The set was massive—more than 20 songs stretched over more than two hours—but it wasn't, like just about every other Smashing Pumpkins outing since at least the late-'90s, grandiose. Corgan wore black jeans, a black long-sleeve T-shirt, and a straight face. The songs were drawn heavily from the band's early albums, which came out when the other three current Pumpkins were between the ages of 2 and 13. Banter was minimal.

It was probably the most satisfying the band has been in years. And also, I think, the saddest.

"Starla" melted into familiar puddles of feedback. "Muzzle" roared with bottled angst. "Silverfuck" even included its traditional rant—but instead of spouting arty meaninglessness, Corgan tried to recite "Peter Piper." "Geek U.S.A." sounded much like it did in 1993; "Cherub Rock" sounded like it's been sounding in my head since I was 11.

The Smashing Pumpkins were my first Important Band, before I graduated to other Important Bands. One thing I appreciated about Corgan & Co. was their constant reinvention. Smashing Pumpkins rarely played their old material reverently; live, they adapted it to whatever aesthetic they were then plumbing.

Unlike the other alt-rock heavyweights of the 1990s, The Smashing Pumpkins cycled through sound after sound—and then broke up, and then came back and tried something newish again. The Pumpkins were once a starter band not unlike how Pearl Jam was a starter band—an essential touch point for middle-school outcasts c. 1991-1998—but where Pearl Jam made boring, risk-free albums in the 2000s and preserved its '90s legacy (see the current fanfare for PJ's 20th anniversary), The Smashing Pumpkins made bad and pretentious decisions packaged as epic rock 'n' roll. They chipped away at their place in history by trying to change and doing it poorly. Yet while Corgan made plenty of confounding choices, you could never say he didn't have integrity.

While there was a good reason for The Smashing Pumpkins to play deep cuts from the early '90s last night—forthcoming reissues of Gish and Siamese Dream—and while I was grateful for it, it was a bit of a letdown to see the band play for nostalgia. Even the new material—drawn from the band's ongoing 44-song cycle Teargarden by Kaleidyscope—in large part filled the same vein as the Pumpkins' mid-'90s anthems, sans the obvious-sounding but truly elusive hooks that songwriters only seem capable of penning when they're in their 20s. It was safe but rousing, and a lot easier to stand through than the band's more spectacular failures.

This is what the band should do: Write more songs like "Owata," which last night recalled the kind of off-kilter astral country songs ("Glynis," "Meladori Magpie") that the Pumpkins wrote every once in a while but never doubled down on. If they'd gone down that path years ago, we could've been spared Machina. And I wouldn't have to regret apologizing for it at the time.

And the Pumpkins, in 2011, shouldn't apologize for changing after 1996. If I had the choice, I'd keep the Pumpkins weird.

Sorry Bob: WaPo's presidential majordomo Bob Woodward still cranks out a new book every one-to-three years, but does anyone bother to read them?Writing in the July issue of Washingtonian, Hudson Institute fellow Tevi Troy guesses that no, they probably don't. Troy discusses a phenomenon dubbed the "Washington Read," in which a new title seeps into the conversational ether around federal Washington. These books tend to be presidential biographies like Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, neorealist tracts like Francis Fukuyama's The End of History, and anything by Woodward. Everybody talks about these books, Troy writes, but often enough, they're so constantly blurbed and hyped that they end up more as props for their owners' shelves. Troy recounts an experiment conducted by Michael Kinsley a few decades ago, in which Kinsley left notes with his phone number in bestsellers around town offering cash to people who had actually read them. No one called. "This tended to confirm my suspicion that people like buying books more than they like reading them," Kinsley told Washingtonian.

Influential and Hottest: Billboard has compiled its list of the 10 "most influential clubs" in North America, and at the top of the list is the 9:30 Club. The magazine asked Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers to list the attributes of a great club, which he described as having "a good room, good vibe, great sound, sightlines...and a general vibe or aura that is intangible-but you know it when you are within it." Billboard then sent out a bunch of talent agents to compile the list. The 9:30 was also the only member of the list that also made the "hottest"—aka best box office—list. Owner Seth Hurwitz told Billboard that he likes "to remind people that it's just a fucking rock concert." The list is behind a paywall, so unless you're a Billboard subscriber, you'll just have to take our word for it.

