I had a list of bands that I intended to take my son t go see this year. Ever since we saw Temple of the Dogs, despite my own admitted reluctance because of the price, it started to feel like something that we should do together. After all, he and I have bonded over the music of Chris Cornell, especially while we were out visiting the west in 2015 and again in 2016. When he died six months later, I felt very thankful that we at least got to see him together that one time.
There were some really cool concerts that seemed very cool and tempting, but decisions had to be made, because of my own limited time and funds. I had taken him to see the two living Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, in consecutive years, in 2016 and 2017, respectively. That seemed important, because those guys are not getting any younger, and he might not have the opportunity to see them in ten or fifteen years. It was in this spirit that we went to see Robert Plant, the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin. Next month, we are scheduled to see Paul Simon, because this is apparently truly Simon's retirement tour, and so it was going to be now or never. There were some concerts that I had to forsake for the time being, however. Seal was not possible, and neither was a concert to see the Foo Fighters, who I have not seen now in over twenty years! But with ticket prices being rather astronomical, it just was not happening this year, because a western trip seemed far more important.
Still, there was one major band that we both liked which seemed both affordable and doable. That would be the Smashing Pumpkins.
He enjoyed the Smashing Pumpkins, particularly 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which is the album when they really reached their peak. Their other albums are quite good though, too. Plus, they were a major part of the whole restoration of rock, if you will, when it got an injection of youth and new sounds back in the nineties, something that modern rock really could use these days. I have been a fan of the Pumpkins myself since the early nineties. So, this was definitely one of the bands on our collective list.
The best part? The tickets were decently priced. They were playing at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, and the tickets were not outrageous. Then, they got a new date at the PNC Bank Arts Center, which is a venue that I used to frequent quite a bit in the nineties and early 2000's, but which it had been a long time since I had gone to. Lawn tickets were going for 20 bucks. Sure, they were lawn tickets, but to see a band like the Smashing Pumpkins for prices that were reminiscent of back in my own concert heyday of the nineties? Yeah, that sounded good.
However, I forgot all about it for quite a while. I remembered that the concert was sometime in August, though, but August seemed relatively far off.
That was, until it arrived. And on Wednesday, August 1st, I remembered to check when the concert would be, and was surprised (and admittedly dismayed) to find that it would be the very next day, on Thursday, the 2nd.
Yikes!
But tickets were still available, and they were still cheap. Plus, these were now actual seats selling for $20, which sounded really awesome! That was all it took for me to go ahead and make the purchase.
And so my son and I went to the concert, and it was a really cool experience for both of us. My son used the word "awesome," which made me feel happy. It was a good concert, too.
The opening act was a band called Metric. Neither of us had really heard of them, admittedly. But they were not half bad. Their set list lasted about forty-five minutes or so. Surprisingly, they took up a large portion of the souvenirs that were for sale (neither of us got any for either band, however).
Finally, the Smashing Pumpkins came on, and were on fire. It really was an awesome sounding show, and they were sharp. They announced that there were many surprises, and they were not kidding. They performed songs that they had not performed in a concert in many years, and did some surprising covers, such as Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven.' Another surprise was 'Breaking the Law,' a cover of that famous Judas Priest song. And they had some special guests, as well. Courtney Love came out, and the Pumpkins collaborated with her to perform 'Celebrity Skin,' 'Malibu,' 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings,' and 'Love Will Tear Us Apart.' Also helping the Pumpkins out on that last song were Peter Hook and Dave Havok of Joy Division, as the Pumpkins also performed 'Age of Consent' and Transmission with them, as well.
Wow, what a show!
My phone has limited space, so I could only take a limited number of video and/or pictures. Still, hopefully these pictures do the show and the night some justice.
I have now seen the Smashing Pumpkins three times. The first was at Madison Square Garden in September of 1996, and the next time was for the Live Earth concert on July 7, 2007, when they were one of many acts to perform, and one of many acts that I specifically saw at the old Giants Stadium. It seems that I see this band once every 11 years, so I guess I will be due to see them again in the summer of 2019.
Here is a special treat for me to share this. Video (a long one) taken by my son (from his Youtube account) of this Smashing Pumpkins show:
Rocket
Siva
Rhinoceros
Zero
The Everlasting Gaze
Stand Inside Your Love
Thirty-Three
Eye
Soma
Mayonaise
Bodies (with Chino Moreno) (First performance since 2008)
Snail (with Chino Moreno) (First full band performance since 2010)
Tonight, Tonight
Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin cover)
Cherub Rock
1979
Fly
Breaking the Law (Judas Priest cover)
Today
Celebrity Skin (Hole cover with Courtney Love)
Malibu (Hole cover with Courtney Love)
Bullet with Butterfly Wings (with Courtney Love)
Age of Consent (Joy Division cover with Peter Hook and Dave Havok)
Transmission (Joy Division cover with Peter Hook and Dave Havok)
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover with Peter Hook, Dave Havok, and Courtney Love)
Solara
Baby Mine (Betty Noves cover)
(Setlist taken from Setlist.fm https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-smashing-pumpkins/2018/pnc-bank-arts-center-holmdel-nj-2beb784a.html)
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