OUR DAY WITH BILLY CORGAN AND THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

Our Remake Remodel Mondays may have stopped for summer but that doesn't mean they have been blue, and particularly not on Monday 1st July. At 4pm we were lucky enough to be invited along to The Smashing Pumpkins sound check for their gig at Manchester Academy (a relatively small venue for the pumpkins to play). We hung out on the tour bus with our fav pumpking Billy Corgan. After watching many interviews we were intrigued as to what he had to say, if you have seen any you will know he can talk the talk and lots of it. We weren't disappointed he done exactly that talking the music business, their set at Glastonbury the previous night and ahem slagging a band or two (not naming any names) and oddly Hadrian's wall. We then went for what felt like our own personal show and got an extra little treat only for the sound check and that was Hendrix's Purple Haze.

Later that night they showed there appreciation of rock n roll's greatest by covering Bowie's Space Oddity and ending the set on Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song and Dylan's All Along the Watchtower.

The gig itself, sold out in well in advance, was a rocker. The band ripped through a notably well balanced set of new and old. Playing songs from their latest album Oceania as well as classics such as Bullet For Butterfly Wings, Stand Inside Your Love and Ava Adore to name a few. The gig was great and the crowd left in a high with only a few dissent murmurs of there was no Cherub Rock. But to make up for that 1979 was played which is a rarity at a Smashing Pumpkins gig these days. 

A very special day for us to meet one of our musical heroes. Thanks to Jack for sorting such a smashing day x