The Smashing Pumpkins 1988-10-05

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 (most likely Nothing Ever Changes). 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.