Good for him. I'm a huge Pumpkins fan, and look forward to seeing them rock out for many years to come!

I had an experience with this young Scandinavian woman one time that was pretty cool. She was engaged to someone overseas but she invited me as a platonic friend to see the Smashing Pumpkins. It just happened to be the same week - maybe even the same day - that they got like 7 Grammy nominations for songs such as "1979." I think this was around 1997. So through no particular planning or whatever I got to check out a major band at the zenith of their glory. I came away believing this band really mattered. The heavier, screeching stuff didn't reach me but check out the song, "Thirty-Three." I love that song. That and "1979" are absolute classics. The "1979" song starts with a percussive kind of thing, but the second the instruments drop in, they create an incredible heavy nostalgic mood. "1979" is an Era song - it captures an era better than a lot of films. And yes, it was cool to be at a concert with an amazing younger woman but I was a perfect gentleman throughout - unfortunately.

 Congrats to the local drummer hero. Music gigs like this do not drop in from the sky. I read that he beat out 1,000 other drummers to get it. Admittedly, it is just Billy Corgan without the other original members I saw, but more power to them.

Great anecdote, Bill. I always really liked the song "Muzzle" too. The video for "1979" is fantastic. Could you post it for us, Carla?

<h2>too bad mr. beaverton drummer wont make billy corgan sound any better. haha, hey buddy, we've got some technical sounding stuff polymeters and groovy metal. join our band. bongo fury. this weekend.</h2>