When the music stops, what's a six-and-a-half-foot bald guy in a leather dress and jackboots supposed to do? That's the question Billy Corgan may be asking himself, now that The Smashing Pumpkins are about to shut up shop for good. As the band played their final European gig at the Olympia on Monday night, however, Corgan seemed anything but uncertain about the future; in fact, he was uncharacteristically ebullient. Throughout the 1990s, Smashing Pumpkins were the dark lords of American alt. rock miserablism, and they fed the myth with stories of drug problems, ego clashes and general intra-band unhappiness. When they decided to call it a day, no-one was exactly shocked in fact, we were surprised they had managed to stay together for so long.
As a parting gift to their fans, the band made their final album, Machina II: Friends And Enemies Of Modern Music, available to bootleg on the Internet. Some of these tracks were showcased at the Olympia, including Let Me Give The World To You, White Spyder and Blue Skies Bring Tears. They weren't half bad, either; in their closing moments, it looks like the Pumpkins are having a burst of creative energy.
Heavy Metal Machine was playfully prefaced by a version of David Essex's Rock On, while a Peter Gabriel song was deconstructed out of all recognition. Introducing a new song, Home, Corgan glanced up at the box where Bono was sitting, and confessed to the songs blatant U2 influences. Classic Pumpkins' tunes like Today and Tonight received raucous applause.
After a fine, somewhat poignant two-hour set, the foursome of Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin and Melissa Auf Der Maur took their leave, along with pianist Mike Garson and keyboard player Chris Holmes. Before they bowed out for good, however, they delivered one final moment with their biggest hit, 1979. See you at the reunion gig, guys.
