.....That was until a mate asked if there was any bands playing in Amsterdam at the moment. A quick check on www.melkweg.nl shows that the Jimmy chamberlin complex are playing:
Apart from spelling Smashing Pumpkins wrong, that basically says. As drummer of the Smashing Pumpkins Jimmy chamberlin gained respect as the most popular and influential drummer of the 90's. His technical ability can be compared to that of Dennis Chambers(Parliament/Funkadelic). ... yada yada yada side project bum him up etc.
Now in my words. Smashing Pumpkins were amazing. while Billy Corgan is the genius behind this, Jimmy chamberlin provided him with the paints and canvas and talent from the drum stool to gel it all together. During the Mellon Collie and the infinite sadness tour he fell into Heroin addiction, so didn't appear on Adore. He threw himself at drumming and it would appear body building during his rehab period and came back healthy, muscley and drummerly.
When he appears at the Smashing Pumpkins last gig in the Greatest Hits video collection DVD, he is a buff drumming machine. he is so into it, he is getting adrenaline that you can physically see and his arms are a blur:
So tonight I am off to see the Jimmy chamberlin Complex - his new band.
I have the album. It's pretty good. Lots of really impressive drumming set to a slightly grungy jazz atmosphere. It's highly listenable, while being different enough not to be over played on my iPod.
I sent an email around to a few mates that liked the Smashing Pumpkins to ask if they were interested. They weren't. You really need to be a drummer and a die hard pumpkins fan to appreciate this stuff. The mates do however want to meet up for a few beers before it to get some food and watch the football(Scotland/Austria, England/Denmark, Netherlands/Germany). I left after the first half, which was a good job, cos the Barman was from Glasgow, and there a good likliehood, that despite Scotland drawing, we would have been singing a little loudly celebrating Denmark's win for some English people.
Anyway. I go to the Melkweg:
The Melkweg is one of the best venues in Amsterdam. Pearl Jam played there in their 1992 tour(That would have been a gig!!). My love affair started when I went to see Mudhoney and the Catheters play here in 2002 when I had only been living in Amsterdam a few months:
Seeing Mudhoney alone should be enough, but this one comes with a story. I had never been to the Melkweg before so I wasn't sure which one of the three doors led to the venue. I passed the doors and saw Mudhoney drinking a the bar, so I went in and had a beer with them. Never have a I met more down to earth guys. It was great.
Anyway. I enter the Oude Zaal and as I suspected, there's no one here. There's a two barmen and about 9 audience members. It feels good when it's like this. The venue is small enough that there is a still a reasonable atmosphere, and you feel like it's some special little intimate concert for the people in the know.
Eventually the band come on. We have Jimmy Chamberlin on the tubs, Billy Mohler on Bass and Gannin Arnold on guitar. It get a flutter in my stomach as Jimmy Chamberlin takes the the stage which I'm resting my pin on. He's literally a metre in front of me - the drummer on so many songs I hold dear by the Smashing Pumpkins
He of the tongue in cheek scowl in the Zero video
He of the mullet in the Rhinoceros video:
He who is now playing some very impressive drums directly in front of me:
I forgot how much good drumming turns me on. It's phenominal standing this close to drumming that is so good. You kind of have the thing followed, you're working out the intricate thing he's doing with two hands at one end of the kit and the to surprise you a cymbal moves at the other side of the kit.
The band play a kind of grungy Jazz - it sounds like old Drum practice tapes I used to play too - it's musak, but with a grunge mentality behind it. The guitarist is kind of Jazz schooled, so lots of interesting arpeggios and very impressive but easy sounding run's in strange keys:
The Bass Player is really impressive, it's sheer performance all the way through, he performs the job of Bass Player, Rhythm Guitarist and Lead Bass/Solo. His array of pedals is very impressive, especially when he uses his toe to vary the delay parameters:
By the time the football finishes, I SMS the boys to tell them that should they be interested, they can probably blag their way in, cos there's no one here. During the third last song they appear. They seem to enjoy it, it's quite a strange thing, but they seem to know that it's of high quality.
The setlist is as follows:
Streetcrawler
Life Begins Again
PSA
Newer Waves
Time Shift
Love is Real
Cranes
Lokicat
Owed to Daryl
There's some great jams. I think they should extend this element of their style for the next album. There was points where you could see Jimmy Straining and smiling due to what comes out of the Jam, sometimes getting really heavy and then landing back on the theme etc.
All in all a very good gig. Quite strange, musically and audience size wise, but good nonetheless. I've seen Smashing Pumpkins live and now Billy and Jimmy in small clubs, I just have to wait for James Iha and D'arcy to make obscure enough music that it's in Small clubs, although it looks like there may a be a Smashing Pumpkins re-form album before then.
Now back on the conference road, via a few Scottish peaks.
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