Smashing Pumpkins

Few bands have attracted the amount of angst and emo breakup/makeup drama of Smashing Pumpkins. More specifically, lead man Billy Corgan's career could have been the blueprint for VH1's ideal Behind the Music episode, considering all of his experiences with depression, failed relationships (professional and personal), association with Courtney Love, and drug-addicted bandmates. Most of the world came to know Smashing Pumpkins as ice-cream-truck-driving alt-rockers in 1993, when their single "Today," from their sophomore album, Siamese Dream, became an MTV hit. Since then, Corgan and his revolving door of bandmates have released four more studio albums, with the most popular being 1995's double-disc Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. A pale bald dude with a tyrannical-artist reputation, Corgan has become as much of an enigma as an icon known for making music with a sense of freedom and unique fluid musicality, crossing grunge crunch and dreamy pop melodies. Extensive periods between releases — mostly due to the band's breakup in 2000 — and a mildly successful solo effort by Corgan, as well as a general slip in their artistic novelty, have made the Pumpkins somewhat of a has-been. The band's latest record, Zeitgeist, released last year, has sold the least amount of copies of any in its catalog. But Gen-Xers will always carry a sense of nostalgia for the band, and diehard fans will not want to miss this rare chance to see the moody Corgan and his crew perform live.