Having postponed the show due to illness two weeks prior, Smashing Pumpkins performed their second concert at Chicago's Auditorium Theater last night. Not only was this the fifth and final show of their hometown concert series, but it also marked the end of the band's 20th Anniversary Tour. The tour's name is debatable, seeing as the only two original members are frontman Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Corgan's attempt to "recreate" the Pumpkins was futile, but it has come off as a bit of a gimmick. For starters, in the absence of original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky and guitarist James Iha, the band went so far as to hire another attractive, platinum blonde woman and an Asian guy to fill their respective positions. The two new members, Ginger Reyes and Jeff Schroeder held their own and did the best job they could at picking up where D’Arcy and Iha left off. Corgan, however, failed to do so with the band as a whole, and not just in terms of personnel.

To put it simply, the concert was very good. The band played with energy and possessed solid musicianship, Jimmy Chamberlin in particular. The problem was that it wasn't a good Smashing Pumpkins show. Some would argue that it simply wasn't a Smashing Pumpkins show at all. It was Billy Corgan and Company putting on an original, entertaining concert. It was an entirely different type of thing. But unfortunately, it said Smashing Pumpkins on the ticket, and the same raw, bipolar emotion didn't seem to be as prominent.  Read more »

The loose alliance of midrange festivals that began taking shape more than a year ago put some meat on its bones with the announcement of a networked sponsorship sales program. The Music Festival Alliance includes seven independent festival brands from around the U.S. By aggregating their audience of more than 300,000 annual attendees, they hope to be better able to compete for national sponsors against big national festival companies like AEG, Live Nation, C3 and Festival Network.

The Alliance named music magazine publisher Zenbu Media as national sponsorship coordinator. Zenbu is the publisher of Relix Magazine, Jambands.com, and a variety of other print and online music media. it is also co-producer of its own festival, Green Apple Music Festival, which is not a part of the alliance.

Zenbu president Steve Bernstein explains the value proposition this way. "By consolidating sponsorship opportunities, it's a great way for brands to coordinate their marketing programs and physical presence while reaching hundreds of thousands of core music fans all summer long."  Read more »