The Smashing Pumpkins Nine Night Residency

I've finally arrived in the beautiful city of Asheville, NC for the Smashing Pumpkins first shows in the US since 2000.  A closure of I-75 couldn't stop me, although it did slow me down for about 5 hours.  In case you haven't heard, Billy & Co. are playing nine sold out shows to celebrate their return and prepare for the release of their new album Zeitgeist.  I was lucky enough to get tickets to a few of the shows before Ticketweb imploded when the tickets went onsale.

To say I'm excited is a gross understatement.  I walked out of the Metro on December 2, 2000 after the band's final show thinking I'd never hear my favorite band play their music again.  While some might argue that this isn't the Smashing Pumpkins, I could care less.  Billy and Jimmy have always been the driving force behind the band and they're back so I couldn't be happier.

I'll try and get some pictures up as well as my thoughts on the shows at some point.  For now, watch the video for "Today".

Opening Night - What can I say?  The band was amazing.  First things first, Ginger Reyes and Jeff Schroeder more than make up for the members they're replacing.  I was on Jeff's side and all I can say is he has some serious chops.  At one point Billy and Jeff were soloing/dueling as Billy appeared to challenge him and Jeff more than stood up to the challenge.  While we're on the subject of guitar playing, Billy Corgan is an absolute guitar god.  He has to be one of the most underrated guitar players on the planet.  I think this because so many people focus on his persona, voice, etc...  Regardless, he's amazing. 

The new material is very strong.  I had tried to avoid listening to too many bootlegs from the European shows to reserve judgment on how the songs sounded live.  New songs that stood out as exceptionally good, aside from Tarantula, were Starz and Come On (Let's Go).  Also, the epic Gossamer is an experience all unto itself.      

I can't really say much more right now.  The classics were just that.  That Orange Peel is an excellent venue.  The staff was definitely prepared to prevent any scalping and the process of checking IDs/orders, getting wristbands, and having hands stamped was very efficient.  Finally, the band played Translucent for the first time ever and then went right into Starla.  That alone was worth the drive and price of admission all by itself.

P.S.  Here are a couple stories and some pictures that were snapped on Saturday night.