Nostalgia at the Tower Theater: The Smashing Pumpkins and Sting
The punk '70s and the alterna-rock '90s would have been nothing without Sting and Billy Corgan. It was the bent reggae and slippery pop influences that fell upon Sting's spare trio The Police, first making him and his self-penned compositions a sensation beyond punk's limitations. That warbling voice and flickering bass sounds were the icing on his cake. That Sting later, in his solo years, turned his attentions to coolly melodic jazz rock and subtle funk riffs should have been no surprise to fans of The Police's complexities. His recently released 25 Years (3 CDs, 1 DVD), a collection of solo works, is the centerpiece of this tour. Corgan's Smashing Pumpkins has a new CD, Oceania, due before year's end. No one can be certain of who is even a member of Smashing Pumpkins as its sole remaining mate, Corgan, hires, fires and rehires players, old and new, with the same high-pitched vehemence that inspires his best operatic-glam-goth-prog-psych-rock songs. That both acts appear in the grand theatrical showcase of the Tower promises to make for great drama if not more than a little nostalgia. - A.D. Amorosi