Billy Corgan

Smashing Pumpkins at Bayou Music Center, 5/15/2013

Smashing Pumpkins Bayou Music Center May 15, 2013 This is not a Smashing Pumpkins review. Sure, the title of this post hints otherwise, but I assure you -- the Smashing Pumpkins broke up in Chicago, on December 2, 2000. I was there. Props to front man Billy Corgan for trying like hell to keep hi ... More >>

The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Smashing Pumpkins, Taylor Swift, etc.

Free Radicals Avant Garden, May 13 Free Radicals is both Nick Cooper's revolving-door ensemble that at any given moment could be playing free jazz or Latin funk, and also Cooper's ongoing testimonial to how much he digs being a member of the Houston music community. He has so much experience at thi ... More >>

Smashing Pumpkins: Life After Death

Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan says he's been "humbled by God."

Transcribing Is a Bitch: The Collected Craig Hlavaty Interviews

My last official day at the Houston Press is tomorrow, so these past two weeks I have been sifting through my body of work here at Rocks Off, almost seven years of words. I've been gleefully overdosing on nostalgia here at my desk, and I have (almost) no regrets. I'll have some more words on my depa ... More >>

The Five Strangest Artists You Never Knew Courtney Love Worked With

Fall Out Boy is set to save rock and roll, and they're bringing a few friends along with them. Apparently, saving rock and roll requires the combined efforts of prose auteur Pete Wentz, "Rocket Man" Elton John, and, of course, Courtney Love. What? Courtney Love? Yes. As the video announces, "it's C ... More >>

How Billy Corgan Won at Life and Won My Heart

I've previously been critical of Billy Corgan for a lot of the ridiculousness he has engaged in. But folks, I'm here to tell you, all of that changed for me last week when I saw this video of good old Billy and his wrassling federation shilling furniture. Now I get it. Billy Corgan is not Generatio ... More >>

Remembering Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie With Fondness and Weariness

Seventeen years and change on, opinions on the Smashing Pumpkins' sprawling 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness differ vastly from one fan to the other. Most everyone agrees it's bloated, and some even call it the beginning of the end for the band, the point when Pumpkins leader ... More >>

Saturday Night: Red Hot Chili Peppers at Toyota Center

Red Hot Chili Peppers Toyota Center October 20, 2012 The Red Hot Chili Peppers have stuck around long enough -- through drugs, overdoses, creative strife and changing musical tides -- to have 30 years of hits they can knock out into the nosebleeds at any given live show. Saturday night's Toyota C ... More >>

Where Have All Our Heroes Gone?: The Four Saddest Fallen Idols of Our Generation

When we're kids, we'll look anywhere for idols and role models. Most often, we look to pop culture and we find our heroes there by way of idolizing whoever's work we enjoy the most. We copy them in the worst ways. We adopt their style of dress, their opinions on music, their viewpoints on the world ... More >>

30 Seconds With mewithoutYou

I have a hard time adequately describing mewithoutYou's music... imagine if King Missile and early Butthole Surfers collaborated. Even then you'd be missing a lot of the nuances and brilliance. I caught up with drummer Richard Mazzotta to see what I could learn about the amazing percussionist in 30 ... More >>

The Billy Corgan/Wilson From Home Improvement Meme

Tuesday Sirius-XM's Alt Nation posted the picture (right) of Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan hanging in their studio on the channel's Facebook page. Slum-dapper in a bucket hat, flannel and army surplus coat, it's obviously a far cry from the tall, lithe guy in silver pants and a ZERO shir ... More >>

iFest: Top 5 Argentine-American Musicians

The Houston International Festival enters its second weekend tomorrow, with featured musical acts WAR, Joe Louis Walker, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Texas Tornados, Del Castillo, Steel Pulse and lots more. Although iFest's performers come from all over the world, all around the main stages will be the sig ... More >>

5 Bands That Should Break Up Immediately

Music fans are selfish. We might act like we only want what's best for our favorite bands, but the truth is that we really just want what will give us the most gratification. A lot of ink, both real and digital, has been used this year to talk about reunions. And while writers might dissect the mot ... More >>

