Scene - Blogs - REVIEW and PHOTOS The Smashing Pumpkins at Cains Ballroom

REVIEW and PHOTOS: The Smashing Pumpkins at Cain's Ballroom
Published: 9/29/2012 12:00 PM
Last Modified: 9/29/2012 12:02 PM

Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. KEVIN PYLE / Courtesy

The Smashing Pumpkins proved its versatility -- and raw power -- with an intimate, sold-out show Friday night at the historic Cain’s Ballroom.

Early on, Billy Corgan thrust himself into the full 13 songs from the band’s new album, “Oceania.” The mini-set could easily be considered the culmination of all things Pumpkins to this point.

There were straight-up rock elements, moments of huge drums, thrusting bass, celestial keyboards, sharp guitars and punk drive. His vocal range is still full-throated Pumpkins, emotive and ethereal.

The set production was stripped-down and straightforward, missing some design elements of the band’s upcoming arena tour.

Songs like “Panopticon,” “Violet Rays,” “My Love is Winter” and “Pinwheels” are, lyrically, everything the band has ever been. Corgan’s songs plumb the depths of the heart with loss and longing and love and anger and redemption. “Breathe! Love is the air!” he sang at one point. The crowd did, and was carried along with him on the journey.

Frankly, it takes a lot of chutzpah to open a concert with a full-length album’s worth of new tunes. The Pumpkins pulled it off with mastery. Sure, a 25-foot projection screen with scenes by Sean Evans, who assisted Roger Waters in his mind-bending production of “The Wall” tour.

Corgan and his band presented the album with almost no dialogue. Fans were receptive (and loud), excitably immersed in the music.

The album’s title track, "Oceania," was the only song he introduced from the album, and was the standout to this point of the night. The tune is epic and cinematic in every sense, lyrically and sonically. There were the metal guitars, heavy drums, soaring guitars. Every instrument sang together in unison, an overwhelming sum of its parts.

And then everything exploded.

The Pumpkins charged into what Corgan called the “dusty” set of the show, filled with greatest hits and covers of the bands that have inspired him.

He was chattier, warmer, more cantankerous, more hilarious. Songs included covers of David Bowie’s “Space Odyssey,” and KISS’s classic “Black Diamond,” along with “Disarm,” “Zero,” “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “Tonight, Tonight,” “Ava Adore” and others.

Midway through this set, and by all accounts the apex of the night, the band erupted into superhard, screaming rage-rock on a near-dark stage as “X.Y.U” took on an intensity that set the roiling mass of fans into near-hysteria. Men screamed primal, including Corgan.

"I can turn into that guy any fu—ing time I want!" Corgan said after the song rampaged for seven-plus minutes.

He confronted a hulking man in the audience who stood at a salute, arms raised and both middle fingers pointed skyward. “Hey, bald man, why are you flipping me off?,” he said, then laughed. Honestly, it was testosterone-fueled high praise from his core fans.

As one of my favorite authors, Norman Mailer, once wrote, “With the pride of an artist, you must blow against the walls of every power that exists, the small trumpet of your defiance.”

Friday night, minds were pried open with Corgan’s take on the band’s past and present as it vaulted into its future.

PS: Twitter was abuzz beforehand with sightings of actor Juliette Lewis, who is in Oklahoma to film the star-laden movie “August: Osage County.” Yes, she was there.

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Barrelhouse Beat

Barrelhouse: A colloquialism describing the low saloons at the turn of the century (19th) that served whiskey straight out of the barrel. It's also a reference to the type of music played in those venues. Ex: Barrelhouse music.

Beat: The time or timing. Ex: The band played with a solid beat. Also used as a term describing a reporters specific area of expertise. Ex: The music beat.

About me: I'm Okie born and raised, and have lived all over the state: Oklahoma City, Enid, Moore, Norman, Edmond and Tulsa. I am a music geek, writer, graphic designer and amateur photographer and videographer who's followed the Tulsa and regional music scene since I moved to Green Country more than 10 years ago. I've been enmeshed in Tulsa's varied and vibrant musical night life, what some of us affectionately call a modernized throwback to the Barrelhouse scene, since that time. I fell in love with it. I fell hard.

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Past Articles By Jennifer Chancellor

2/17/2013		Tulsan Johnny Polygon a rapper who delights in hometown crowd
2/15/2013		The Who brings nostalgia, ingenuity to BOK Center
2/15/2013		Lady Gaga tour is canceled
2/15/2013		Audio Adrenaline concert moves to April 7
2/14/2013		The Who brings 'other' rock opera to Tulsa's BOK Center
2/14/2013		Okies nominated for several top ACM awards
2/14/2013		Epic moments of rock 'n' roll history in Tulsa
2/14/2013		The Who talks about 'Quadrophenia' rock opera ahead of BOK show Thursday
2/14/2013		Shawnee songstress Samantha Crain to play Tulsa CD release show Friday
2/14/2013		Rick Springfield to play River Spirit Event Center on Saturday
2/14/2013		Local music roundup: Vaudvillian sideshows? Nerd nights? Live music? Parties? Yes, yes, yes and yes.
2/14/2013		Eli Young band coming to Brady Theater for first time

Jennifer Chancellor's Blog Archive:

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8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
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8/2008	7/2008	6/2008	5/2008	4/2008	3/2008
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Jennifer Chancellor
BarrelhouseBeat

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