Actually, it was today. February 13, 2000. The greatest day of my life. And that's saying a lot, I've had many great days. However, this easily tops them all. Anybody who has any contact with me knows that I am totally in love with the Smashing Pumpkins. I've had the good fortune of seeing them in all kinds of strange settings and locales. However, nothing in the world can top what happened to me on Sunday. I got to Sound Waves in Houston at about 6:45 and discovered that there were already roughly 70 people there. After some line shifting and whatnot, the police finally organized a line that stood for the rest of the time we waited. While in line, I met a few cool kids and passed the time in discussions about muffins and Smashing Pumpkins. The band finally arrived right around 12 oclock. They pulled up in these heavily tinted black vans. Of course, everybody went nuts, but I was just getting nervous. After all, within the hour I would be speaking with the Smashing Pumpkins. So the line started moving, and eventually I got inside the record store. The new cd was playing and we were all scanning the store trying to find them, assuming they would be in the back somewhere. A small crowd cleared and bam, there's the pumpkins, sitting at this little table smiling and chatting away. I spent the next 5 minutes in line, borderline hyperventalating. I'll stop boring you all with the details, because I'm not a story teller and I'm sure most of you care about zero. But perhaps you'll care about this...
That's right. There is the poster that has been signed by the Smashing Pumpkins. Now we will go into greater detail about my brief interaction with the greatest band on earth.
The first Pumpkin I met was Melissa Auf der Maur, the newest (and most attractive) Pumpkin. First of all, as I mentioned in the previous sentence, Melissa is way too attractive. Plus she's a redhead (Ka-ching). And it was with her that I first noticed the best thing about this whole signing. As soon as I walked up, she looked me straight in the eyes, smiled, and asked me how I was doing. They actually, honestly cared and were interested in talking to each person who came through, it seemed. I said I was doing better than I've ever done before, and that I was very glad she was in the band. She thanked me and asked how I liked Texas, so I sputtered out "it's getting better everyday," to which she replied "that's good, I hope your life continues on like that. I like Texas too." Hence the Texas is good signature. What an incredible woman. She smiled and chatted and was just so amazing! She's a fantastic addition to the band. Did I mention she's a redhead?
Next came James. I honestly don't think I said anything but "Thank you" to him. But how cool is this little tree/animal thing? It's like a fish or a whale with a horn, only it says James! He's got style and grace. He was the least talkative of the bunch though.
And now comes the crowning achievement of my Pumpkins signature experience. Just to recap, so far I've had a conversation with Melissa Auf der Maur, and James Iha made an animal out of his name for me. So I walk up to Jimmy, hand him my poster, and say "I'm so glad you're back in the band, it's wonderful" and I hold out my hand. And he says "Thank you very much" and shakes my hand! I have shaken Jimmy Chamberlin's hand! It's just the most amazing thing ever.
And finally, his bald greatness, Billy Corgan. It's so frightening to see this person sitting right in front of you, looking up at you and smiling and asking how you are. It's so incredible to all of a sudden be face to face with the person you've idolized for god knows how long. He's just so calm and collected and friendly. You almost expect some big rock star ego who is just trying to make people buy his cd, but it's completely different. It was just fantastic. So he asked me how I was, I said incredible, and then I started blabbering about how I saw them in Athens, Greece, to which he replies in a slight state of shock "oh really? wow, up on the hill overlooking the city? That was a very good show." He actually remembered the show I was talking about! So I explained how I won, and he said "that's really cool, you definitely caught a good show. Thanks for coming." How amazing!! Words can't even describe it. I was freaking out like no other time in my life. wow.
So there you have it. Thats my Smashing Pumpkins Autograph Experience. It was the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me. It reaffirmed my faith in the band and completely expanded my views on them as people. They are wonderful, friendly people who actually care about their fans. It's astounding. If any of you have the chance to go, please do. You won't regret it.