THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090032
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music Review
SOURCE: BY SUE VANHECKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 41 lines
IN CONCERT, some bands far outshine their recorded work. Others do not. Sunday at Hampton Coliseum, alternative-rock darlings Smashing Pumpkins landed themselves in the latter department.
Easily the most overrated act in modern rock, Chicago's multiplatinum-selling Pumpkins have been hailed as some groundbreaking, post-Nirvana nirvana. That's despite the foursome's reliance on the tried-and-true tenets - arena-rock guitars, atmospheric orchestration, lyrics of alienation and self-doubt - of classic rockers from the Beatles to Black Sabbath to Boston.
Tone-deaf Pumpkin-head Billy Corgan, predictably clad in the same black shirt emblazoned with the word ``zero'' that he's worn in most every public appearance since the release of the ponderous double album ``Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,'' sang in two modes: bellowing whine and whispering whine.
Any vocal dynamism evident on ``Mellon Collie'' or the earlier ``Gish,'' ``Siamese Dream'' and ``Pisces Iscariot'' was lost as Corgan ranted and sniveled on a stage done up with a gargantuan lighting module and a pair of small film screens.
Though none of Corgan's fellow Pumpkins seemed particularly energetic or enthusiastic, guitarist James Iha's range of sounds - neo-psychedelic fuzz tones and various distorted squeals and squalls - was intriguing.
It was opening act Garbage, featuring former Pumpkins producer Butch Vig on drums, who proved to be the real heroes of the evening.
Front woman Shirley Manson brought new life to oversaturated alternative radio cuts like ``Queer,'' ``Stupid Girl'' and ``Only Happy When It Rains,'' all from the band's self-titled debut. Manson, who can carry a tune, was also entertaining, playing the Gothic vixen one moment, the modern rock tough-chick the next.
Her band was equally vigorous, with powerhouse hitter Vig keeping showy time for the sonic sandblast of Garbage's dual guitarists, both of who came equipped with a full arsenal of caustic effects. by CNB