Smashing Pumpkins @ Big Top Luna Park Review

Walking through the gaping maw of Luna Park’s iconic entrance, I spotted an enormous, inflatable Triple M guitar angel and pondered how much had changed since first seeing Smashing Pumpkins almost 19 years ago.

Back then they were the domain of Triple J and very entrenched in the grunge scene that defined the ‘90s. Now they are being played on classic-rock stations and being interviewed on breakfast TV perhaps moving along with their original fans into a different stage of life.

The crowd milling around outside the Big Top venue for the Sidewave show was a sight to behold. There were older fans who had clearly never left the ‘90s, proudly wearing their original ‘Zero’ long-sleeved shirts, self-consciously pulling them down over a small tyre of middle-age spread. Much younger punters had put a lot of effort into emulating the ‘90s style: all middle-hair parts, t-shirts over long-sleeve shirts and a good representation of flannies even on a hot, Sydney night.

There were some pop-punk kids with spiky hair, and older dudes with impressive (and absolutely not hipster) beards wearing non-ironic denim vests, girls in sunflower dresses and Doc Martins, and then the occasional ‘straight from the office’ type wearing trousers, a business shirt and sporting a laptop bag that was definitely not made for a mosh pit. Things have changed massively in the lives of Smashing Pumpkins fans, just as things have changed for those in the band.

Billy Corgan still flies the Smashing Pumpkins flag proudly, but the other three, original members were not on stage tonight. A quick search discovered that D’arcy Wretzky has had a bit of a rough time, James Iha has continued to be the understated rock god he always was with a number of high profile collaborations (most notedly with Perfect Circle), and most surprisingly Jimmy Chamberlain is now the CEO of a tech company. Just think about that for a moment.

But before we get to Smashing Pumpkins’ set, the two support acts deserve very honourable mentions. First up were Japanese pop-rock band One OK Rock who had unfortunately been bumped from the line-up in Melbourne because their equipment didn’t arrive on time.

One OK Rock - image © Kim Rudner

They made up for this lost opportunity by playing a high-energy set, full of jumping, lunging, and spinning, spinning, spinning around in circles. The lead singer did a stellar job of getting the crowd involved, warming them up for the night and support act number two.

Gerard Way, of My Chemical Romance fame took to the stage looking like the lovechild of Billy Corgan and Billy Joe Armstrong – his swagger was straight out of Corgan’s book, and crazy-eyed, spiky-haired aesthetics like Armstrong. Given the adoration I overheard from certain members of the crowd, that description will likely spark ire – on more than one occasion I heard girls say that Way was their “future husband”.

Way commanded the crowd with ease, and told a delightful anecdote about how much seeing Smashing Pumpkins on the Melon Collie tour at Madison Square Garden has influenced him and his “kid brother” (My Chemical Romance’s bassist, Mikey Way). Following that gig they decided they were going to become rockstars. And a rockstar he was.

Gerard Way - image © Kim Rudner

His band looked the part in skinny-black ties, black trousers and white shirts looking not unlike the Blues Brothers on a casual day. It was obvious that Way was a drawcard for many of the crowd, and his set left the crowd with a feeling of excitement and anticipation as he cleared the stage for the main event.

I dug out the setlist from the first time I saw the Pumpkins at the Hordern in 1996, where they firmly stuck to tracks from ‘Siamese Dreams’ and ‘Mellon Collie' (granted they had far less albums to choose from at the time). It was hit after hit with 20 songs and two encores.

Tonight’s setlist was less obvious, and tailored more for their hardcore fans. They ran the gamut of their back catalogue, but passed over some of the more crowd pleasing tunes such as‘Today’ and ‘Zero’. Opening with the military drumroll of ‘Cherub Rock’ (still as much of a rousing chorus to the outcast as it ever was), they moved quickly into the delight of ‘1979’, and then smashed into the heavy production of ‘Ava Adore’. They had the crowd from that first drumroll, with many screaming along to every word (this reviewer included).

I’ve mentioned what the absent members of Smashing Pumpkins have been up to, so who was on stage with Billy instead? Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine fame took the helm behind the drums. His chemistry with Billy was clear as they jammed out on a number of tracks, Billy smiling and feeding off Wilk. Mark Stoermer from The Killers, all rock-god hair and downcast eyes, continued to uphold the ‘fit bass player’ mould.

Billy didn’t waste much time on banter, but he was cheerful and played with the crowd. Due to the sweltering heat he conjured the air-conditioning gods “because I have the power to do that”, and joked about going for mud crab after the gig with someone in the crowd. He appeared to be having fun in a way you don’t normally expect from Corgan.

Billy Corgan - image © Kim Rudner

That lead into some of their newer work, including tracks ‘Being Beige’ and ‘Drum + Fife’ from their new album ‘Monuments To An Elegy’ before heading back to 2000 with tracks from ‘MACHINA’ (‘Stand Inside Your Love’ and ‘Glass And The Ghost Children’).

Absolute highlight for me was ‘Drown’. It was their addition to the ‘Singles’ soundtrack, which was a movie I watched repeatedly as a teenager. It was set in Seattle, which is the city I’m relocating to next week. ‘Drown’ speaks to passing time, loss, longing and love across distances both physical and emotional, and it held a particular poignance for me last night.

This emotional high was quickly followed by ‘Disarm’. The entire crowd was singing: “I used to be a little boy” and even if some of us have lost the angst we held when first falling in love with this track, the passion remained the same.

From this point time seemed to run away by itself. Other highlights were the end of ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ where the crowd sang along a cappella: ‘Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage’ accompanied by nothing but an understated drum beat.

The two-song encore was much too swift, with ‘Tonight, Tonight’ up first, then closing out with Bowie’s ‘Fame’. This was the only part of the set that I found unsatisfying. It was brilliantly executed, with Corgan’s growling voice providing a valuable interpretation of the classic. However, it just felt like they should have closed with one of their own. The opportunity to bask in a Pumpkins’ track in an impassioned manner was stolen and replaced by a more intellectual music appreciation.

Having avoided seeing the Pumpkins during the 2000s because of a number of disappointing reviews, accompanied with the concern that ‘you can’t go home again’, this reviewer is very pleased to report that they absolutely killed it. They lived up to my very high expectations and I’ve been riding a wave of elation all day since.

Written by Suz Koch