Squared Circle: Top 5 Songs About Pro Wrestling

Although the wrestling boom of the late '90s is a fading memory, the absurd mix of sport and theater continues on in bingo halls and arenas across the country. Every night, under the bright lights, someone is trying to avoid being hit with a steel chair. It should come as no surprise that there are ... More >>

Five - Wait, Six - Great Moments In Lead-Singer Douchery

​A few weeks ago, when I saw What Made Milwaukee Famous at the Main Street Block Party, I wanted to like the band's performance, but I just couldn't ignore that the lead singer was texting during his set. Sure, I thought that What Made Milwaukee Famous' cover of Wings' "Let 'Em In" was great and ... More >>

The 11 Best Female Rock Bassists of All Time

seanyseult.com​While there are and have been so many notable women in rock-and-roll, and we'd like to honor them all, we've chosen the specific starting point of recognizing rock's best female bassists. As a bassist, I looked up to nearly each and every one of these women as I learned the bass ... More >>

Ask Me Anything: What Would You Ask Your Favorite Artist?

"What do you love about music?" ​Part of the job here at Rocks Off - this daily Make-A-Wish kid circus - is talking to musicians and people in the musical know. One of the most fun parts of the job is booking an interview with an artist coming to town and cramming for a few days into the nook ... More >>

Top 10 Musician WTF Hobbies

Zazzle.com​Musicians are weird. Well, the good ones, at least. It's a little-known, beloved factoid. While artists' news, drama, and private lives are sometimes aired to the point of over-saturation, it becomes more interesting when we learn relatively kept insight into their rockers' offstage ... More >>

Smashing Pumpkins Debut Song On Rocks Off Sister Blog

GroovehouseBilly Corgan at Verizon Wireless Theater, December 2010​California, look what you've done. This morning, the Billy Corgan Experience Smashing Pumpkins, who managed to visit Houston twice in less than three months last year, debuted the track "Owata" on West Coast Sound, the music b ... More >>

Solo Albums: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

​Tomorrow night, former Audioslave lead singer and (thankfully) current Soundgarden member Chris Cornell will be at House of Blues for a long-sold-out acoustic show. Recent set lists have included a number of Temple of the Dog songs, some solo work, the usual 'Garden and 'Slave tracks, plus a ... More >>

Top 10 Non-Traditional Christmas Songs

"Baby Jesus, born to rock..." ​Amidst the time of year when we're bombarded with cliché holiday tunes and trite Christmas-carol covers, Rocks Off will now take time to appreciate a few original nontraditional takes on festive songs. Whether they're dismal adaptations of holiday malaise, tale ... More >>

Last Night: Smashing Pumpkins And Jimmy Eat World At Verizon

Photos by GroovehouseStill bleeding: Jimmy Eat World​Buzzfestivus with Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Eat World Verizon Wireless Theater December 5, 2010 Ringing in the radio-friendly holiday spirit, 94.5 The Buzz welcomed Jimmy Eat World and Smashing Pumpkins to the first night of its annual "Buzz ... More >>

Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Eat World

Exes On Tour: White Stripes, ABBA, Lindsey & Stevie...

​We're all familiar with the credo against intra-office dating, often crudely expressed as "Don't shit where you eat." Most of us subscribe to it, knowing the potential drama it could ensue. "How will this affect my work," we wonder. "What happens if we break up?" But all's fair in love and ... More >>

Top Five Musician Twitter Feuds So Far

​The times they are a-changin'. Gone are the days of musicians airing bad blood toward one another behind a lyrical veil a la Neil Young vs. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dandy Warhols vs. Brian Jonestown Massacre, Ice Cube vs. N.W.A. In our brave new world, Rocks Off has succumbed to the instant-gratific ... More >>

Top Five Musician/Journalist Feuds

"Like, what is your problem?" Jason Nocito​Hell hath no fury like a spurned musician, but a critic's vengeance doesn't lag far behind. This week in the Houston Press, you can read an interview Noah Bailey at our sister paper the Dallas Observer did with Dr. Dog's Scott McMicken, who says he h ... More >>

