On Thursday I got out of work and began preparation for the trip. One of those tasks was shaving my head (to get the full Corganesque effect going). It was the first time I had ever completely shaved my head and I must say, soon after doing it, I realized just how much I liked it (so in case you were wondering if it's a permanent thing, it will at least be a summer thing). I threw my bags in the Mustang and around 7:00pm, I began the long road trip.

The timing of the trip was unfortunate because of the heavy rain coming down on me as I was driving. There were times in the first hour where I had zero visibility and there were also times where I nearly lost control of the car going 40 miles per hour in a 65 on 222 South. When I finally got on I-83 in Maryland, the skies cleared, and I was able to roll down the windows and start blaring the six discs full of Pumpkins' mp3s that I had made the previous night.

Though I have driven the beltway before, it was the first time I was using it to go to Virginia (to pick up Matt). The mapquest directions were actually wrong on what to do on Pennsylvania Avenue so I ended up going in the wrong direction. I stopped for directions at a gas station, but the attendant and I had a bit of a communication problem. His broken English combined with the shitty speaker he was speaking through behind a ½" of Plexiglas didn't help me. Luckily, a kid on a bike (who seemed shady as hell) lurking in the shadows was able to point me in the right direction.

I finally made it to Matt's place in Falls Church around 11:15 that night. Earlier in the day when we were texting back and forth while we were both at work, we kicked around the idea of driving to Roanoke that night so the trip wouldn't be that bad in the morning. We stopped briefly at Matt's office so he could pick up supplies and we finally headed out a little bit before midnight.

We drove I-66 to I-81. I-66 was the strangest and most boring highway I have ever been on (even worse than I-55 from Chicago to St. Louis). There would be nothing for miles and then there would be an exit with a single gas station with nothing else around it. There were virtually no houses or other businesses around the highway.

Virginia seemed to last forever. We soon started to see signs for Roanoke. One of us jokingly said something about skipping Roanoke and just driving the entire distance overnight. As it turns out, that's exactly what we ended up doing.

After a short stint in Tennessee, we finally reached North Carolina. The road to Asheville was gorgeous. We ascended the mountains to their peak and then eventually the highway dropped off and we drove downhill for 30 or so miles. When we started driving downhill, we could see the sun slowly rising over the mountain peaks and a small layer of fog lingered below in the valleys.

We arrived at the Days Inn on Patton Avenue around 7:30am on Friday. Check-in wasn't until noon, but the gentleman at the front desk sympathized with our long journey and gave us our room. I took a quick shower and headed out, leaving Matt in the room to take a power nap. I wandered the streets of Asheville for 30 or so minutes in search of a place that was open that early serving food, but unfortunately, I found none. I walked to the Orange Peel and got in line a little after 8am for the 10pm show.

There were a half dozen people already waiting when I got in line. Everyone was talking about the Smashing Pumpkins so I naturally chimed in. As the morning progressed, we all started talking about each other. As it turns out, the one girl in line, Cathy, went to Central Catholic in Reading and to Kutztown University. They all belonged to Netphoria, the Smashing Pumpkins messageboard I belong to, so we also had that to talk about. It was amazing being able to talk to people who were as passionate about the Pumpkins' music as I was. The majority of you who are reading this have no clue what the significance of things like the "The Church Sessions", "Gravity Demos", or "The Metro DVD" are… and I don't expect you to, but it was great finally being able to sit around and talk to people who understood what I was talking about.

Matt arrived around 1:30 and held down the fort while I went back to the hotel to shower again (due to the intense heat and humidity) and to try once again to find food. I showered, picked up a cheeseburger, and headed back. When I got back, my worst fear had arrived… Crackhead Johnny. People who had been at the earlier shows had talked about a local named Crackhead Johnny who is generally strung out and singing Van Halen and GNR songs to people waiting in line. Around this time, Tori (who I've known from Myspace since I first signed up) and her friend Spike met up with us.

