Smashing Pumpkins at Brixton

Ever since Billy Corgan announced the return of The Smashing Pumpkins without founding members James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky back in 2006, a lot of criticism has been leveled at him, some fair, some not. Of the former: Yes, he is incredibly arrogant with his head wedged firmly up his ass - although I have to add that this has always been the case. Yes, ever since he's joined Twitter his insanity is becoming more and more clear, from his rants about climate change being a fraud despite all evidence to the contrary, to his jumping on some even weirder conspiracy bandwagons (chemtrails, Billy? Really!?). And yes, he does tend to take himself far too seriously.

Of the latter: No, it's not impossible for a band to keep up its high standard with only one or two original members. No, the comeback album, 'Zeitgeist' was not the disaster that it has been portrayed as. No, a band shouldn't just go out and play the hits once they reach a certain age, and no, when selfish people decide to leave a show early because they're playing new material, he was not wrong for berating them. Especially when the new material is of the quality showcased last night at Brixton Academy, where they played a perfect mixture of old ('Window Paine', 'Geek U.S.A.'), new (six tracks from the soon-to-be-released 'Oceania', and two from the work-in-progress 'Teargarden By Kaleidyscope'), familiar ('Siva', 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings') and obscure ('Starla', 'Frail And Bedazzled') tracks. In fact,take a look at the setlist in full:

Quasar (from Oceania)
Panopticon (from Oceania)
Starla (from Pisces Iscariot/I Am One B-Side)
Geek U.S.A. (from Siamese Dream)
Muzzle (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)
Window Paine (from Gish)
Lightning Strikes (from Teargarden by Kaleidyscope)
Soma (from Siamese Dream)
Siva (from Gish)
Oceania (from Oceania)
Frail And Bedazzled (from Pisces Iscariot/Siamese Dream outtake)
Silverfuck (from Siamese Dream)
Pinwheels (from Oceania)
Pale Horse (from Oceania)
Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness) - this song featured an extended outro which included parts of I Am One
Cherub Rock (from Siamese Dream)
Owata (from Teargarden By Kaleidyscope)
My Love Is Winter (from Oceania)
For Martha (from Adore) - one of the most epic moments of the night

ENCORE
Zero (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)
Bullet With Butterfly Wings (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)

People hoping for a greatest hits set were surely disappointed, but anyone just willing to take in whatever the band were willing to throw at us appreciated an epic set combining hard riffs (from both guitars and drums), soaring guitar solos and gentle balladry as only the Smashing Pumpkins can. The perfect example to draw from here is the rendition of 'For Martha', which seamlessly combined all of these elements into one of the most awe-inspiring and grand moments of the night. I was worried when I'd seen that the band had been ending the regular set with a track from the ultra-mellow electronica-tinged 'Adore', but they created an arrangement worthy of the rest of the set.

When the band first appeared with two tracks from 'Oceania' followed by a rarely played live B-Side, I thought that whereas Billy and the band which now includes guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer Mike Byrne were firing on all cylinders, I'd be extremely disappointed by the reaction of the crowd. Fortunately however, it seems that their timid response was largely due to their lack of familiarity with the songs, and not through a lack of appreciation, as as soon as the first chords of 'Geek U.S.A.' rang out the energy picked up, and soared even higher as they went into 'Muzzle'. This subsided whenever new material would be played, but unlike the shows in the U.S.A. in which people would leave whenever a new track was played, the crowd at the Brixton Academy would listen attentively and genuinely seemed impressed with the tracks from 'Oceania' - which if live performances are anything to go by, could possibly be the best Pumpkins album since 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness' - although the two tracks from the much less accessible 'Teargarden By Kaleidyscope' didn't seem to go over quite as well. If people haven't heard those songs, yet, they should head over to http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/ and download the ten tracks released for that project so far (they're all free!). They really do grow on you after a while.

Unlike Guns N' Roses - a band in a similar position what with only having one original member left - who make sure almost everyone in the band gets a spot of their own to showcase their skills, the Smashing Pumpkins prefer to let their performance of the songs themselves do the talking for them. Almost every song featured at least one solo from either Billy or Jeff, with the pair of them duelling on a couple of occassions, and channeling Scott Gorham and John Sykes in a guitar duet. For the 21 year old Mike Byrne, his moments came in the heaviest parts of the set - most notably 'Silverfuck'. As the replacement for Jimmy Chamberlin - previously the only original member other than Billy to still be around - Mike had a lot to prove, and I can safely say that I actually didn't miss Jimmy one bit. Finally, the beautiful Nicole Fiorentino got a chance to let loose during the extended outro of 'Thru The Eyes Of Ruby' with the riff from 'I Am One' (also the riff from Black Sabbath's 'Zero The Hero'... also the riff from Guns N' Roses' 'Paradise City'). Nicole really impressed me both with her bass-playing (I believe she's a much more proficient bass player than D'Arcy Wretzky and can't wait to hear what she brings to the table on 'Oceania'), but also for her backing vocals during the new tracks.

The encore which included 'Zero' and 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' came complete with the warmest crowd reception of the night. Feedback overheard when leaving the venue was incredibly positive. I have a feeling that at least in Europe, 2012 could be a big year for this band.

On another note: during 'Siva', I'm pretty sure Billy ad-libbed the line "Billy Corgan's bald and can not sing". I'm not sure though.