Smashing Pumpkins pummel fabulous Fox

Hitting the road following their July 2007 release of their insanely popular Zeitgeist album, the Smashing Pumpkins pulled their enormous tour bus into the back parking lot of the fabulous Fox Theatre for a two-day concert stretch on Nov. 15-16. However, this rock event almost didn't occur following their Halloween postponement due to the bizarre illness of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin; the Pumpkins almost lost one in their pumpkin patch.

Jimmy Chamberlin was admitted to an Atlanta hospital when he experienced some chest pains, which combined with other factors from being on tour were enough to make him sit out on the original show. Besides Billy Corgan himself, Jimmy Chamberlin is the only remaining member of the original Smashing Pumpkins lineup. After the doctors gave him an angiogram for his heart and gave him the okay to perform, Nov. 16 was on the books to rock out Atlanta for sure.

I almost had a heart attack myself, sprinting all out towards the Fox clutching my belayed October dated ticket in my hand. I was going to be late for what was guaranteed to be an epic concert, filled with a beautiful harmony of melodious and grippingly dysfunctional rock. However, I pushed myself through the anxious mob standing in the chilled air and arrived at my seat under the star sparkling ceiling of the Fox just before Billy Corgan released his frenzied guitar picking on their Siamese Dream wonder "Today." Yet I was disappointed early by the lackluster vocals of Corgan; luckily for myself and the crowd this was later dissolved by other blockbuster hits.

It seemed that Billy Corgan and company took the hint from the crowd as they ran through their next series of songs with great intensity. As their massive ovular lightshow, made up with offsetting equilateral triangles, sent streams of vivid blues, bright oranges and deep reds, "That's the Way (My Love Is)" from Zeitgeist crooned the hungry patrons. Also from Zeitgeist, the Chicago native ruffled the red velvet curtains flanking the stage at the fox with a transfixing performances of "Bring the Light," "Pomp and Circumstances" in the first encore (yes, the first!) and "United States." Their gem "Tarantula" from Zeitgeist was the thoroughbred of the pack, pelting the audience with Billy's trademark screaming vocals, wildly spellbinding guitar solos and fantastic drum couplets by Chamberlin.

After these rock song juggernauts, a turn which I did not expect occurred in the music. Billy Corgan decided to play three songs by himself with just his raspy, soul stirring voice and an acoustic dreadnought guitar. An unusual treat, his acoustic versions of "1979" from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness album and "To Sheila" were a beautiful display of the marriage between lyrical mysticism and musical prowess. It was the extremely rare cut of "Thirty-Three" that sent the visitors to Billy Corgan's genius into an awestruck daze. Yet when the rest of the band reassumed their positions for the next songs, it was clear they meant to burn the Fox Theatre to the ground with incendiary and combustible mega chartbusters from old.

I have never seen so many people jump and scream together all at one in my entire life. During this segment of the concert, when they played through "Cherub Rock," the eerie "Ava Adore" and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," if there was a geologist working within 5 miles of the theater his seismographs would have recorded an earthquake. To top off the regular set, the band performed the proverbial favorite "Zero."

Then they played three encores, a seemingly impossible feat, which included "Rocket," "Lucky 13," "Doomsday Clock" and "With Every Light." Overall the concert encores were incredible.

Zeitgeist, their first since 1999 and the highly publicized breakup after drug charges, has seemed to reinvigorate the Smashing Pumpkins that swept the Billboard charts in the tumultuous '90s decade.

Along with "Tarantula" and "That's the Way (My Love is)," I adamantly believe that the Smashing Pumpkins have regained their composure and have a more experienced and positive outlook on their artistic creativity within the music apparatus of their legendary alternative band.