Around 2:00, we decided to go across the street and pick up some six packs to speed up the waiting process. We all sat around, drank, and hung out until the doors opened at 7:30. At one point, a gentleman in his late 50's stopped and talked to us. He starts listing bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen, the Who, etc, that he's seen in concert, and none of those compared to the Pumpkins' show he saw on the 23rd. The guy really knew his music and it sure seemed like he wasn't humoring us. Eventually the doors opened and we headed in. Tori didn't have tickets at the time, so we agreed to meet up with her and Spike after the show.

When we walked in, we grabbed a spot right in between where Ginger and Billy would be for the show. The opening band, Deerhunter, came on at 9:00. I've seen a lot of shows, but this was the worst band I had ever seen. The lead singer continually pretended to give head to the microphone, would stumble around (he was tripping on something), and constantly sang out of key. They finally left the stage at 9:30 and I was relieved they were gone, but didn't look forward to having to hear them again on Saturday. The Pumpkins came on at 10:00 as scheduled.

The pounding bass drum of United States (from Zeitgeist) opened the show and everyone sang along (thanks to so many people having access to Pumpkins' concert recordings due to their new open taping policy). They completely rocked the first set. Billy announced they were going to take a five minute break and we should make new friends outside of Myspace in the meantime. They opened up the second set acoustic and I noticed a lot of the people in the back were talking. Sure enough at the end of one of the songs, Billy said something to the extent of "I never understood why people talk during concerts. Those are the [bad word removed]ers buying tickets on ebay for $600". Midway through the second set, my highlight of the show occurred. Jimmy began playing the drum line to Lucky 13… stopped… jumped up on his drum set and pointed at the crowd… hopped back down… played it again… stopped… and kept doing. It got the crowd going crazy! The followed that with an amazing new version of Heavy Metal Machine (which we heard them rehearsing for hours before the show).

Setlist:

Set 1:

United States
Doomsday Clock
Bleeding the Orchid
Neverlost
Hummer
The Aeroplane Flies High
Home
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Tarantula
Glass and the Ghost Children
Blue Skies Bring Tears

Set 2:

If All Goes Wrong (written for the Asheville shows)
Mama (written for the Asheville shows)
With Every Light
Translucent
Starla
[bad word removed] You
Stand Inside Your Love
In My Body
Lucky 13
Heavy Metal Machine
Winterlong
The Crying Tree of Mercury
Rocket
Tonight, Tonight
Cherub Rock
Zero
Disarm

Encore:

It's A Song I Sing (written for the Asheville shows)
Untitled

After the show ended, I couldn't get a hold of Tori. I eventually got a hold of Tori when Matt and I reached the hotel room, but after 43 hours without sleep, I was down for the count. I will definitely make it up to her in the future, somehow, someway, but the lack of sleep was too much to handle.

Around 2am, exhausted and nearly deaf, we retired to our beds to dream of what Asheville would throw in our direction Saturday…

We woke up around 11:30 the next morning to a large woman screaming on her phone outside our hotel room. We had already determined the night before that though waiting in line for 12 hours was fun, we'd rather check out the sights and sounds of Asheville. After showering we were out and about.

Our first stop was at a bar called Jack in the Wood. I guess we stuck out like a sore thumb in Asheville because multiple people at separate times approached us with the line, "So, are you guys in Asheville for the shows?" We had a drink there and talked music with the locals. We eventually left, grabbed some lunch, and checked out some of the stores in town. I struck up a conversation with a 20-something girl in the one shop while Matt was shopping for Kelly (his girlfriend). Like a lot of people who I met that weekend, she wasn't originally from Asheville. Apparently the cost of living is very low and the city is quite liberal in terms of how it's run so a lot of people are drawn to relocating there. About an hour later, after dodging Crackhead Johnny on numerous occasions, we headed back to the hotel and drank some beers before heading out.

We got to the Orange Peel around 6:00pm and hung out with a group of people that consisted of individuals from Vermont, Florida, and North Carolina. I briefly went upfront and talked to Cathy, Hope, and John from the previous night. They said Billy and Jimmy stayed after the show for a while and talked with the fans (which I was sort of pissed I missed, but I wouldn't have made it any longer without sleep).

