Concert review: Smashing Pumpkins open Goodyear Theater

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

AKRON

The Goodyear Theater has been hidden in plain sight for about a century.

But Friday night’s concert by Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair put it on the map.

The 1,500-seat theater is tucked inside a massive former Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. headquarters building on East Market Street and had always been strictly for company use only.

No brightly lit marquee announces its presence along the heavily traveled street, and the main entrance is actually an unassuming portal on a side street. You wouldn’t even know it was there.

The Pumpkins had the honor of being the first rock concert at the beautifully renovated theater (a Kidz Bop show Wednesday was the first show). Billy Corgan & Co. took advantage of a new sound system and the room’s superb acoustics by playing a career-spanning set that was mostly electric acoustic. It was perfect for the venue.

One more thing about the theater, which opened in 1920: it is spaciously comfortable, intimate (a balcony means even the worst seats are closer to the stage) and has excellent sight lines throughout.

Corgan started the set on acoustic solo for a few songs (including “Tonight, Tonight”), and was then joined by guitarist Jeff Schroeder for a few more, including David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

The full band came on for a segment from the great “Siamese Dream” album.

Corgan, with his nasally voice and clean-shaven head, cut an imposing figure on the stage. He was made larger than life by lighting that cast him in giant silhouette on the walls on both sides of the stage.

The whole evening was in the style of a songwriter’s showcase. Each tune was boiled down to its essence, and it was intense. It was also a career retrospective, but with fresh reinterpretation of the songs.

During this NFL draft week, Corgan elicited a rare moment of levity — and got a charge from the crowd — when he jokingly said he might have to pull out his Manziel card if a certain fan didn’t quiet down. The mention of Johnny Football’s name doesn’t bring joy in Browns country, and Corgan quickly realized his faux pas, but it was funny.

Although nobody can bring a song to a climax like Corgan, he kept the performance just under the boiling point. While it might have muted the explosiveness on stage, those key song moments were likely heard loud and clear in each listener’s mind.

Some musical highlights included “World’s Fair,” with Corgan playing guitar like a Spanish master. He turned a keyboard into a thundering pipe organ on the intro to “Disarm,” and similarly powerful drums announced the beginning of “1979.”

There was also a fresh take on “Malibu,” a wistful song from Courtney Love’s “Celebrity Skin” album.

There were a few more covers, including Bob Dylan’s “Knockin on Heaven’s Door.” The encore was the Rolling Stones’ “Angie,” sung in an achingly agonized voice as only Corgan could.

Liz Phair is finally back in action, and it was great to cross her off my bucket list, although I would’ve preferred seeing her with a full band.

Phair played solo, switching guitars for almost every song. Her set included a few songs from her brilliant debut album, “Exile in Guyville,” including “Divorce Song.” Because that album was stripped down musically, her live version was close to the original.

Her takes on later songs, like “Supernova” and “Why Can’t I?” lent an air of perspective that only time can give to a great body of work.

Transcendent in the 1990s, Phair’s career sputtered in the 2000s. But she played a new song, titled “Our Dog Days Are Behind Us,” that seemed to announce her return.

Phair closed with a cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U” as a tribute to the late Prince, who penned the song.

She would later join Corgan on stage for a duet on “Thirty Three.”