Related Items
Corgan and friends play a smaller than normal venue in Denver
When bands like The Smashing Pumpkins roll into Denver, as they did on Monday night, one would expect to catch them at the bigger venues in town where the band can facilitate hordes of religiously devoted fans. Maybe it was to offer a more intimate experience, or to allow fans to fully take in the psychedelic assault of lights and stage visuals, but either way the Pumpkins landed at the Ogden Theatre with a mere 1,300-person capacity.
Of course, the show was sold out, and chances are not one of those 1,300 were complaining about the amazingness the Pumpkins laid down. The band raged through a set chock-full of songs from both their newest album “Oceania” as well as many of their old classics as far back as the album “Gish”.
Light FM opened up the evening, playing some rather uninspiring indie rock, but with the crowd rolling into the venue exceptionally late, not too many fans were put off. The Fancy Space People followed in what may have been the most painful, irritating set. The band was dressed in strange space costumes and actually drew some boos from the audience for their off-key vocals and worthless songwriting.
But all was made right again as the Pumpkins illuminated the stage, with their energy and endless list of hits. The band seemed to effortlessly flow through each song, but with experience and energy that truly captivated the fans. The Pumpkins played from all eras of their discography despite Corgan being the only remaining original member. It was an intimate encounter any die-hard Pumpkins fan was hoping for. — Josh Barrett, special to Metromix
