When I told a friend my plans for this evening were to go see Smashing Pumpkins, Jane’s Addiction and some wrestling her quick response “Where are you going? 1991? It is a bizarre concept but one that has travelled the globe in this post-Covid touring world successfully… so it must have something going for it.
I arrived just on time to see SODA, the opening act, deliver a nice set of indie pop rock to a pretty small crowd. Hitting the stage at 4.15pm on a Wednesday afternoon, it is always going to be a hard slot to fill.
Next up was the 7-piece Battlesnake. They took to the stage looking like The Darkness just emerged from the GHOST dressing room and decided to belt out a set of ‘dungeon and dragons’ inspired NWOBHM tracks. A slightly bemused Adelaide crowd was soon won over. With a line up consisting of 7 members, it allowed a continuous rotation of 2 members throwing devil horns to the enthralled crowd while the other 5 continued to play.
If you hadn’t had enough of the theatrics from Battlesnake, next up was time for some wrestling. The wrestling ring was sited at the back of the arena near the sound desk so it encouraged people to amble away from the stage while setup was carried out for following bands. It was entertaining enough. Most people were happy to watch while they sipped on their pints, with the occasional heckle as the wrestlers attempted the engage the crowd with some comical interactions.
Time for nuclear powerhouses Amyl and the Sniffers to take the main stage. A blistering set as usual from the band with highlights being Guided by Angels, Knifey, Some Mutts, Security and Hertz. At one stage drummer Bryce Wilson stopped the show to take exception to a sign in the crowd that called them “Punk Sell Outs”, asking the sign bearer to explain the comment. Amy was as energetic as ever upfront while Bryce, Dec and Gus provided the frenetic punk rock riffs and fills that Amy feeds off. I overheard someone in the crowd describe Amy as ‘Bon Scott’s granddaughter’.
There was another break for wrestling where a local Billy Idol lookalike got double teamed by a pair of lycra clad lotharios in a triple threat match. Again, people watched, amused a little while they sipped their pints between bands.
Jane’s Addiction took to stage next and reverberated guitar with that distinctive tone of ‘Up The Beach’ echoing around the now ¾ full arena. Perry was interactive with the crowd from the off pointing out someone in the crowd with a Motorhead T shirt and responding, ‘Dunno if I’ve got enough meth to keep up with Motorhead’. During ‘Whores’ the looping bass riff kept the groove while the lead guitar went stratospheric. At this point I remembered Dave Navarro was absent but what an incredible substitution in former Chilli Pepper Josh Klinghoffer as he more than ably filled the gap. Original bassist Eric Avery (who’s birthday it was) put down the bass and picked up an acoustic as Perry dedicated ‘Jane Says’ to a woman in the crowd named Pauline. This was met with a mass crowd clap a long and sing a long as everyone enjoyed the moment. The power of the drumming and percussion during ‘Mountain Song’ was a particular highlight. Dancing girls appeared on stage periodically but more prevalent during this song giving a glimpse of what it would look like if Jane’s Addiction played the Crazy Horse. Finishing with ‘Stop’ fans were delighted with the setlist comprised mostly from the first two albums however casual observers may have been disappointed with the exclusion of ‘Been Caught Stealing’ from the set.
The scene from The Simpsons ‘Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins, Homer Simpson, smiling politely’ lives absolutely rent free in my head and pops into my head again as soon as the house lights die down and the stage is shrouded in black and white light for the arrival of the headline act. Beginning with ‘Empires’ the band graciously open their set as the crowd fills up the arena. Next up Corgan welcomes us to his party with the opening line ‘The world is a vampire’. ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’ is revered by the crowd and then followed up with another classic ‘Today’. Corgan’s voice sounds the same today as it did 30 years ago when originally delivering this 90’s classic. For the next song Corgan is handed an acoustic guitar and delivers a beautiful tender rendition of ‘We only Come Out at Night’ supported soulfully from the shadows by Melbournian Katie Cole on BV’s. Returning to the electric guitar Corgan drums on the wood to build up the ambience as touring bassist Jack Bates plucks along a somewhat familiar bassline accompanied by Jimmy Chamberlins drums and Corgan’s vocal as they offer up they’re unique cover of Talking Heads ‘Once in a Lifetime’. Have they made it better? No. Would David Byrne approve? Probably.
‘Ava Adore’ included a spectacular drum solo from Jimmy Chamberlin met with rapturous approval from the crowd. Latest release ‘Spellbinding’ was electric and is every bit a new Pumpkin’s classic. James Iha took to lead vocals next for a cover of ‘Under the Milky Way’ which was followed by some relaxed banter between Corgan and Iha debating what they thought each other would look like by this age, then Iha quoted that 70% of the worlds deadliest animals live in Australia. Corgan humorously replied ‘know what kills them?….Chicken salt’. From that quip straight into a sparse acoustic version of Tonight, Tonight showed the humility and outrageous talent of the pair. The tail end of the set includes ‘Cherub Rock’, ‘Zero’ and ‘1979’ with its unforgettable riff. ‘Beguiled’ seen the return of a male and female wrestler to the stage who appeared to be having a domestic with the bloke copping a DDT for his troubles. Finishing with ‘Silverfuck’ the band rock out emphatically for an extended goodbye.
Billy Corgan is a maverick who forged his own way in the 90s and created some of the best songs of that era and is now continuing to entertain the world with his unique mix of music and wrestling. Good on him I say and thank you for bringing it to Adelaide!
Words by Gordon Phipps
Photography by Rock Tsar Photography
