The Smashing Pumpkins | The Tower Theater, PA | 10/22/07
When I was in 4th grade, I befriended a girl named Lisa. One day she asked me what bands I liked. I shyly stated one of two songs that I knew at the moment: “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis. The other was “I Would Do Anything For Love” by Meatloaf. Oasis was apparently the right choice, because from that moment, we were superfriends. Lisa was the rebel of grade school; together, we staged an anti-Hansen revolution that had their staunch supporters in tears by the end of recess. Lisa loved Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins, and since she was a hell of a lot cooler than I was, I figured I should too. Nirvana sorta scared me (one of their CD covers featured a nude baby, and you could see his willy, and I was NOT OKAY with that) but the Smashing Pumpkins had cool music videos with rocketships and a funny bald man. Thus, the Smashing Pumpkins became the first band I ever really, really loved.
Like most elementary school friendships, mine and Lisas’ did not survive the transition to middle school. My love of the Pumpkins did. I briefly flirted with Destiny’s Child and No Doubt (girl power!) but by freshman year of high school, I had almost all of SP’s CDs. “To Sheila,” “Disarm” and “Today” were the first songs I ever learned on guitar; theirs was the only band messageboard I ever was a member of, and for a long time I insisted to my horrified parents that “Stand Inside Your Love” would be the song I played at my wedding. They broke up before I reached the age of unsupervised concert attendance, and I mourned being unable to ever see my favorite band play live.
Then, Billy Corgan announced a reunion.
As a Pumpkins purist, I was extremely skeptical. I haven’t liked anything Corgan has done since the release of Adore (Virgin), and when I found out he didn’t even tell D’Arcy Wretsky and James Iha that the band would be reforming, I almost wrote him off right there. However, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I dropped a nice wad of cash on some tickets, and headed to the Tower Theater on a Monday night unsure of what to expect.
