[concerts] Zwan, Metro (01/20/2003)

I was priveleged enough to click my mouse faster than other Chicagoans a few weeks ago and managed to score tickets for the second of five sold-out nights for Zwan at Billy's home away from home, the Metro. I was also priveleged enough to be practically strip-searched on the way in. I know recording technology has gotten much smaller, but is it really going to fit inside an earplug case?

Anyway, the show. About halfway through, I tried to disassociate Billy Corgan and fellow ex-Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlain from the proceedings and imagine that this was just some random band I happened to be checking out. Would I be digging them? Emphasis on "tried," because it didn't really work. That said, it didn't sound as Pumpkin-like as I had initially figured from the single currently on the radio. Some of that expectation was shifted after skimming Greg Kot's article (registration required) in Sunday's Chicago Tribune. Particularly the part about the songs being happier, and conversely, less angst-ridden than the Pumpkins.

While that certainly wasn't the case throughout, there were more delicate moments than you would have seen at Metro ten years ago when Corgan and Chamberlain were hitting stride with their last band. In particular, a pair of lighter songs in the middle of the set featured bassist Paz Lenchantin, recently with A Perfect Circle, playing violin and Chamberlain putting aside his typical bombast for some pretty brushwork. But for the most part, this was an exercise in linear thinking, with many songs either clinging to one constant riff throughout, or subtly shifting gears with each verse and chorus. It was debateable whether this lack of conventional song structure, in some cases, was a byproduct of an early mix that sort of washed out the hooks in the songs, but by and large, it seemed Billy took a page from Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" playbook, at least to a degree.

Sonically, the band is strong, with three guitars filling up the frequency range, the aforementioned Lenchantin and Jimmy holding it down, but it's still a new enough band that there may be some better definition of roles in the future. While the tri-guitar attack worked wonders on the more driving, repetitive riffs, other songs would have benefitted from a bit more differentiation of parts. Chamberlain, also, seems a bit the victim of his own success and reputation, as he was playing a lot of notes. I can't say for sure that this is par for his particular course, as I never saw the Pumpkins live, but it was occasionally distracting.

Overall, though, a solid effort, and at the end of the day, still miles ahead of the current crop of modern rock. Apparently, the powers that be at Reprise Records feel they have something to prove after letting Wilco get away, and I'm certainly not going to be unhappy if Corgan can conquer the rock world again, given that world's current sorry state.