News 960523-1
James Iha showed the crowd how to pogo. Photo by Jay Blakesberg.
by Addicted To Noise New Zealand correspondent Marty Duda
Well, they finally made it. The Smashing Pumpkins performed in Auckland at the Supertop on Thurs. (May 23). Originally scheduled for April, the show was postponed due to the death of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's father. The Pumpkins have met with more bad luck since then. A fan was crushed to death at a show in Dublin a couple of weeks back, causing the band to consider canceling the remaining shows altogether. Fortunately for us on this side of the globe they did not.
After opening things up with "Where Boys Fear To Tread" from their smashing album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Billy Corgan (in all his bald-headed glory) asked to have the house lights up. He admonished the crowd to, "Be very careful and pick anybody up if you see them fall down. It can be very dangerous, we don't want anyone to get hurt, we want everyone to have a good time." The band then kicked into "Zero" and a crowd pleasing "Today," before plowing through six straight tunes from Mellon Collie."
The Pumpkins have really jelled; touring has turned them into a top-notch live act. Psychedelic/surreal video images projected on a large screen behind them enhanced the show for those of us further back, while the folks up front just needed the power of the band to get off. Corgan stopped the show several times to thank us for waiting for them to finally return to New Zealand and continued to encourage everyone to be careful.
Unfortunately, there was some violence. Police reported that one person was stabbed and had to be taken to the hospital after a group of Polynesian youths clashed with a group of Europeans. The injury proved to be non-life-threatening.
After playing for just over an hour, the band closed out their regular set with the one-two punch of "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Cherub Rock." A few minutes later they were back with "1979" and Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man." To confound the audience, Corgan insisted on spelling out the name of lame Aussie-rocker Jimmy Barnes throughout "I'm A Man." After a more traditional "X.Y.U.," the band left the stage, but quickly returned again with "Mayonnaise" and "Bodies." James Iha provided a highlight with his demonstration of how to safely pogo dance.
They said their goodnights and left the stage, but returned again (!!) for a final encore: an extended version of "Silverfuck" from Siamese Dream. The 30 minute workout enabled the band to really jam, (although the cynic in me noticed that the accompanying video seemed to sync up with the live music suspiciously well). Things finally wound down with each of the band members taking a vocal turn at "Farewell and Goodnight."
It was undoubtedly a fine show, although I do have a small bone to pick with the band regarding the numerous encores. What is the point of playing for an hour, leaving the stage, only to come back again and again, eventually playing for close to two hours? It got to the point where the crowd didn't even try to get the band back; they knew they would return in a few minutes. After the show ended, I heard a fan comment that things "got a bit boring toward the end." In this respect the Smashing Pumpkin's live show faithfully recreates the mood of their latest release... Great stuff, but maybe a bit too much of it.