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Looking Back : An Evening With The Smashing Pumpkins / 1998
Written by Simon

Looking Back : An Evening With The Smashing Pumpkins / 1998

July 3, 2008 | 373 Views

Article written by simon of Smashingpumpkins.com

"An Evening..." tour poster

Taming an imminent implosion:

"Everyone's gonna be a big star, everyone's gonna drive a fast car." Those are Billy Corgan's words in Cash Car Star. Though the song did not officially appear until 2000's vinyl-to-internet album Machina II , it was originally written during the Adore sessions, penned months prior to the band's 1998 "An Evening With The Smashing Pumpkins" North American tour. Lyrically, the song captures Billy's bleak vision of a society obsessed with fame and the incessant escalation towards the ever-ambiguous "more"; more money, more power, more success, more everything. This was, after all, the period when media outlets such as MTV were pumping out music videos with bling, babes and booze, which we, the consumers, were guilty of indulging in (that is, unless you knew better).

The band's answer to their understanding of society's rapid self-implosion was to look outwardly and announce an unprecedented 15 city charity tour across North America. With 100 percent of proceeds going to local charities, the Pumpkins set out to redefine their image[1] and set the tone for a generation growing older.


Billy, James and Darcy - 1998

A voice for a generation

By the end of the tour, $2,813,060.96 was donated to various organizations involved with children and youth. The largest donation on the tour, an estimated $500,000, was donated during the band's hometown stop on July 7th, 1998 (Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick fame, who Billy recently joined on stage, performed I Want You To Want Me and 1979 with the band). It was at the time the largest contribution made to Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Illinois in their 12 years of existence.[2]

So, why donate all the proceeds, especially at a time when Adore was being criticized for its weaker album sales? "This is really a big 'F--- you' to everybody," Corgan eloquently expressed, commenting on the raison d'etre of the tour. "It's like, 'OK, if we can do it, what about you, Mr. Making-$20-million-a-movie, Mr. Sports-star-earning-$10-million-for-playing-162-games.'"[3] Aside from standing amidst their peers with a challenge, the band also wanted to send an altruistic message directed to fans from a demographic coming into its prime. Indeed, by the time 1998 rolled around, Generation X was starting to be in a position where it could use its growing financial and social status to make a change; "talk is cheap, and our generation has had a lot of fingers pointed at it for raising a loud voice. Now that we have raised a loud voice, it's time to start putting that voice into action." [4] During an interview with Charlie Rose, Billy added that the tour was, in essence, about turning the tide of negativity, and forcing people to look at certain issues such as child abuse. In doing so, the band hoped to build a lasting legacy for the larger themes their music addresses, while also creating an inspiring ripple effect.

Listen to more thoughts on the charity tour, on politics and America, and much more in an insightful interview with Charlie Rose here. Billy's segment starts at 15:45.


The ripple effect


Adore-era magazine cover

The Family Place - Dallas, TX
That was 1998. It's been 10 years this month since the Pumpkins set out to detonate this wave of positivity. Of course, the overall impact of their efforts is difficult to assess, but there are incredible stories to be told. The Family Place in Dallas, TX is one of these organizations to which the Pumpkins donated the proceeds of ticket sales - $116,560[5]. As an organization, The Family Place reaches out to victims of family violence, providing families with intervention, emergency shelter, and crisis counselling. Reflecting on the impact of the Pumpkins' gift, executive director Paige Flink mentioned that the money itself was used to help build the playgrounds at their Safe Campus, which opened in May of 2000.

"Every day when you walk into the children's wing, you can see the plaque we did to honor the Smashing Pumpkins," she highlights. "And every time I give a tour, I am able to tell the story of when I got the call saying "we want to give you the proceeds from our Dallas concert", not thinking there would be many proceeds and low and behold it was over $100,000! I speak of the Smashing Pumpkins all the time. Our guests think it is so cool, of course the clients do, too. It definitely adds to the "hip factor" of The Family Place. It was an amazing heart warming experience for all of us."

When asked about the ripple effect that the donation had on their organization, Flink quickly responded, saying: "There was a group of precious children who had witnessed violence that actually got to MEET Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins. For these kids, the ripple effect was knowing that someone so famous would take time out of their very busy schedule and come see them, these little children who had lived in such sorrow. It was an experience they will never forget, not to mention the young girl that got to go on stage during the concert. She is now in the marching band at Texas Tech on a flute scholarship! Who knows where her musical inspiration came from!"

For The Family Place, the great need they see around them could not be met without the help of the entire community. As they say, "few things have the power to change the shape of our world than the act of giving."[6]

Listen to the Pumpkins covering The Beatles' Money (That's What I Want) - October 31st, 1998, here.




Charities involved in the North American Adore tour:



Thanks to Infinite Pictures for the tour poster.