No, there was never (to my knowledge) a Jimmy Smits-fronted band called Smitereens. Poor Smithereens; the typo on the ticket seems symbolic of the lack of respect they get. They were a pretty great band in their day, though. At the time they were touring for their second album, Green Thoughts, largely overlooked now, but full of great songs including "Only a Memory" and "House We Used to Live In." They had already turned out the wonderful "Blood and Roses" on their debut, and I recall hearing great live versions of all those songs that night. Even though the band has become kind of a footnote in rock history, I recall this being one of the best live shows I've seen. The crowd was really into it and by the end of the set the band was running out of songs and had the audience call out Beatles songs for them to cover. They ended up doing a kick-ass version of "Rain."
It was always easy to find the tour bus at shows in Ann Arbor so before the show my friend Bonnie and I made our way to it and peeked inside the window. Unfortunately, all we saw was a TV showing... well, let's just say the back of a woman's head. We shrieked and ran away, never to know exactly who was guilty of watching porn on the tour bus.
The last I heard about the Smithereens was that the lead singer was a super conservative and would play in your living room if you paid him enough.
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