Pumpkins smashed

Billy Corgan’s new band, Zwan, gave an extraordinary performance Friday at the Wiltern -- a grand and glorious piece of rock ‘n’ roll affirmation and theater that signaled the creative rebirth of a major artist whose future has been in question.

There’s an old belief in boxing circles that a prize fighter, however invincible he once appeared, is usually never the same after a humiliating knockout. There is a loss of confidence and will that is irreplaceable.

The same can be said about pop stars, whose struggles after falls from grace are legendary -- and these doubts were raised by many about Corgan after his old band, the Smashing Pumpkins, crashed and burned three years ago.

With the Pumpkins in the mid-’90s, Corgan was an auteur with an ambition and talent so immense that he was one of a half-dozen figures (including Kurt Cobain and Trent Reznor) who seemed to hold the future of rock in their hands.

His beautifully crafted songs, including “1979” and “Tonight, Tonight,” expressed the extremes of teen desperation and angst in ways that helped define a generation.

But the Pumpkins imploded after much internal turmoil and a dramatic drop in album sales, from the 9 million of “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” in 1994 to fewer than 1 million for “Machina/The Machines of God” in 2000.

Backstage before the Wiltern concert, Corgan, 36, acknowledged that he was aware of the speculation about his creative and commercial demise.

“In the record industry, I’m sure I’m seen as the ultimate cowboy who shot himself in the foot,” he said, sitting in his dressing room. “Who takes the biggest band in the world and throws it in the trash bin?

“People in the business told me, ‘You’re insane. Don’t walk away from the Pumpkins name. Get rid of who you want to get rid of in the band and just carry on.’

“I knew what they were saying. It is hard to repeat in this business. But I had to make a change if I was going to keep making music that mattered to me. Besides, I never lost faith in myself. I’m a fighter.”

The public got its first taste of Corgan after the Pumpkins when Zwan’s debut album, “Mary Star of the Sea,” was released in January -- and it was an encouraging sign. Reviews were mostly glowing and there were enough curious Pumpkins fans for it to enter the U.S. chart at No. 3. It is now nearing the 250,000 sales mark.

In the album, the shaved-headed singer-songwriter has not only new musicians (except for Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin), but also a new attitude. The songs have a mostly comforting, sunny, even spiritual edge. “I declare myself of faith,” he says in one tune.

On Friday, the music seemed even more radiant and convincing as the band gave the tunes harder, more dynamic textures. Though the quintet has done only a few shows since the album’s release, the lineup came together superbly on stage. Zwan also includes Matt Sweeney on guitar, David Pajo on guitar and keyboards and Paz Lenchantin on bass and violin.

Except for the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down” and an inviting new song that will likely be part of an acoustic DVD to be recorded this fall, Corgan stuck to material from “Mary” in the 90-minute set.

The most dramatic moment was “Jesus, I,” a 19th century gospel number that Corgan adapted for the album.

“Jesus, I’ve taken my cross, all to leave and follow thee,” the lanky, 6-foot-3 Corgan declared in a raspy voice midway between a snarl and a whine. “I am destitute ... despised ... forsaken.”

The music early in the song was uncharacteristically soft, but then Chamberlain began playing the drums with the explosive, wall-of-sound force that record producer Phil Spector employed in such ‘60s hits as “Be My Baby” and “River Deep, Mountain High.”

Corgan joined on guitar, expressing the song’s fire, brimstone and salvation with show-stopping power. The sequence lasted for nearly 10 minutes and it reflected a rock ‘n’ roll vision every bit as commanding as that of the Pumpkins days.

In Corgan’s own songs, Zwan conveyed the same authority, whether on the playful “Settle Down” or the tense, R&B-shaded; “Of a Broken Heart.”

Corgan, whose demeanor tended to be introspective and distant with the Pumpkins, appeared open, even humble throughout the show. He waved to the audience when he walked on stage and frequently flashed a smile.

For all the changes in his life and his music, however, Corgan didn’t seem that different backstage from the intense, driven, outwardly confident person who guided the Pumpkins, and often butted heads with record companies and managers over career direction.

His current manager is Elliot Roberts, who has worked with such equally independent figures as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

“Billy reminds me of Neil and Joni in the sense he doesn’t think of himself as just a guy in a pop band,” Roberts said Friday. “He sees himself as an artist, someone who cares more about making great music in his 40s and 50s than where he is on the charts at any one moment.”

Corgan attributed the positiveness in the new album to personal growth. He had already written most of the songs for the album before the terrorist attacks in 2001, but the event deeply affected him.

“I was in New York and I heard the plane go over,” the Chicago-area native said. “I lived the whole thing and that changed me. The world is a different place and if you are a good soldier, part of your job as an artist is pointing a direction.

“I think there are a lot of reasons to be positive about life. It’s really beautiful when you talk to kids about the war and you see the sense of humanity they feel for Iraqi people. That’s a change from 20 years ago, I believe.”

Corgan sees a link between the Pumpkins and the music he’s now making with Zwan, maintaining that it is a bit simplistic to see the old band as all dark and Zwan as all light.

“There was plenty of humor and wit in the Pumpkins,” he said. “It was just kind of obscure, and there is darkness in Zwan if you look for it.

“The new stuff isn’t like the Mike Curb Congregation or something. I’m not saying the world’s all sunshine and everything is going to be right.

“The positive elements in this music come from the depths of knowing what it is to hurt and that’s something I know a lot about.”