Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 15, 1994 TAG: 9404150059
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: |By MARK MORRISON| |STAFF WRITER|
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Pumpkins, which played the Salem Civic Center on Thursday night, go deeper than that - to the gut, maybe even the brain stem.
Definitely the brain stem.
Like amplified shock therapy. Like a jet engine to the mind.
That's the desired effect, not really enjoyment, or, arguably, entertainment. And the youth of America seem to love this - or at least the small segment that was in Salem on Thursday night. The audience of 3,661 was solidly into it.
Musically, visually and emotionally, the Pumpkins were a roaring, feedbacking, screaming, draining, brightly-colored assault on the senses. Very sonic and abrasive.
Frontman Billy Corgan and his band typify the current grunge rock style, alternating between moments of lucid calm and bursting fits of rage, with one building on, and then punctuating the other.
It's primal, certainly, but there's nothing particularly redeeming to it.
At least not when played by the Pumpkins. Musically, amplified shock therapy isn't a far-off description, and some jet engines probably are more melodic than when the group flies into one of its penetrating rages.
Visually, the band chose Day-Glo lighting with a liquid light show backdrop that added to the overall brain stem lobotomy effect.
All of which poses a question: What does this say about the youth of America?
They really know how to enjoy themselves.
The opening band was Red Red Meat.
A four-piece outfit, Meat also alternated between spacey interludes and loud droning counterpoints, which provided a back beat for the body surfers that were floundering around in the crowd packed against the stage.
Only the body surfers, being passed hand-to-hand over the heads of the people up front, were infinitely more interesting than Meat. You can find better bands in any given college bar on any given night.
by CNB