The Top 10 Rock-Musician Film Scores

​David Fincher's Facebook creation tale The Social Network has been the No. 1 film in America the past two weekends, and no doubt it will continue that streak this weekend, barring an assault by Jackass 3-D which comes out today. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone is already hailing Network as a ... More >>

Last Night: Smashing Pumpkins At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Smashing Pumpkins Warehouse Live September 21, 2010 See photos from last night's jam-packed show. Tuesday night's nearly sold-out Smashing Pumpkins set at Warehouse Live should have been a greatest-hits affair, at least in the eyes of most people who haven't been keep ... More >>

Billy Corgan: Still A Smashing Pumpkin, But No Shrinking Violet

Kristin Burns​A couple of weeks back, Rocks Off spoke with the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan for our print edition about the state of the music world, who excites him now and the indie-rock "shell game." The initial interview was only scheduled for 15 minutes but we ended up chatting for a h ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

Whoever said corn had no nutritional value obviously never fried it and smeared it with mayonnaise and salt.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we're going to revolutionize the natural sweetener industry with our newest invention, high fructose yam syrup. Keep y ... More >>

Smashing Pumpkins

Billy Corgan's everlasting gaze

Mullets & More: 17 Signature Musical Hairstyles

​If you have hair, Craig's Hlist hates you. Not in a "you shot my whole family" or "you are the serial killer who dissolved my sibling in a vat of acid" way, more in a "you got the last sausage and cheese kolaches at the office" way. Our hair loss began sometime in high school, when we were ... More >>

Courtney's Revenge

Nobody's Daughter propels Hole into the 21st century.

FAIL - Billy Corgan, Courtney Love, Justin Bieber, Celene Dion, Apple

If you're reading this, you're either on the Internet, or else you've mastered multi-dimensional thought-projection processes that would make Michio Kaku cry like a little girl. We'll assume the former, and just in case you don't already know, the Internet has decided that the word "failure" is too ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Hope Justin Bieber Dies Before He Gets Old

​Oh, calm down. This isn't a call for the murder of American's favorite prepubescent pop idol. Sure, the former YouTube sensation from Stratford, Ontario who dresses and talks (and Tweets) like a diminutive Tupac Shakur has made more money in the last two years than you or I will see in ten li ... More >>

Get In The Ring: How 7 Wrestlers Match Up With Their Rock-Star Lookalikes

​ While rock stars wrestle with their inner demons, the performers of the WWE wrestle with other people. A rock star may cut himself because he just needs to feel something; a wrestler will cut himself because it's the championship pay-per-view event and needs to look more intense. The rock stars ... More >>

Listology: Gold Sounds' Top 5 Seismic Love Songs for Valentine's Day

​This weekend, starting tonight with a gig at Walter's On Washington and tomorrow afternoon's 3 p.m. in-store set Cactus Music, Houston's Gold Sounds begins properly unfurling long-gestating LP, Seismic Love. It's fitting that the album gets it's proper debut over Valentine's weekend, seeing t ... More >>

Tonight: Florida Indie Beach Boys Surfer Blood Sail Into Mango's

​Florida-based indie kids Surfer Blood pull into Mango's tonight, touring ahead of their upcoming Astro Coast LP. The band was recently anointed by Rolling Stone's online feature "Hype Monitor" as "bright and booming and hooky as FM radio in the late '70s." Rocks Off can hear traces of early "Blue ... More >>

The Night a Well-Aimed Shoe Ended Smashing Pumpkins' Houston Goodwill

Today Rocks Off is starting a recurring series of local music urban legends; not so much 'urban legends' in the sense of oft-repeated stories that turn out to be false - though those are fine too - but actual legends: events and incidents that get talked about so much they become a part of local lor ... More >>

Fight for Your Right

Does the U.S. belong with the Axis of Evil?

Pelican, with Thrice and Circa Survive

Your Billy Corgan Fix for This Year

The Hanukkah Songs

Wherein we find the coining of our new favorite word: Jewpergroup

The Kids Aren't Alright

Fledgling director Jonas Akerlund spins the next hip dope flick

This Year's Model

Rotation

Static

Rotation

Matter of Importance

Alternative Notion Lollapalooza doesn't say much about its generation, but the music's fine

y Brad Tyer