Today on Arts Desk: A bizarre track about synthesizers and crying by Maxmillion Dunbar. Repertory film picks.

It's easy to love The Black Angels. At the 9:30 Club last night, the band offered a wonderful aural mixing bowl of my favorite musical eras: huge pounding drums à la Maureen Tucker, big Epiphone guitars  à la Johnny Cash, hooks straight out of late-'80s Madchester. The result was a gritty and sensual sound that, when paired with the smoke and ominous stage lighting, was utterly hypnotic.

(See additional photos from the show here.)

1. I'm not sure it's appropriate to use the word "Southern" to describe Deerhunter anymore, except in the most plainly geographic way. Frontman Bradford Cox dedicated the first song to John Cage, which is pretty much a quiet fuck-you to Southern-ness, no matter how you size it up. And there's nothing particularly region-specific about the live versions of songs from Halcyon Digest, the band's latest and richest disc.

2. These days there's not much wasted energy in the composition, arrangement or performance of any Deerhunter song. For a lot of bands, that kind of economy might be a recipe for boredom. But for Deerhunter, polish and maturity mean bigger, more impressive sounds. The guitars fill up a room, all right. NPR taped the show; that sense of ease-without-easiness will probably come through.

* Without overselling Deehunter's potential, I say the list of similarly improbable-looking bands includes, but is not limited to, Husker Du, R.E.M. and the Minutemen.

The Hold Steady brought its new four-guitar lineup to the 9:30 Monday night in support of its new record, Heaven is Whenever, and the result was one of the better examples of joy I've seen in some time at a live show, both on stage and in front of it.

Enthusiastic pogoing, above-the-head clapping, and reckless singing were all in evidence. And that was just the audience. After the encore, a grinning Craig Finn, the band's lead singer and leader in the clapping, singing, and pogoing, remained on stage a few seconds later than the rest of the band, amid the sweaty cheering din of the crowd. He said simply, "We love playing the 9:30 Club."

View the rest of the photos from the set here.

With her bright blonde bob and bangs, Sia resembles a young girl, and she seems to have the joy of one. Appearances can be deceiving: the Australian singer's soulful, heartfelt voice seems like it doesn't fit her body or colorful personality. She effortlessly hits notes that sound so simultaneously haunting and wrought with emotion that even hard-asses like David Letterman melt in her presence.

Sia got her start as one of the lead singers for the band Zero 7 before finally releasing a record of her own. Now dabbling in everything from dramatic ballads to electro-infused pop, she's currently on the "We Meaning You" tour promoting her fifth album, We Are Born, set to hit stores June 8th.

WCP: I'm actually obsessed with your music videos, they're so creative – where do you get ideas for [concepts] like that, for "Buttons," or especially the new one, "Clap Your Hands"?
Sia: I think ["Clap Your Hands" is] my weirdest. Well, the weird ones are the ones I make with Chris [inaudible], and I think that those are definitely my weirdest work because we're weirdos and we enhance each other's weirdness, and he knows that I'll go there, and I will take it all the way. And then some of the more beautiful ones, like "Soon We'll Be Found," are with [director] Claire Carre. I had the treatment for that, which was sign language, and her realizing of the treatment was the most interesting. I'm so glad I chose her because I do love that video so much. I love signing that song, and I do it live as well. Signing is like a beautiful dance language to me.

WCP: I know you love crafts, like you're doing Crafts for A Cause for Haiti. Do you like to combine crafts with music or do you think they're separate hobbies?
Sia: Well, here's the thing. I don't really listen to music, so certainly for me, I'm not crafting while listening to music unless my girlfriend [JD Samson of Le Tigre] is home, and then she puts the records on. And that's nice because I actually do like music when it's on, but I never initiate it. I don't know why, I'm just not that kind of person. Like, I'll put the television on in the background instead and I'll make, like, a thousand pom poms. So yeah, I guess I would consider them separate. Although an old family friend came to see me the other day, and then I was telling him about how I'll [eventually] probably just make records, but I won't really promote or tour them. I want to just be a songwriter and work with the Humane Society or something. I've realized the fame aspect of this job is just not for me. And he was like, "Yeah, but you're an artist, so you'll keep making art whatever it is, whether it's music, or art, or painting, or writing or whatever, but you're an artist." And I was like, "Oh yeah, I guess so," because I do like things that are arty I guess, and now I've started painting on glass with nail polish.

