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This page is to inform you a little bit about my very first music love, The Smashing Pumpkins. I became a fan of this band in 1995 (i.e. I'm a Mellon Collie Baby) and my very first CD EVER was Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness. By 1996 I was a total obsessed Pumpkinhead fan and it was at this same time that Jonathon Melvoin was found dead in the hotel room with Jimmy Chamberlin. Soon after, Billy Corgan released the statement that Jimmy had been terminated from the band. I was devestated. I had yet to see them live and already I saw that whenever I DID see them it would be without my favorite drummer. And so it was...Adore was released...I didn't feel the same vibe with those songs as I did with the previous albums. But still, when the SPMJC (Smashing Pumpkins Minus Jimmy Chamberlin - at this time I refused to call them anything else) went on tour I still wanted to go see them live. After all I may never have the chance again. So I told Marcia (Marcia Clark, my best friend and fellow Pumpkinhead) how they would be playing in Atlanta on August 4th, 1999. We both vowed to get tickets and go. Since neither of us could possibly drive to Atlanta I had to beg my father to let me buy the tickets and to take us to the show. Somehow I got him to agree and even when the problem arose of tickets being sold out...he allowed me to pay a ridiclous amount of money for scalped tickets (ahem...almost $150 per ticket!!). So, we had our tickets, we had our ride, we just didn't have Jimmy. The concert was held in the Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta. The place was beautiful...just right for a person like Billy: it looked like an old opera house, with antique varnishings, esquite balconies, and the ceiling was designed to look like the night sky. The thing I remember most is Billy pointing upward to the ceiling everytime a lyric that contained the word "star" passed thru his lips. A mosh pit was totally out of the question since we all had seats (I hate mosh pits) and everyone was very well behaved. My daddy stood thru the entire show, arms folded across his chest, his bald head very shiny compared to Billy's powder-white dome. :) I remember wishing Billy would notice my daddy...or either Marcia or I...but of course he didn't. We were about 13th row from the stage. Close but not close enuff for Billy to make eye contact with us (and defintely not $150 worth of close). Anyway, after the show ended we traveled all the way back home...I had that content feeling that I had just seen Billy Corgan, live and in the same room as me, singing....but then there was that little twinge of emptiness, cos Jimmy had not been there and I could tell thru the songs. The old stuff, like "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" had sounded terrible with the new drummers (yes...plural!). But still...at least we got to see D'Arcy live.
Well, 2 years passed before Billy graced us with another album. Only this time I was a very happy girl cos he had rehired Jimmy! :) The new album was MACHINA/the machines of god and it was MUCH better than Adore had proved. And of course, this time when my dear band went on tour I was ready! :) I kept myself up to date on tour dates and I discovered they would be playing in Birmingham, AL on May 10th, 2000. I immediately called to find out exactly when and where the tickets for this show would go on sale. The very day they went on sale, Marcia and I woke up bright and early, drove to Blockbuster Video, and were the very first people in Montgomery to get tickets. :) Too bad for me they were general admission so that meant we'd have to get to Boutwell Auditorium early to get a good standing spot (so I thought). Anyway, Marcia graciously offerded to drive (woo..big surprise eh? :) and we left Wetumpka around 12:00pm May 10th. We arrived at the venue around 2:00pm...a good 6 hours before showtime. There were about 20 or so people arleady there too, sitting at the entrance doors. We joined them but soon got up to take a little walk in the park...since there was no line forming we just found someplace to sit. Around 5pm some stupid girl with blue hair took it upon herself to start putting everyone in a line...and she just so happened to be in the very front. That pissed all of us off because she wan't even part of the event staff! It didn't matter much anyway because around 6pm teh real staff came out to tell us that there would be two doors open...and for us to be ready in line. About 30 minutes later they came back to tell us that one door would be male and one female (so they could search us accordingly.) One of the staffers was explaining (quite rudely) that we would not be able to bring cameras inside the venue...and right after he said it this funny little guy up front snapped a picture of him...hehe. We all laughed...haha...great fun. :) I bet that staffer was pissed. :) We stood in these stupid lines forever...around 7pm I met Eric, this really cool guy from Memphis who I had talked to via computer and told him I'd see him at the show. I saved him a place in line so he could get in with us. Finally, around 7:30pm they began letting us in. It was a total bum rush of the doors! I almost got squashed then...but I got thru, the lady patted me down, and then I was in! Of course I had to wait for