News 990412-1

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CINCINNATI -- With the exception of a few shared smiles and head nods Monday night, Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan barely acknowledged that prodigal drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was back in the band.

D'arcy Wretzky was a different story. The Chicago rock group's normally dour bassist made Chamberlin's return to the fold a running gag during the one-hour, 40-minute show at the 1,460-capacity Bogart's nightclub.

"We got a new drummer and he doesn't know what's going on," Wretzky cracked before the Pumpkins played an ominous, bluesy version of an early B-side, "La Dolly Vita."

In fact, Chamberlin, who appeared onstage with the band for the first time in nearly three years two nights earlier in Detroit, was anything but out of the loop.

The muscular drummer, sporting a crew cut and wearing dark pants and a sleeveless black T-shirt, remained mute throughout the show, choosing only to flash a few peace signs when the crowd broke into repeated chants of "Jimmy, Jimmy!"

But he played as if he'd never been gone. The set mixed a handful of early rock tunes with no fewer than 12 new, moody songs -- and included one stretch of nine new tunes in a row.

Corgan revealed Saturday on the group's official website that the Pumpkins are working on an album they hope to release in September.

All the Pumpkins news left fans here particularly energized, for a variety of reasons.

"That motherf---er rocks harder than James and Corgan put together," 19-year-old Jason Ashcroft, of Kentucky, said before the Pumpkins' set.

"I'm glad they have Jimmy back," Paul Turner, 37, of Cold Spring, Ky., said. "But really I'm just glad they don't have that drum machine. [When I saw them on last summer's H.O.R.D.E. tour,] it was more like the Milli Vanilli Pumpkins."

After the show, Charlie Adams, a 37-year-old flower deliveryman from Columbus, Ohio, said, "I thought he was good, but a drummer's a drummer. Look at 'Spinal Tap.' I just thought the new stuff sounded great no matter who was drumming."

Chamberlin was kicked out of the band following the July 1996 drug overdose of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin. Chamberlin was arrested and charged with heroin possession in connection with Melvoin's death and, after pleading guilty, ordered to attend a drug-rehabilitation facility. During his absence, the band toured with a variety of drummers.

Following a bruising opening set by space rockers Queens of the Stone Age, the Pumpkins looked light on their feet during their 21-song show. With Chamberlin back behind the drums, they came off like still-hungry ex-heavyweight champs fighting their way back up the ranks.

Opening with a ferocious attack of early Pumpkins songs, including "I Am One" and "Zero," the bandmembers were playful and much looser than on last year's charity tour of arenas, for which they employed former John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff.

Singer/guitarist Corgan seemed revived by Chamberlin's intricate, jazzy fills during "La Dolly Vita" and normally subdued guitarist James Iha bounced and jumped in place.

Corgan then told the crowd the band would be playing a number of songs from their forthcoming album; he joked that the band lost its recording contract and the album would be available only on seven-inch singles in Australia.

What followed was a suite of nine new songs that ranged from the blistering, Black Sabbath-like heavy metal of "Glass' Theme" to the ominous, sludgy ballad "Speed Kills" and the reverb-drenched "Stand Inside Your Love."

The lyrics to many of the new songs mixed Corgan's classic outsider laments with wishful boasts. In the grinding tune "Dross" the bald singer, who wore a black suit, croaked, "You say I'm beautiful/ Well, I can't help it."

Chamberlin's plodding, tribal drumming on the new wavey "Stand Inside Your Love" brought a smile to Corgan's face. The drummer's deft touch was most clearly evident on the pounding "Wound," a hard rocking tune -- it approached speed-metal territory -- during which the Pumpkins seemed to be nearly outpaced by their own music.

Also included were new grungy pop tunes "Virex" and "Blue Skies Bring Tears," the robotic space ballad "Glass + the Ghost" and the cathartic "Cash Car Star," which Corgan ended by screeching, "Everybody's business is everybody's business."

The set concluded with an assaultive, throbbing rock take on the drum machine-assisted "Ava Adore" (RealAudio excerpt) -- from 1998's Adore, the one album the Pumpkins recorded without Chamberlin -- and a slowed-down sing-along of "Today" (RealAudio excerpt).

They returned for three sets of encores. During the first, D'arcy joked some more about Chamberlin's wanderings while apart from the band. The Pumpkins offered straightforward runs through the sleepy ballad "Soma" and the uptempo "Muzzle," with Chamberlin's drum licks sounding like a misfiring machine gun.

They showcased three more new songs in the second encore set, including the industrial-rock-like "Home" and a pair of lilting acoustic ballads, "If There Is a God" and "With Every Light." The former opened with the couplet, "If there is a God/ I know he likes to rock." Later in the song, Corgan boasted, "If there is a God/ You know he's watching me/ And he likes what he sees."

They topped off the set with a blistering version of the Siamese Dream favorite "Geek U.S.A.," which seemed on the verge of implosion as the band tried to keep up with Chamberlin's rapid-fire beats.

Taken from SonicNet.