What's very cool about the Orange Peel is that they have an outdoor "Beer Garden" while you're waiting in line to pass the time. The one bartender was so pleased that I was wearing an Eagles' jersey in North Carolina that he didn't charge me for a couple beers (he was born and raised in south Philly).

Like the previous night, the doors opened at 7:30 and amazingly, we got almost the exact same spots as the night before (even though we got in line 10 hours later). Once we settled in, I braced myself for Deerhunter (the shitty opening band from the night before). Surprisingly, instead of Deerhunter, the Asheville drum circle came out and began playing. After a few songs, the one guy came up to the mic and apologized for Deerhunter not being there. I couldn't complain!

The Pumpkins came on a little after 10:00 and opened with Today. When Billy began playing the opening riff, I got goosebumps. This is going to sound really weird, but there were times during the first few songs that Billy and I made eye contact and I felt like I was paralyzed. This is my idol, a rock legend, staring right at me. It was so strange and yet amazing! After the song Hummer, the band broke into a little tease of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir which was cool as hell. After the first set, my bladder began feeling the effects of the Beer Garden outside. It eventually became too much to handle and I gave up my pristine spot to do what nature intended.

When I came out, I recognized one of the guys from the Asheville drum circle so I went up and commended him on the great opening act. He eventually told me that the lead singer from Deerhunter was called into the Orange Peel earlier in the day and Billy gave him his walking papers after being less than thrilled about how Deerhunter performed the night before. Thank God for that too! I lingered at the bar for a little bit and was approached by the girl from the shop we visited earlier in the day. The band came back on, but I stayed behind and danced with her for a little bit (yes, I danced… gasp!) I wandered back just in time for them to tease… 10 songs… in a row… before breaking into Zero (see the set list below for the teases). They played two encores and ended the show with the heart stopping unreleased epic, Gossamer.

Set list:

Set 1:

Today
Stand Inside Your Love
1979
United States
(Come On) Let's Go
Starla
In My Body
Hummer
Kashmir (Led Zeppelin - tease)
Silver[bad word removed]
Blue Skies Bring Tears
Bullet with Butterfly Wings

Set 2:

If Only in a Dream (new song written for the Asheville shows)
To Sheila
Mama (new song written for the Asheville shows)
Cherub Rock (tease)
The Everlasting Gaze (tease)
Ava Adore (tease)
Over the Hills and Far Away (Led Zeppelin – tease)
Day Tripper (Beatles – tease)
Sweet Lead (Black Sabbath – tease)
We Will Rock You (Queen – tease)
Misty Mountain Hop (Led Zeppelin – tease)
Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple – tease)
Rock On (Essex – tease)
Zero
Starz
[bad word removed] You
Tarantula
Tonight, Tonight
Drown
Heavy Metal Machine
White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane – tease)

Encore 1:

Cherub Rock
Untitled

Encore 2:

Gossamer

After the show, we headed to the Irish bar up the street. The entire NFC East fan base must have been there because I had Redskins, Cowboys, and Giants fans approaching me because of my jersey. Though I wasn't able to convince them that the Eagles are the far superior team, we all talked football and music.

We headed back around 2:30 and I eventually crashed while Matt went and got food.

The next morning after packing up, we decided not to take I-81 back. We took I-42 to I-85 to I-95 which was a MUCH better idea. A lot less Virginia and a lot more North Carolina. Worked for me. I was amazed by the fact that KFC has buffets in the south (best 6.99 I've ever spent!). I eventually dropped off Matt and made it home at 11:30 that night. It was an amazing weekend… and next up… is the Pumpkins in Philly October 21st and 22nd.

amazing trip!!
and muzzle is one of my fav songs too
=)
greetz sany

reading this makes me happy. 'Cus i realise what i have to look forward to! (even though it's the only thing that's in my mind) and just like you're writing .. "for every emotion I have, the pumpkins have a song for it" well, I'm only 16 years old but, smashing pumpkins have changed my life. and I couldn't pe more pleased.

have a great day
thanks