The Smashing Pumpkins 1988-10-05
| October 5, 1988 – Chicago, IL, US | |
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| Live performance by The Smashing Pumpkins | |
| Artist | The Smashing Pumpkins |
| Date | October 5, 1988 |
| Venue | Cabaret Metro |
| Coordinates | 41°56′59″N 87°39′40″W |
| Location | Chicago, IL, US |
| Venue type | Club |
| Capacity | 1,100 |
| Personnel | Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'arcy Wretzky, Jimmy Chamberlin |
| Order of bands | October's Child, Love and Addiction, The Smashing Pumpkins |
The Smashing Pumpkins' first show with the full lineup. The full performance was recorded and released as Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The live album was handed out for free at the band's final pre-2007 performance, also at the Metro, on December 2, 2000.
Background
The performance was a critical turning point for the band. In 2012, Billy Corgan and The Metro owner Joe Shanahan were interviewed on WBEZ 91.5 FM, recalling how the 1988 show unfolded, including Joe's persistence that they hire a drummer, which indirectly paved the way for their success. Corgan, comparing Shanahan as the "wizard behind the curtain", explained how important it was to get a show at the Metro, which he considered the cultural center for the emerging alternative rock scene. What won Shanahan over was an early Smashing Pumpkins demo cassette given to him. His only complaint was the use of a drum machine, which he felt didn't pair well with the Pumpkins' more psychedelic, guitar-driven sound. After Chamberlin was recruited, the Metro show was booked, and the rest is history. It would be less than a month later that the band performed outside Chicago for the first time.
Setlist
- "There It Goes"
- "She" (live debut)
- "My Eternity"
- "Under Your Spell"
- "Bleed"
- "Spiteface" (live debut)
- "Nothing and Everything"
Banter
Joe Shanahan: [tape cuts in] ...Pumpkins.
There It Goes
BC: (off mic) Oh, yeah yeah yeah yeah. (on mic) (German accent) Good evening. (normal voice) You can stand here all you want. It’s mighty cold, hoo.
Jimmy: (off mic) Let’s do it.
BC: Shhh.
She
Iha: Thanks.
BC: Alright, enough of those pop songs.
My Eternity
Under Your Spell
Guy in crowd: Paranoid!
BC: Huh, huh, huh, huh? I hear people shouting out neuroses. Yes, I [unintelligible word] them all.
Different guy in crowd: Will, go wild.
BC: Get wacky, right, yeah, jump up and down, that'll make for a better show.
Bleed
BC: Alright, alright, alright. No, that's not an “Alright” like all, (sad voice) “Thanks a lot,” (normal voice) this is an “Alright” like “Okay, now it's time” -- some guy's going, “Jump around, jump around, jump around. Jump around, jump around. Make good show, make good show.” Okay, time for make good show.
Spiteface
Iha: Thanks a lot.
BC: Last song. Last song before we disappear. [tape cut]
Nothing and Everything
BC: (sad voice) Thank you, good night.
Iha: Thanks a lot, okay.
