Smashing Pumpkins raise moolah, rock casbah
28.07.10
Pat Quinn, who appeared before the Pumpkins set to read a proclamation, naming Tuesday as Matthew Leone Day in the state of Illinois and calling Leone "a true American hero. New guitarist Jeff Schroeder didn't step up and demand anyone's attention, though he has a prickly way of crawling over and around the melody, adding superfluous but sweetly unsettling sounds (think Robert Quine's guitar parts on Matthew Sweet's... Drummer Mike Byrne, 20, replaced the only remaining original member, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, late last year, and he punished the skins accordingly, acquitting himself in a brief drum solo at the tortured end of "United States. "There are absolutely not enough words in the English language, or any language, to express our gratitude for this and everything you've done," Nathan told the sold-out crowd. " Metro owner Joe Shanahan choked up. Then the Smashing Pumpkins returned to the Metro stage -- for the first time since the original quartet said goodbye here in 2000....
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (blog)