Spring Break
Smashing Pumpkins bring new tunes and faces to Boston crowd
'90s alt-rock band rocked hard despite their recent mediocre album.
by Jordan Holtzman-Conston
Arts | 10/23/07
Posted online at 9:35 PM EST on 10/22/07
/ Last updated at 1:41 AM EST on 10/22/07
More then a decade after alternative rock began phasing out across America, the Smashing Pumpkins are bringing it back, at least for a night. While their latest album Zeitgeist is nothing exceptional, their current tour is reminiscent of the day when rock bands such as Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden ruled the land. Before pop stars and gangster rap, prior to the classic rock resurgence and back in a time where artists wrote, recorded and performed their own music, the Smashing Pumpkins helped define '90s alternative rock. With Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness the Pumpkins put out two of the most diverse, influential and truly musical albums of the alternative rock era.
While the current tour is in support of 2007's Zeitgest, their first studio album in seven years, it highlights the band's past more than anything else. Front man Billy Corgan walked on stage at a recent show wearing one of his weirder outfits to date. Green scrubs went over his patented black-and-white-striped long sleeve t-shirt he has worn off-and-on since the Mellon Collie days. Joining Corgan this time around is longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and two new Smashing faces. Jeff Schroeder replaced founding pumpkin James Iha on guitar, while Ginger Reyes took over on the bass.
Opening act Explosions in the Sky took the stage of Boston's Orpheum Theatre five minutes early starting their set at 7:25. Never before has a band taken its own name so literally, as for 45 minutes the Texas-based quartet tried very hard to sound like explosions in the sky and nothing else. The band features three guitarists, one drummer, and no vocals. With no clear definition as to when a song began or ended, it's very possible the entire set was one explosive song. The sound was vaguely reminiscent of psychedelic Pumpkin instrumentals, but the audience didn't seem to grasp what they were listening to. The set ended with all three guitarists kneeled over on stage making it difficult to determine if they were playing guitar or praying. Forty-five minutes later the Pumpkins marched on stage to a patriotic beat and the rock show began.
While the current tour is in support of 2007's Zeitgest, their first studio album in seven years, it highlights the band's past more than anything else. Front man Billy Corgan walked on stage at a recent show wearing one of his weirder outfits to date. Green scrubs went over his patented black-and-white-striped long sleeve t-shirt he has worn off-and-on since the Mellon Collie days. Joining Corgan this time around is longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and two new Smashing faces. Jeff Schroeder replaced founding pumpkin James Iha on guitar, while Ginger Reyes took over on the bass.
Opening act Explosions in the Sky took the stage of Boston's Orpheum Theatre five minutes early starting their set at 7:25. Never before has a band taken its own name so literally, as for 45 minutes the Texas-based quartet tried very hard to sound like explosions in the sky and nothing else. The band features three guitarists, one drummer, and no vocals. With no clear definition as to when a song began or ended, it's very possible the entire set was one explosive song. The sound was vaguely reminiscent of psychedelic Pumpkin instrumentals, but the audience didn't seem to grasp what they were listening to. The set ended with all three guitarists kneeled over on stage making it difficult to determine if they were playing guitar or praying. Forty-five minutes later the Pumpkins marched on stage to a patriotic beat and the rock show began.
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