Paul Wellman

Billy Corgan and Dave Navarro

Back around the time Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness first hit shelves, I probably had day dreams that closely approximated my Thursday-night experience at Muddy Waters. In front of a tightly packed crowd of fewer than 200, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, along with Jane’s Addiction guitar god Dave Navarro, Strawberry Alarm Clock keyboardist Mark Weitz, 19-year-old human drum machine Mike Byrne, and a motley crew of multi-instrumentalists, dished up two sets worth of covers and originals that quite nearly blew the roof off the place.

Originally formed for a one-night-only tribute concert in honor of late Seeds frontman Sly Saxon, Corgan’s Spirits in the Sky (now with Navarro on lead guitar), stopped through as part of a bizarre six-city mini-tour that finds the band playing tiny venues throughout the state. Luckily, though, the intimacy of the event wasn’t all Corgan brought to the table on Thursday.

Surrounded by wall-to-wall fans, the nine-piece spent their first set focusing on mellower, more orchestral arrangements, including covers of The Seeds’ “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” and the Bonnie Dobson-penned, Grateful Dead-popularized “Morning Dew.” Unsurprisingly, the sheer number of players involved in Spirits’ setup made for some technical difficulties at the set’s start. But by the third take (a ‘60s-influenced number titled “Emerald Green in the Colour”), all seemed to be in its auditory place, with double drummers and violinists providing warm atmospherics behind Corgan’s signature yelp. Throughout the initial eight-song stint, Corgan casually bantered with the sweltering room, at one point joking to those in the front row, “Come closer—I want you to be inside me.”

Wisely, after the closing chords of “The Fellowship,” Corgan made the executive decision to take an outside break, encouraging his sweaty legions to abandon their posts and get some much needed air. Outside the café, ticket holders mingled amongst those who came to simply listen from the street, and Corgan and Navarro posed for pictures with awestruck fans. Not long after, the masses filed back in for a quartet of songs that found Corgan on acoustic guitar, accompanied by a violin and a lap steel. There, “Caroline, Yes” succeeded in its flamenco-tinged beauty and the Pumpkins’ “A Song for a Son” acted as the near-perfect end to the evening’s quieter side.

Still, it was the set-closing guitar and drum onslaught that truly proved to be the highlight of the night. Together with Navarro chugging away on his electric, Corgan belted his way through “The Trip” and “Astral Planes” before covering The Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” and Pink Floyd’s “Lucifer Sam.” Through it all, the brimming crowd jumped, fist pumped, and head banged along to the tones and the screeches that first put Corgan on the map, while newly crowned Pumpkins drummer Mike Byrne went above and beyond proving his worth with one of the most earth-shattering drum solos Muddy Waters has likely ever seen.

Say what you will about rock stardom, artists’ egos, or even the Pumpkins’ late career, but Thursday night proved that Corgan is, at heart, an accomplished songwriter who simply wants to get back to his music-making roots. Add to that the fact that he spent well over an hour chatting up fans on a dark street block, and, well, you’ve got the makings of a night for the rock ‘n’ roll history books.

Muddy Waters Setlist

Set One:

1. “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” (The Seeds cover)

2. “Circular Change”

3. “Emerald Green is the Colour”

4. “Widow Wake My Mind”

5. “West Coast”

6. “Freak”

7. “(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew” (Bonnie Dobson/Grateful Dead cover)

8. “The Fellowship”

Set Two:

9. “The Time Has Come” (Anne Briggs cover)

10. “A Stitch in Time” (Billy acoustic)

11. “Caroline, Yes” (Billy acoustic)

12. “A Song for a Son” (Billy acoustic)

13. “The Trip”

14. “Astral Planes”

15. “Femme Fatale” (Velvet Underground cover)

16. “Lucifer Sam” (Pink Floyd cover)

Encore:

17. “Long Haired Lady” (Quicksilver Messenger Service cover)

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