Smashing Pumpkins Call in Sick

It hasn’t been a good week for Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins, or the hometown fans. And the emotional train wreck that I feared I was walking into on Saturday night never happened. I never even got in the door.  Instead, as I approached the Auditorium Theatre, I discovered a twist in the Corgan drama that I didn’t expect. I encountered a venue posting that every concertgoer fears.

Like the other fans who stood starring at the posted note, I didn’t have the luxury of learning via the web or my complementary email Ticketmaster alert that the sold out show was postponed until December 8th “due to illness.”

Since I wasn’t going to be able to do the review, and neither Corgan nor his music was going to be doing the talking, I decided to let the fans have a voice tonight and let them express their momentary melancholy and unfortunate sadness.

It was sad to watch fans as they approached the venue door and see their faces switch instantly from hopeful bliss to anger and disappointment. I felt the same disappointment, but I really wanted to know how other fans felt and have them tell me exactly how they felt when they read that note.

Standing out in the freezing cold, I commiserated with fans, as they willingly expressed how they felt about the postponed concert. I was even more disappointed when they told me their stories and dashed expectations of far travels (Indiana and Kentucky) and wasted hotel room costs and vacation time.

Representing the general consensus of all the fans I spoke with, here’s what a few fans had to say.

Where are you from Donald?

Lexington, KY.

How do you feel about that note on the door?

It fucking sucks. We came all the way from Lexington, KY. We drove six hours! How can they play last night but they can’t play tonight? How sick was he? You’ve got to be kidding me! I always thought [Corgan] thought he was way bigger than he really was. He thought he was Eddie Vedder and he wasn’t.

I turn to Donald’s friend Larry.

You all came together?

Yes, I’m here to see it for her. [pointing to his girlfriend Stephanie] She’s been waiting to see them for fifteen years.

What do you think about that sign over there Stephanie?

[sighs]I’m just devastated. I’ve been waiting to see them since I was fifteen.  I’ve been waiting my whole life to see the Smashing Pumpkins. We paid a hundred ten dollars a seat. [she looks back at the note on the door and her drops head into her mittens].

Are you guys going to come back on the 8th?

Hell no! We all took off work to come here and now it’s a complete waste. We want a refund!

I turn and ask another fan.

Hi Brad, Kirsten; where are you guys from?

We’re from Bartlett. We got a hotel room for tonight at the Fairmont for $200.00. We’ve never seen [the Smashing Pumpkins] before and always wanted to. It’s pretty disappointing to spend money on a hotel room and $65 on both tickets all for nothing. I guess we’re going to go hang out with the tourists for the night at the bars on Rush and Division St.

Are you going to come back on the 8th?

Yeah, we’re forced to. They were great back in the day and it seems like [Corgan] is full of himself right now. My wife had read a blog this week about some fans shouting at him during one of the other shows so I wasn’t quite sure what was going on with him. We would have gone and watched the Christmas lights on Michigan Ave if I knew about this shit.

—Chris Catania