Forecastle's Saturday headliner has been a musical force for over twenty years. The Smashing Pumpkins will take the West Stage at 10:45 for the final set of the day.
The Pumpkins formed in Chicago in 1988 by members Billy Corgan (vocals, guitar), James Iha (guitar) and grew to include members D'arcy Wretzky, Melissa Auf Der Maur, and Jimmy Chamberlaim. The band dismissed the popular punk music of its time and based its sound in guitar-heavy gothic rock. The Smashing Pumpkins were literally the right band at the right time and place. The early 90's was pregnant with possibilities of small, garage bands literally making it big overnight in the world of alternative music.
The Pumpkins made its first break into the mainstream with their second album Siamese Dream in 1993. And in 1995, their album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness debuted as number one on Billboards 200 album chart. Despite their success, and true to a tale as old as time...a combination of fighting amongst band members and drug use drove the Pumpkins to break up in 2000.
So what has the Pumpkins been up to in the past ten years? In 2000 Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain reconnected to launch the album Zeitgeist and the band started touring again. In 2009 Chamberlain was replaced by twenty-year-old, Mike Byrne. Corgan, Byrne along with a rotating group of other musicians have been recording the 44-song Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which they are releasing song at a time since late 2009.
Buy tickets to Forecastle Festival 2010.
Photo: Flickr:Andra Veraart
