Smashing Pumpkins – Terminal 5 – July 26, 2010
Beginning a weeklong celebration of the anniversary of a premier music magazine is no easy feat. Thankfully for those in attendance at Terminal 5 last night, the Smashing Pumpkins were up to the task. The first in a week of top-flight shows celebrating the 25th anniversary of SPIN magazine went off with a bang as Billy Corgan and his gang roared through a two-hour set.
While he at times cracked jokes with the audience (saying, “Here’s a song you might know,” before playing “Today”), Corgan was mostly business—deafening, cackling business to be precise. He and guitarist Jeff Schroeder (labeled “the Shredder” by Corgan) matched solos all night, performing what was essentially an extended and hellish version of “Dueling Banjos.” The Pumpkins wasted no time getting the hits out there, covering crowd favorite “Ava Adore” and the monstrous “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” fairly early in the show.
Before starting the ear candy that was “Cherub Rock,” Corgan said, “The concert ends when you say so,” met by screams from all three floors of the sold-out venue. He must have figured the audience would want the concert to end with another hit, for a half hour later the band closed the set with its biggest, “Tonight, Tonight.” A two-song encore followed, with Corgan challenging Schroeder for “the Shredder” title as he stretched and squealed his guitar to its highest register during a nearly 10-minute version of “Gossamer.” And then as if by design, the clock struck midnight and the Pumpkins left the stage. —Sean O’Kane
Photos courtesy of Andy Keilen | spartanmarchingband.smugmug.com/Music
