E-mail Me! Click Here!
Louisville Music News.net
May 1994 Articles
Cover Story
Bob Bahr
Features
Rocky Adcock
Staff
Paul Moffett
Karen Le Van
Columns
Berk Bryant
Jan Winders
Paul Moffett
Keith Clements
Todd Hildreth
Darrell Elmore
Duncan Barlow
Henry C. Mayer
Alan Rhody
CD Reviews
John Goodin
Mark Clark
Bob Bahr
Kory Wilcoxson
Mark Clark
Mark Clark
Kory Wilcoxson
John Goodin
Allen Howie
Kevin Gibson
Allen Howie
Kory Wilcoxson
Kevin Gibson
Performance Reviews
Kevin Gibson
Kory Wilcoxson
Mark Clark
Jean-Marie Ebel
Allen Howie
Eric Metcalfe
Earl Meyers
Mark Clark
Staff
Calendar
Staff
News Item
Staff
Staff
Jean Metcalfe
Staff
Preview
Bob Bahr
Bob Bahr
Book Review
Steve Eng
Photos
Letha Marshall
Staff
Paul Moffett
LASC
Earl Meyers
Staff
Staff
Jean Metcalfe
Holly Watson
Bookmark Louisville Music News.net with these handy
social bookmarking tools:
del.icio.us digg
StumbleUpon spurl
wists simpy
newsvine blinklist
furl blogmarks
yahoo! myweb smarking
ma.gnolia segnalo
reddit fark
technorati cosmos
Available RSS Feeds
Top Picks - Top Picks
Top Picks - Today's Music
Top Picks - Editor's Blog
Top Picks - Articles
Add Louisville Music News' RSS Feed to Your Yahoo!
Add to My Yahoo!
Contact: contact@louisvillemusicnews.net
Louisville, KY 40207
Copyright 1989-2024
Louisvillemusicnews.net, Louisville Music News, Inc.
All Rights Reserved  


Issue:May 1994 Year: 1994
this one

Smashing Pumpkins
From Tewligans to the Gardens

The last time Smashing Pumpkins were in Louisville — less than a year ago — they played tiny Tewligans Tavern. April 13, the band returned and sold out the 7,000-seat Louisville Gardens.

The band's sudden explosion in popularity can be summed up in two words: Siamese Dream.

The airplay given that thrilling album — one of 1993's best, by any yardstick — gave this veteran band the exposure it needed. April 13, the band gave Louisville fans what they came for — 90 brain-warping minutes of neo-psychedelic rock.

The band serves thick slabs of distorted, feedback-powered guitar on top of urgent, rocking backbeats. Smashing Pumpkins are remarkably adept at recreating their sound from Siamese Dream live. This is not a band that relies on studio trickery.

In concert, that head-trip sound is accented by a mesmerizing light show that recalls early Pink Floyd — multicolored floods, spots, strobes, lasers; a projection screen that shifts and blinks with whirling spirals, throbbing ink blots and other madness.

Smashing Pumpkins surged out of the gate behind the pulsing guitar of "Rocket," offered a searing version of "Quiet" and then knocked out virtually everything the crowd had come to hear.

In short order, the group dispensed with radio hits "Disarm," "Today" and "Cherub Rock," from Siamese Dream, and "Drown," from the "Singles" movie soundtrack. A half-hour into the show, many customers had heard everything they knew. "Today" and "Cherub Rock" were especially powerful.

"Disarm," however, was marred by unruly fans, who threw objects at the stage and hurled insults at the band. Singer/guitarist Billy Corgan flipped off a few of the hooligans, but things didn't calm down until he threatened to walk off stage.

"I'm not going to stand up here and have people throwing s— at us," he said. Corgan made it clear his wrath wasn't directed at the entire crowd. "There are 7,000 people here and 10 a—holes," he said.

From there, the band moved on to other Siamese Dream tracks — offering inspired versions of "Hummer" and "Geek USA," among others — then left some fans in the dust by pulling out five or six cuts from earlier, lesser-known albums.

It all sounded great, even if none but the hardest core fans had any idea what they were listening to. The band's closer was a 10-minute feedback fest which somehow wriggled its way into "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Somebody write and tell me what this song is and where I can find it.

Red, Red Meat's 30-minute opening set was rough-hewn, to put it gently. Their sound is loud, hard and slow — psycho-punk dirges that often try listeners' patience.

The crowd would have none of it. They booed and pelted the band with shoes as they left the stage. "You suck!" somebody shouted.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Bookmark and Share