On Thursday night I attended The Smashing Pumpkins'
30th Anniversary Celebration at The PNC Bank Arts Center.
Though only one stop on a major 30th Anniversary Tour of
arenas and pavilions, this show became the ultimate SP
show to witness, a fact I learned after I had miraculously
scored an 8th row seat. I had purchased the ticket and was
excited to see the band perform, but didn't know what I was in
for until shortly thereafter when I saw the special guest roster.
Chino Moreno of Deftones joined SP.
Members of The Killers joined SP as well.
Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray
joined SP for a couple of songs as well.
...And then it was time for Courtney Love,
who ended up joining SP for four songs in total.
Courtney told the crowd a couple of
quick stories of her history with Billy Corgan,
playfully referring to him as her "nemesis".
Peter Hook of New Order and Joy Division
joined SP to perform songs by both of his bands.
They were joined by Davey Havok of AFI (and
once again by Courtney) for a cover of the
Joy Division classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
Courtney, of course, decided to put on a bit
of a show and create a moment... as she does.
After the Joy Division moment,
Smashing Pumpkins closed out the show
with two more songs that set us down gently.
Thanks, Smashing Pumpkins.
This was my first live experience with you
folks and you treated me to an evening of
live music and surprises that I will never forget.
Oh... And hey, Courtney. Nice to see you again.