WCP: Were you surprised by the success of "Breathe Me"?
Sia: Actually no, originally I was surprised that the song wasn't successful. That was the one song I thought was gonna sell the album. I knew that the rest of the album was very hard to [sell], but I really thought "Breathe Me" was a hit. I knew it was too slow for radio at the time, but I really thought that it would be good for a movie and used in like, an emotional scene, and it wasn't. For like, over a year, no one touched it until the Six Feet Under people asked for it. Originally, they asked for it to be used in the season four trailer so, at the time, because I was very unsuccessful, we didn't have really any power. So we signed [a contract], so what that meant was that they could use it in any episode as many times as they wanted and they didn't have to keep paying me or asking for permission. So we didn't actually know that it was gonna be in the final episode, and then it happened and I got these emails from my friends in America—because I was in England at the time, and we were still only on season four, I think—and they were like, 'Oh my God, motherfucking amazing. You're gonna make television history. Like, fuck, and they used your song!' And I was like really excited because Universal had dropped me two weeks beforehand because I never made them any money. [Laughs.] So I hotfooted it over to America and Astralwerks picked up the album. All of Universal's companies in the U.S. passed on Colour the Small One, so Astralwerks picked it up and, yeah, it was like the day after the Six Feet Under episode I think Astralwerks picked up the record. Yeah, I'm really grateful for that because that's really my income, that song.

WCP: Do you have a preference for ballads or fast songs or just kind of whatever you're feeling at the time?
Sia: I think what happens is that I always co-write, so really, actually, the music informs me of what the song's gonna be about and really depends on my mood. So if I'm with my friend, I'll be like, "Let's write an uptempo one, I feel like writing an uptempo one," or, "Let's write a really sad one, I'm feeling sad, let's write a sad one." So he will start like a chord progression and a tempo and he'll keep going around different things until I say, "That that that, keep going around that." So then he'll go around the three chords that inspired me or excited me, and then that will inform the melody, and suddenly the melody will just come. And then vowel sounds come and words form and usually in like 20 minutes we'll have a verse and a chorus, and that's kind of how it happens. I will usually initiate whether it's gonna be a more uptempo song or a ballad, but really it's the music that informs the theme and the feeling.

WCP: I know you've released six of the songs [off the new album We Are Born] so the audience knows some of them, but is playing the unheard, new songs scary or do you enjoy playing them for a new audience?
Sia: It is scary—yeah, I feel bad, it's weird. For the first week [of the tour], I felt bad, like, this isn't fun for them. And then Sam [Dixon], my bass player, said to me, 'No, they're excited to hear new stuff, the fans are excited to get a sneak peek at the new stuff.' And I was like, 'Really? Because they responded so much more positively to the old songs that they knew.' So yeah, it makes me uncomfortable because I feel bad about it, because originally we scheduled this tour for after the record had been released, but then Sony needed an extra few months. When someone is spending the amount of money on you that they are, you say, "Whatever you say, Sony." But I do feel uncomfortable that I'm touring before the record is out and that I'm performing songs that people haven't heard yet.

Sia will be performing at 7 p.m. at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $25.

Friday

• Jakob Dylan, Three Legs, Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Mimicking Birds. 9:30 Club. $25.
• Lucy Kaplansky. Wolf Trap. $20.
• Gist, Gary B. & the Notions, The Courtesy Line. The Red & The Black. $8.
• Eilen Jewell, Little Pink. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12.
• The Blue Line, Poor But Sexy, The Very Small. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10.
• Buckshot Blues. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• The Last Monarchs, Nick Coward and the Last Battle, Bobby Lee and the Sympathizers. Velvet Lounge. $8. 21+.
• The Tallest Man on Earth, Nurses. Black Cat mainstage. $12.
• Mavis Staples. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. $38.
• Oranges Band, Doug Gillard Electric, The Andalusians. Comet Ping Pong. $8.
• Cannibal Corpse, Skeletonwitch, Diabolic, Lecherous Nocturne, C.O.B.C. Jaxx. $24.50 in advance, $28 day of.
• Dragonette, Think About Life. DC9. $8. 18+.

