Live Review: Smashing Pumpkins at the Fillmore, 07/17/07

Live Review: Smashing Pumpkins at the Fillmore, 07/17/07

Smashing Pumpkins reunite, in name only: Aidin Vaziri | If you squinted long and hard enough on Sunday, you might think you were watching an actual reunion of the Smashing Pumpkins, the unrepentant arena-rock act that sold millions of albums in the 1990s. In reality, it was just a passable crew of look-alikes frontman Billy Corgan had pulled together with the group's original drummer, Jimmy Chamberlain, for the first of an 11-night run at the Fillmore. He even made sure their hair color matched the originals'. The band compensated by trudging through a three-hour-plus set on Sunday (and well into Monday) that included many of its most rare and popular songs but few of its actual best. Several of the tunes were saddled with long-winded guitar solos that not only stretched them beyond recognition but made them feel interchangeable. Given that the Pumpkins made it through only three songs in the first half-hour, you had to wonder whether Corgan was actually being incredibly generous or just punishing all the people who'd yelled out for his old band's hits during his solo tour. Read complete review.