Concert Review: Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction Feel Right At Home At Nashville Bridgestone Rockshow

Billy Corgan and Perry Ferrell Grind Through Hits During A Special Night In Nashville

October 11th, 2023:: Review and Concert Photography by JB Brookman

Nashville TN- They say Rock and Roll is dead…

In a day and age where music is now made in bedrooms on laptops and released on Tik Tok or ultra-processed and formulaic hits released by major studios, we have definitely seen loud guitars and live-drums and the age of the rockstar go into slumber.

But, Billy Corgan and Perry Ferrell remind us that you can never replace the power of an engaging powerful frontman and a 4-piece hammering, grungey rock band. There’s a special kind of feeling when these legends enter an arena. The audience is definitely older and no longer slashes around in the mosh pit or pogos relentlessly on the floor as in the 90’s. But, that doesn’t mean that the fanbase of the Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction don’t rock just as hard.

Perry Ferrell of Jane’s Addiction at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Photo: JB Brookman, SENIORITY/Nashville Live

What a special lineup it was that graced Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday night. Billy and the Pumpkins back with 3/4’s of their original lineup- which included the legendary James Iha on lead guitar and the fresh-off touring with Brandi Carlisle (in fact, he played local Franklin, TN with Carlile at her booming Pilgrimage Fest date a few weeks ago) timekeeper Jimmy Chamberlain. The Shredder himself (former Violet Burning guitar god) Jeff Schroeder is also still with the band, creating a sheer wall of guitar when Corgan and Iha join him on extended back and forth solos. Jack Bates has been the touring bassist for a few tours now and has really fallen into the pocket with the rest of the band. In fact, they may be more tight musically and relationally than they have ever been. Back was the sarcastic back and forth between Billy and James during songs- with Iha introducing his share of tracks during the show.

The Pumpkins catalogue of music is so deep, diverse and vibey that Billy and the boys can take you on a euphoric journey from the almost-pop hits like 1979 and Cherub Rock to the power ballads like Disarm and then the straight up metal in-your-face power of Bullet With Butterfly Wings… Then he can pull out a deep track like Radio from the Album adore and about half of the crowd goes nuts, having not heard the song live in a decade or more.

Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins shred Nashville. Photo: JB Brookman, SENIORITY/Nashville Live

One of the biggest highlights of the Smashing Pumpkins set was a cover of the Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime” where Corgan built and built the song from a whisper to an ultimate, out of control screamfest… The song seemed to last 5 minutes plus and it was interesting to see how fast the crowd caught on that it was a David Byrne masterpiece…

Jane’s Addiction were perfect openers for this tour. Even though they were without ultra-popular guitarist Dave Navarro (because of Covid), 63 year old frontman Perry Ferrell and drummer Stephen Perkins more than made up for his absence as they shook the arena with their familiar brand of 90’s psychadelic alternative feels. There are not many bands on the planet who vibe like Jane’s. Perry went on one of his patented rants during the show- pretty much going off and denouncing Kanye West’s anti-semetic remarks from earlier in the day.