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My buddy Kade took the liberty of posting this for me at his page while DefyAuthority’s servers went on strike yesterday; now that we’ve spanked our server into submission, I’m pleased to offer you the opportunity to read about a very powerful experience at Sunset Strip Music Festival during SP’s set. Thanks, Kade, seeing the show with you and our friends really inspired this one, in addition to how masterful that set was.

I send this smile over to you.

Justin Kade had a lukewarm churro in his hand as we made our way to the Sunset Strip Music Festival’s West Stage amidst the opening strains of “Ava Adore” ringing through the air; the churro nearly collided with the ground amidst the gleeful laughter than ensued when Billy Corgan snarled, “It’s you that I adore, you’ll always be my motherfucking whore!”. When a live Smashing Pumpkins show is afoot, a mediocre churro is a small sacrifice. (As it stood, Kade preferred the churro he’d devoured earlier in the evening from a different vendor by far.) The sheer number of bodies rushing to hear one of the most heralded shows of the festival resembled the Running of the Bulls, Sunset Strip style without the threat of being gored by a massive beast, but rather with the delicious promise of extreme aural assault.

There’s no need to discuss the band’s turbulent past or ruminate upon whether or not they’re still the band you knew and loved in the age of a brand new lineup; all you need to know is that Billy Corgan is working with consummate musicians, and these musicians are now the core of The Smashing Pumpkins. If any question about the integrity of the new band members still stood, all doubt was removed during their solid, haunting set on Saturday night. The songs remained the same in spirit, but carried the weight of time, trial, lessons learned and a lilting optimism in their wake.

Being that music sounds better with my friends and they consist of some of the most imaginative, unique, bold people I have the pleasure of knowing, I felt so fortunate and elated to be surrounded by them for this incredible set, and after the final chords of Billy’s guitar resonated and the stage was cleared, we contemplated the multitude of emotions that we were each processing. Having reviewed “Siamese Dream” in 1993 for a television show called “10 Teen Magazine” on CBS/WTSP St. Petersburg -Tampa Bay, hearing “Today” brought me back to a time where innocence prevailed; I didn’t have to pay any bills yet, and my mother and father had given me a poster stating that not only was it okay to color outside the lines, but that they encouraged me to do so; something that Billy Corgan has always spoken strongly about. While that time in my life was very innocent, it was also fraught with loneliness, difficulty, turmoil and more solitude than I ever wanted to know.

While I never wished for conformity or the ability to blend in with what was typical, I did know that there were freaks like me out there who were simply friends that I hadn’t yet met, and all I had to do was hang tough until our paths crossed. As Billy belted out “Believe in me, as I believe in you”, closing out a rousing rendition of “Tonight, Tonight”, I looked up at Kade, James, Trev, and across the vast sea of bodies, feeling immense gratitude for the band’s plump discography, the tears pouring from a multitude of pairs of eyes, and above all, the true power of music, for during that set, we were among our people and proud of our idiosyncrasies, the inherent traits that make us what we are, and we were not ashamed. The Smashing Pumpkins gave us material that fit an all-encompassing spectrum of moods then, and judging by the strength of their newest single, “Freak”, they intend to give the next generation a veritable cornucopia of material to attach memories and sensations to.

Stay up to date with The Smashing Pumpkins via their official website and on Twitter.

Smashing Pumpkins are:
Billy Corgan – Guitars, vocals, songwriting
Mike Byrne – Drums
Nicole Fiorentino – Bass
Jeff Schroeder – Guitar