Smashing Pumpkins

Both reviewers and casual viewers undoubtedly will focus on a couple of key scenes of this unbiased and insightful, if at times directionless, documentary of the Chicago icons’ comeback in 2007. Not coincidentally, these two moments show frontman Billy Corgan at his extreme emotional ends, as he deals with bandmates past and present.

In the first, Corgan sits, freshly awoken, on his hotel bed wearing a sleeping dress (as he does for most of his interviews here). An interviewer asks why he no longer plays “Soma,” one of the many highlights on the band’s seminal 1993 album, Siamese Dream. With a here-you-fucking-go scowl on his face, Corgan strums the song’s opening on his ever-present acoustic. He stops and explains that he’s sick of people crediting that tune’s cowriter, former Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, with penning the group’s “best song.” He defends his hand in crafting the song, throws his guitar across the room and mimes a silent scream.

Conversely, Corgan looks the happiest when technical problems mar one of the shows of a massive 11-night stand at San Francisco’s Fillmore. New guitarist Jeff Schroeder storms off stage (after throwing his guitar, too) and Billy lights up, nearly skipping back on stage for the encore, as if the fresh recruit has finally understood what it means to be a Pumpkin. “My tendency is to push everything to its absolute breaking point, and I’ve achieved that,” Corgan says, grinning.

Underlining these two scenes only adds fuel to the bum rap Corgan receives from those inexplicably bitter about lineup changes. One thing becomes clear as the foursome tirelessly practices, jams and hangs out together: The songwriter is dedicated to the bonds of his band. The film depicts Corgan as infuriating, misunderstood, witty, thoughtful and unpredictable. Fans’ and haters’ preconceptions of the unique rock star will only intensify, but it’s hard to not be impressed by his prodigious skills. The narrative is structured around an unending flow of new tunes, which go from scribbles in bed to stage in a matter of hours.

Wrong’s major failing is that of the director, who unsuccessfully attempts to weave the Pumpkins’ reunion into Ken Burns–style histories of the tour stops and detours into the tour manager’s life. Corgan’s childhood abuse is often referenced yet never explained. It’s clearly his burden, the root of his artistic impulse and his shield. And that’s a far more important frame for understanding the Smashing Pumpkins than the great earthquake of 1906.

Smashing Pumpkins play Chicago Theatre on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19, before hitting the Auditorium Theatre on November 21 and 22.

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