A month for Pumpkins
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October is a special month in my life. In addition to the birthdays of both Led Zeppelin and Monty Python, it is, of course, Halloween, our most sacred of holidays around here, and it is the time of year in which my wife and I started realizing we had something special going on. We met in 1992 when she moved in next door, in early April. We became friends quickly, and were involved by the end of the summer. As October started to fly by, we carved pumpkins together, she made my roomate and me a pumpkin pie, and as the real coup de gourd, we went on our first serious date. A few months previously, she had bought four tickets for Smashing Pumpkins at the Palladium (capacity maybe 1000?). Since then, we had gotten close, she had a falling out with two people for whom she had purchased tickets, I had gone insane over Gish, and SP had released Siamese Dream. Siamese Dream made a huge impact in our world, with "Today" joining "Crush" and Screaming Trees' "I Nearly Lost You" on the growing list of "our songs." I also was just wrecked by "Cherub Rock." The Pumpkins, of course, had become The Thing, almost overnight. Like some sort of manna from an angel, my girl offered a ticket to me, and asked if I wanted to get a friend for the fourth. Just like that. It was like God set a huge sign over her head "MORE AWESOME THAN ANYONE YOU CAN EVEN IMAGINE." It was like living in Disneyland (although we wouldn't have our landmark date there until December).So the date arrived, and people were shouting fairly pricey offers for our tickets as we approached the door. I had only been in LA for nine months, so I was ridiculously amped by the scene. Other than seeing the Ramones in a tiny bar in Texas (which was awesome, but lacked the insane cultural whirlwind buzz of this event), it was the first time I ever saw a major act in such a small setting. There were no seats on the floor, so were all were standing, crowded in the dark when the set started. They opened with "Quiet," and I swear the crowd crested and broke like a tidal wave. I lost all the people I was with instantly, and did not see them again until the show was nearly over, meeting up in the moshpit as the second set ended. It was possibly the best night of my life up to that point, all that was missing was "Cherub Rock."As we headed out, they fired up with that tune, and I ran back to the pit for one last romp.Heading home, she looked radiant with the energy of the evening, and of obviously having shown me the best time I'd ever had. I was personally pleased with the footprint that had somehow appeared in the middle of my chest, strangely unnoticed at the time of imprint.Add to this evening another date to the fabulous El Capitain Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard to check out a new film called "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and a world-shattering final date of the month to the Santa Monica Blvd. Halloween parade (she was a sexy ghoul, I, a Baseball Fury from "The Warriors"), and the magic of our relationship had become undeniable. It was then that I gave her the nickname that still resonates for me today, Pumpkin Queen.Smashing Pumpkins have continued to be a soundtrack both for the memories of those times and our continued relationship. It almost seems appropriate that they never released another album that we really appreciated. Best to keep them preserved in that time, since no band lasts as long as we are going to.
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