Smashing Pumpkins Make Time Stand Still in Sacramento
In February of 2018, The Smashing Pumpkins announced that they would be touring again for the “Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour" with the original line up minus original bass player D'arcy Wretzky, (who declined to tour) and who would be replaced by Jack Bates who had toured with the band in 2015.
At the time, Billy Corgan and the band announced that this tour would concentrate on their first five albums, which for most hardcore and newer fans, would be more than fine as that was probably their most prolific and popular period, which launched band anthems like: “1979”, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”, “Tonight, Tonight”, “Disarm” and “Ava Adore”.
On Tuesday August 28, 2018, Billy Corgan and his acoustic guitar walked on stage at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento by himself and performed a soulful passionate version of “Disarm” while pictures of Billy as a kid appeared on the giant screen at the back of stage.
That was just the beginning of a long hard rocking 3+ hour set that had something for everyone that went from melodic to hard rocking guitar hits and covers like: “Rocket”, “Siva” “Rhinoceros” and covers that were perfectly placed during the show like David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” and a gargantuan and courageous version of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”.
Time seemed to stand still for the 3+ hours of the show as Billy, and original band members Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha and back up musicians thrashed through songs like it was the mid 90’s and time had not passed by but had also had subtle, intimate moments. Without much talking, except for the occasional thanks, Billy Corgan took control of the stage with his razor-sharp lyrics, guitar prowess and his unusual charisma and even led the crowd through a few sing-alongs.
Besides the aforementioned songs, the crowd was also treated to “Zero”, “Mayonnaise”, “Cherub Rock”, “Today”, “Try, Try, Try” and many more and ended the night with a final cover, a surprising “Baby Mine” from Disney’s "Dumbo."
Unfortunately, as it often happens in Sacramento, not everyone in attendance had the same stamina or passion for the music as the band on stage, as many in the stands sat through most of the 32-song set and many even left after a couple of hours of the 3 + hours set. No wonder many acts often skip Sacramento when on tour.