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 second of two shows at Chicago's Auditorium Theater was postponed until Monday, December 8 due to Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan's illness. Having also played two previous nights at the Chicago Theater up the street, Corgan's voice could allegedly not handle a fourth consecutive night of screaming to the masses. As part of their current tour, the band decided to stop in their hometown and do an extra few shows. In many of the major cities on their tour, Smashing Pumpkins have done double-nighters in which the setlists are completely different. The band decided to give names to each performance in their traveling two-night event, the first show dubbed "Black Sunshine" and the second "White Crosses". Those who had tickets for both nights at the Auditorium Theater were a bit less disappointed at the postponement of White Crosses. The venue, where Corgan supposedly saw his second-ever concert, is a beautiful old opera house where events like this rarely occur and it's exactly the kind of place where you'd expect an overconfident band like this to play. Smashing Pumpkins, now with Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin as the only two remaining members, put on a show on Friday that left many confused as to how they should feel about the whole experience.  Read more »