Saturday

• Patti LuPone. Strathmore. $25-$85.
• Buskin & Batteau. Wolf Trap. $22.
• The Protomen, The Prigs. The Red & The Black. $8.
• The Walkaways, The Kate Moran Band, Stella Schindler. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12.
• Amanda Blank, Ninjasonik, DJ Jackie-O. Rock and Roll Hotel. $16.
• Outliers. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Quasi, Let's Wrestle. Black Cat mainstage. $12.
• The Nields, Trina Hamlin. Jammin Java. $15.
• In Alcatraz 1962, Lakeview, Behold the Flood, Discover Her Remains, Kendal Burke, Viliska, This Murder Means More, Anubis, Vile Infection, Failing the Fallen. Jaxx. $10 in advance, $12 day of.
• Charlie Wilson, Chuck Brown. DAR Constitution Hall. $45-$65.

Sunday

• Tim Be Told, Omar of Crash Boom Bang. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12.
• Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust. Black Anvil. Rock and Roll Hotel. $12.
• Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Magical Beautiful. Black Cat backstage. $10.
• The Clark Sisters. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.
• Anais Mitchell and the Hadestown Orchestra, Michael Chorney Sextet. Jammin Java. $15.
• The RLC Explosion, Gomorrah, Zero Shift, Streaking on Seneca, Radamanthys, The Bourbon Devils, Failing the Fallen, Silence the Blind, The 6th Degree, Touching Elbows, Histrionic Witch. Jaxx. $8 in advance, $10 day of.
• Dosh, White Hinterland, Andrew Black and Malari Moore. DC9. $10 in advance, $12 day of. 18+.

Friday

• Martin Sexton, Ryan Montbleau Band. 9:30 Club. $25.
• Jamie McLean Band. Strathmore. $10 in advance, $12 at door.
• Livingston Taylor. Wolf Trap. $22.
• Horsehead, Hiding Places, Deutschmarks. The Red & The Black. $8. 21+.
• Laura Tsaggaris, James Maddock. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12.
• Pissed Jeans, Cloak/Dagger, The Wayward. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10 in advance, $12 at door.
• Rhododendron Road. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Little Bigheart & the Wilderbeast, Sean K. Preston, East Coast Caravan. Velvet Lounge. $8. 21+.
• Shortstack, Birds of Avalon, Suns of Guns. Black Cat mainstage. $12.

Saturday

• Jedi Mind Tricks, Mr. Lif. 9:30 Club. $17.
• DeLeon, The Torches. The Red & The Black. $10. 21+.
• RPM, Brad Sanzerbacher and the Purveyors. IOTA Club & Cafe. $10.
• Beltway Rockers. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Alvin Risk, TightenUp!/McWorm, City Rain. Velvet Lounge. $8. 21+.
• The Remnant Concert Choir of Mt. Ararat Baptist Church. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.
• Strotter Inst., Pilesar, Blue Sausage Infant. Comet Ping Pong. $8.
• Jason Reeves, Chelsea Lee. Jammin Java. $10 in advance, $13 day of.
• Crash Boom Bang, Conditions, Life on Repeat, Rescue the Hero, Escape the Armada. Jaxx. $10 in advance, $12 day of.
• Francis and the Lights, Ryan Holladay. DC9. $10.

