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Smashing Pumpkins at the United Palace Theatre
Well, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin at the United Palace Theatre
Billy Corgan
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Nostalgia for the 1990s has taken control of pop culture: Mary-Kate Olsen is prowling the streets of New York in her finest flannel while Liz Phair performed Exile in Guyville in its entirety to sold-out audiences last summer, not to mention the campy but loveable flick The Wackness, and 90210’s recent revival. Whether it’s our failing economy, unpopular president or just the fact that enough time has passed to idealize that period in our history, the (Bill) Clinton years have taken hold of the nation’s psyche.
It seems only fitting that the Smashing Pumpkins join the fray. Granted it’s their 20th anniversary tour, dating them back to the late ’80s, but there are only a handful of other bands that are as representative of the ’90s. Formed in Chicago in 1988, the band released their first album, Gish, in 1991 to a tepid response, but with the release of 1993’s Siamese Dream and its smash single, “Today,” the Smashing Pumpkins arrived at the forefront of alternative music. The classic Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness followed soon after, cementing the band’s legacy.
The group, which consisted of Billy Corgan, James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky and Jimmy Chamberlin for much of its lifespan, was as well known for its dark, gloomy song style and stylized videos as it was for its inner tensions and drug abuse. After becoming a trio in 1998, following the departure of Chamberlin, the band put out Adore and eventually disbanded in 2000.
Since then, Corgan released albums with a new band, Zwan, before rebuilding a Smashing Pumpkins 2.0, of sorts, in 2006, with Chamberlin and new members Jeff Schroeder, Ginger Reyes and Lisa Harriton, who will all be touring for the anniversary.
Besides the chance to see yet another rock-n-roll reunion, the tour offers an interesting twist: the band will perform two different sets entitled “Black Sunshine” and “White Crosses” so that fans can go to two completely different shows at each stop. And even if it isn’t the original lineup, it will be thrilling enough to sing along to “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” with Corgan’s nasal lyrics bleeding through the speakers. Whether the music takes you back to junior high, getting your driver’s license, graduating from college or your single 20s, it is sure to stir memories of a time that may not have been perfect, but seems pretty close to it at the moment.