Courtney x Corgan: Together Again

Watch fan-shot footage from last night’s Love-fest

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018 Ron Hart 0 Comments Billy Corgan, Courtney Love, Hole, Joy Division, New Jersey, New Order, Peter Hook, Smashing Pumpkins

I’ve been missing a bunch of concerts this summer. But one show I am seriously disappointed in myself for skipping was last night’s Smashing Pumpkins concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ, where Billy Corgan put on his wrestling promoter hat and went for some seriously cheap pops throughout the night, including a righteous trolling of the indie snobs in the audience by bringing out Mark McGrath for a rendition of Sugar Ray’s “Fly”. Balancing it out, however, was appearances by Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers and Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, who joined the Pumpkins on a pair of rarities at Chino’s request in the Gish deep cut “Snail” and “Bodies”, a fan favorite from the “Twilight to Starlight” half of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Appearing on tour with the Pumpkins in lieu of D’Arcy on bass is Jack Bates, who happens to be the son of Peter Hook. If only they were able to swing Tom Scholz of Boston to join them onstage, then the two halves of the Pumpkin matrix would have been truly united for the first time. But to hear Hooky join Corgan, original guitarist James Iha and founding drummer Jimmy Chamberlin on New Order’s “Age of Consent” and two Joy Division hits in “Transmission” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart” must have been a sight to see in person.

However, the biggest pop of the night was reserved for Courtney Love, who not only came out to join in on “Love Will Tear Us Apart” but performed two hits from Hole’s 1998 classic Celebrity Skin, including the sunny title track and “Malibu” in addition to a tear through the Pumpkins’ “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”.

“We’ve made love, we’ve not made love; we’ve made up, we’ve broken up,” Corgan professed. “But we’re back together again, like George and Tammy.”

The Pumpkins’ “Shiny and Oh So Bright” tour trucks on through September. Here are the remaining tour dates:

08/04 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
08/05 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
08/07 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
08/08 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
08/11 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
08/13 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
08/16 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
08/17 – Indianapolis, IN @ Bankers Life Fieldhouse
08/19 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
08/20 – Omaha, NE @ Centurylink Center
08/21 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford Premier Center
08/24 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
08/25 – Portland, OR @ MODA Center
08/27 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
08/28 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
08/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Forum
09/01 – San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
09/02 – Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
09/04 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
09/05 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
09/07 – Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center

Also, for the set list from the Holmdel show, look below.

Setlist:
Rocket
Siva
Rhinoceros
Zero
The Everlasting Gaze
Stand Inside Your Love
Thirty-Three
Eye
Soma
Blew Away
Mayonaise
Bodies (with Chino Moreno) (First performance since 2008)
Snail (with Chino Moreno) (First full band performance since 2000)
Tonight, Tonight
Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin cover)
Cherub Rock (with Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers)
1979 (with Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers)
Fly (Sugar Ray cover) (with Mark McGrath) (Live debut by Smashing Pumpkins)
Breaking the Law (Judas Priest cover) (with Mark McGrath) (Live debut by Smashing Pumpkins)
Today
Celebrity Skin (Hole cover) (with Courtney Love) (Live debut by Smashing Pumpkins)
Malibu (Hole cover) (with Courtney Love)
Bullet With Butterfly Wings (with Courtney Love)
Age of Consent (New Order cover) (with Peter Hook) (Live debut by Smashing Pumpkins)
Transmission (Joy Division cover) (with Peter Hook and Davey Havok)
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover) (with Peter Hook, Davey Havok, and Courtney Love) (Live debut by Smashing Pumpkins)