton!”
Instead, audiences had to settle for a lengthy stay as those three hours didn’t exactly fly by, with the band taking their time between songs, especially during the middle of their set. But things got going near the end with drop-on-a-dime volleys of power-grinders Hummer, Today, Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Muzzle to round out the show.
The concert proved that even without a complete original lineup, Smashing Pumpkins are hardly fractured gourds of their former selves. But what hangs in the air is whether there will be a Second Coming for the Corgan-led troupe. Or, given their series of demises over the years, would it be their Third? Fourth? Fifth? We’ll leave that to more dedicated music historians to pore over that theological mess.