Marcia...then we were in! :) Hehe...the staff told us to go find a spot, sit down, and remain seated until the band come out. Marcia and I got as close as we could...which was about 5 people away from the front...but we WERE center. :) Just then I saw Eric in front of us and he told me to try and move up when we all stood up. I nodded. I heard Marcia say something about Stephen Hamady...and when I turned around I saw him! :) He was kinda far back but we waved and he saw us. A few feet to the side of us was Jacob First and his friend Claire. Jacob had red hair! :) Hehe...it was nice to see all these people we knew. :) Okay, well we expected the Pumpkins to start at 8pm...they were late. But finally the music started and everyone stood up and rushed forward. I had never been at a general admission like this before and I was AMAZED at how rude people are and how willing they are to smash you against the person in front of you. Eric was still in front of me so I called to him and gave a kind of pleading look...he just shrugged and gave me a look of "try to move up here". Well, instead of me moving up I was PUSHED up rather by this crazy kid behind me. Marcia was pushed back...I felt so bad for her but I couldn't do anything! My arms were pretty much immobile. I was almost to Eric now tho so he reached back, grabbed my hand, and pulled me next to him. And there I was...one person (a very very very short girl) away from the rail and center! :) The band had been playing for a while now and Billy began to play "Heavy Metal Machine". Oh my god the people crushed me! I was having trouble breathing because this one guy had his elbow planted firmly in my ribcage and it hurt like a bitch! I tried to shift myself into a different position but I could very little expect maybe sway back and forth...and we almost fell 10 times just doing that! I just stared at Billy wishing he would see the big problem here (the crowding) and say something! I mean I heard all those stories about people getting trampled at concerts and how Billy would usually stop playing, and then refuse to start back until the mosh pits and pushing subsided. But he said nothing...in fact he hardly spoke the whole show. When a heavy song ended we would have a break of about 3 minutes before the pushing started again. When they started playing "Eye of the Mourning" (MY FAVE SONG off the new album) I was about to pass out...Eric saw me and asked if I was okay...I shook my head no and he told me he was going to help me. He got behind me and put his arms on either side of me and held onto the railing. When the crowd started to push he kept them off of me by resisting the extra weight HIMSELF! He deserves so much thanks for this! Love you lots Eric!! (He also got one of Billy's picks AND a drumstick of Jimmy's...he totally earned those too! :) Anyway, I was fine up until over halfway thru the show. They had just started playing "1979" (with Jimmy on guitar! :) and I felt Eric losing his grip...not his fault at all....the crowd was just getting worse plus we were all so sweaty...it was like we slid off one another. I told Eric I had to get out...I felt like a total wuss but that was all I could take. It was so hot and the crowd was about to make me kill the poor little girl in front of me...I mean I was already trying not to squeeze her lungs out against the railing. So Eric got the attention of a staff guy up front. They picked me up over the rail into that little space where a lot of the crowd surfers end up...and for a few seconds I was right underneath Billy and Jimmy's feet. :) I wish I could have stayed but as soon as the staffer found out I was able to walk he gently pushed me toward the exit in the railing. Maybe I should have pretended to pass out...that might have gotten some people's attention. ;) But I got out and found a place to sit to watch the rest of the show. Well, to have some time to breathe anyway...I also wanted to see if I could find Marcia...no luck. I think I sat in the stands thru "Zero" (woo that would have been hell to be up front too) and I was back in the standing crowd in time for "Mayonaise" (awwwww!!). Then when the show ended I did a quick scan for Marcia and Eric cos I wanted to thank him for helping me. I found Eric first...that's when he showed me the drumstick (he was keeping it hidden in his shirt...ya know...beware of SNATCHERS! :) Anyhoo, he let me hold it *hehe*. Lucky thing. :) By then Marica had found me instead and she told me how she had fallen and been stepped on after we got seperated....I felt awful! I was worried that she might have fallen and no one would help her up but there was some nice guys in the crowd...and Marcia was alive....so I was happy! :) I bought a MACHINA tee and then we piled up and headed home. Despite the awful crowd, that was the best Pumpkin concert ever for me....and prolly my last. :(
On May 23rd, 2000 Billy annouced that the band was offically breaking up this year. But I sorta expected this...I mean he was doing so much for his fans (like the signing tour, the new webpage, etc.) and it seemed like he was wrapping things up. And also, like he said in the KROQ annoucment...he was "losing the fight against the 'Britney's'". So, we're all sullen about this. But I'm sure he has a big surprise in store for us, his true fans. ;) Until then...I will fall back on my other music love - Placebo!