Sunday

• Kidz in the Hall, 88-Keys, Izza Kizza, Donnis, Tabi Bonney. 9:30 Club. $20.
• National Philharmonic. Strathmore. $29-$79.
• Blankus Larry. IOTA Club & Cafe. $10.
• The Apples in Stereo, Generationals, Laminated Cat. Rock and Roll Hotel. $15.
• Jazz Jam. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Greg Ginn and the Texas Corrugators, CSC Funkband. Velvet Lounge. $10. 18+.
• The Styrenes. Velvet Lounge. $10. 18+.
• Richard Smallwood & Vision. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.
• Heks Orkest, The Fordists. Black Cat backstage. $10.
• Jammin' 4 Haiti. Jammin Java. $8.
• Roman Candle, Paper Bird, Tao Seeger Band. Jammin Java. $10 in advance, $13 at door.
• With the Black Kid, Awaiting the Aftermath, Siren to the Skies, I Am Imagination, Out Forever, Counting Out Loud, Legions Prevail, Vitality, The Grue. Jaxx. $10 in advance, $12 day of.
• Unwed Sailor, Common Loon. DC9. $8 in advance, $10 day of. 18+.

Ryan Montbleau Band photo by Chris Paul, via MySpace.

Friday

• Needtobreathe, Will Hoge, Matt Hires. 9:30 Club. $16.

• Gato & the Palenke Music Co. Strathmore. $10 in advance, $12 at door.

• Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Wolf Trap. $35.

• East Coast Caravan. The Red & The Black. $8. 21+.

• Shwa, The Royal We. IOTA Club & Cafe. $10.

• Bonjour, Ganesh!, The Jones, Big Chimney, Blankus Larry. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10.

• Andy Poxon. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.

• The Caribbean, Ryan Holladay, Twins of a Gazelle. Velvet Lounge. $8. 21+.

• Tamagawa University Taiko Drumming and Dance Troupe. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.

• Maybe Baby, Exactly, John Powers. Comet Ping Pong. Free.

• The Wedding Present, The Jet Age. Black Cat mainstage. $15.

Saturday

• Done & Done Festival. All Souls Unitarian Church. $12-$20.

• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Strathmore. $30-$90.

• Julie Murphy Wells. Wolf Trap. $25.

• The Honeyguns, The Grit Pushers. The Red & The Black. $8. 21+.

• Honor By August, The Ruse, Luna Halo. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12.

• Wicked Liquid featuring Fuzzy G, Pants Velour, The Canon Logic. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10.

• The Icemen. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.

• Alex Gruenberg, Astronomers, Natives. Velvet Lounge. $8. 21+.

• bob (CD release show), Almost Kings, Feed God Cabbage. Jammin Java. $12 in advance, $15 day of.

• Harmonia Opera Company. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.

• Richard Bacchus and The Luckiest, Yell County, DJ Kid Congo Powers. Comet Ping Pong. $8.

• Noon:30, The Aquarium. Black Cat backstage. $8.

Sunday

• Blue October, Stars of Track and Field, Hurricane Bells. 9:30 Club. $25.

• Red Sparowes, Doomriders, Fang Island. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10 in advance, $12 at door.

• Caustic Casanova, Dark Sea Dream, Akris, Disco Machine Gun. Velvet Lounge. $8. 21+.

• I Saw A Ghost, The Kindness of Strangers, A Sense of Urgency, Light Up the Sky, Failing the Fallen, Thatswhatshesaid. Jammin Java. $10 in advance, $13 day of.

• George Benson. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. $20-$45.

• High on Fire, Priestess, Black Cobra, Bison B.C. Black Cat mainstage. $15.

• Rocky Votolato, Brooke Waggoner. DC9. $13 in advance, $15 day of. 18+.

Will Hoge photo by Drew Gurian, via MySpace.

Season two of Top Chef Masters debuted with an appearance by The Bravery, who judged the gas station food-themed quickfire challenge.

Lea Michelle appears in the new PETA ad.  To the disappointment of Gleeks everywhere, it's not part of the I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur campaign.

We're in the last week of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This weekend is also your last chance to check out Contemporary Japanese Fashion: The Mary Baskett Collection, featuring pieces by designers Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, at the Textile Museum.

Now that Snowpocalypse is over, pillow fight season has begun.

9:30 Club announces that Sister Hazel will be playing in May. That'd be a hot ticket...in 1997!

Booze+music+nighttime = lots of young people at an art museum. The first Hirshhorn After Hours of the year sells out.

Poor little rich girl Wendy Burden, a Vanderbilt heir, recalls a childhood of absentee parents and Fifth Avenue penthouses in  Dead End Gene Pool.

Photo courtesy of chicityfashion.wordpress.com.