Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair Hit Beacon Theatre 4/4/16
Some cool moments last night. Billy Corgan participated in a Bowie tribute show that happened a couple of nights before by playing Space Oddity. Liz Phair came out and sang backup for one. Corgan also covered Angie by The Stones, Zwan, and, wtf, Natalie Imbruglia. He “covered” Hole’s Malibu as well that he theoretically co-wrote with Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson.
The big news among pumpkins is that a couple of weeks ago in LA, co-founding guitarist James Iha made his first appearance with the group in 16 years but is not expected to repeat the trick here in New York. Corgan, along with old pal Jimmy Chamberlain and Jeff Schroeder, who has been in since 07, are featuring acoustic arrangements with occasional electronic elements this run. Corgan was in the mood to pull out some 400 level stuff like World’s Fair that’s credited to him and not his band. Denied their riffs, some of the tunes came off a little sleepy. but the “Siamese Suite” certainly hit the spot and all in all, a pleasant evening.
Lovely to see Liz Phair in action. She does not have a new record. Her setlist was especially crowd pleasing. Fuck and Run, Never Said, Supernova, and Divorce Song led the charge.