The Pumpkins off to a bad start on their tour. 2008-11-13 by Flyboy | 40 Comments | Things aren't looking to well for the Smashing Pumpkins, scratch that, their fans, so far on their much anticipated anniversary tour.
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Billy Corgan Prepares To Test That "1000 True Fans" Hypothesis By Alienating A Huge Chunk Of His Audience
A concert that ends with the performer trying to connect with this audience by wondering aloud, as they might, "Did I pay for this shit?" is probably a show that's beset with problems. So it was with the Smashing Pumpkins' show in New York City last night, Billy Corgan et al's first performance in the NYC metro area in nine (!) years, which ended with Corgan baiting the audience with that very taunt, according to Matthew Perpetua, who was in the United Palace audience last night. There were also "at least 40 minutes of formless prog-metal dirges and artless, atonal drones," and lousy setlists that eschewed the depths of the Pumpkins' catalog in favor of the track from the trailer for The Watchmen and other new songs. (Also, he wore a "Zero" shirt but didn't play the song in question, which just seems cruel, you know?)
Now, it’s bad enough to subject your audience to about 40 minutes of abrasive, deliberately off-putting music, but it’s even more uncool to come back for an encore that mocks them for not being 100% with you, and feeling disappointed for not hearing more of what they expected to hear from a show billed as a 20th anniversary concert. In conventional show biz logic, if you’re going to go that far, you should at least leave the audience with a crowd-pleaser. In Billy Corgan logic, you come out and perform one of the lesser songs from your best-selling album, and then finish off with a song that mixes disingenuous hippy-dippy “everyone is beautiful!” lyrics with improvised sarcastic rants that outright diss the city you’re playing in, mock the fans for paying to see your band, and tell your visibly disappointed audience that you’ll see them in hell. It was full-on douche-tastic passive-aggression. It’s as if he set out to do this heel turn, and purposefully alienate as much of the audience as possible. Well, it worked. Believe me, unless you’ve witnessed other shows on this tour, it’s unlikely you’ve seen a more defeated audience exit from a rock show.
Sure, tonight's show apparently has a different, better set list. But one can't help but wonder what's going on. The only explanation is the heel-turn idea outlined by Perpetua, and really, it seems kinda logical: Corgan's fetishization of wrestling has resulted in him going all Hollywood on his fans... but they shouldn't worry, since the next five years will consist of him realizing his transgressions and redeeming himself just in time for a 25th anniversary tour. (After all, anniversaries with precious-metal associations are so much more profitable!)
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Critics tag Corgan for “homophobic” comment at 2nd NYC show
Monday, November 10th, 2008
Echoing remarks by blogger Matthew Perpetua, here’s Kyle Anderson of Rolling Stone:
New songs like “Song for a Son” and “As Rome Burns” got lost in the theater’s strange acoustics, while even favorites like “Disarm” lacked teeth. Clearly losing the crowd, Corgan invited a fan onto the stage to voice his opinion about Thursday’s show. The fan told him, “Last night’s show sucked,” and for a minute it looked like Corgan was going to take criticism in stride for once. But as the fan was walking back to his seat, Corgan shouted, “By the way, I liked that song you wrote. What was it called? ‘Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It in My Mouth’? That was a big hit in Europe.” For a guy who has made his money airing out his own tales of childhood torment and abuse, it seemed strange and hypocritical for him to resort to playground name-calling and juvenile homophobia.
Corgan then rewarded his devoted audience with the 20-plus minute prog jam “Gossamer” and an utterly ridiculous version of “The March Hare” that devolved into a percussion jam that channeled Stomp.
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Sources:
www.idolator.com
On Related news, the Smashing Pumpkins released a feature-length DVD on November 11, 2008, titled If All Goes Wrong. A sort of ironic title for what has been happening in Corgan's world lately.
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Tagged: The Smashing Pumpkins
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Man what the f*ck is going on with Corgan? Does he just wake up in the morning and decide to be "an ass today and ruin my fans dreams of seeing me perform a good set tonight."This Message Edited On 11.13.08
| | | no Iha no Pumpkins.
| | | lol he thinks he matters
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lol he thinks he matters
| | | he does, the pumpkins are amazing, melon collie is an absolutely amazing album.
its a shame he's being a penis, but its what happens, i saw them last year at leeds and they were really good, i was blown away by them.
| | | give it up Billy.
| | | I saw them in cleveland a couple weeks back and thought it was good
and the encore is hilarious, people just dont have a sense of humor
and he wasnt an ass to us, he said we were awesome and whatnot
you just must suck
| | | I want to punch Billy. A-Hole.
also, this news title could be so much better.This Message Edited On 11.13.08This Message Edited On 11.13.08
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By the way, I liked that song you wrote. What was it called? ‘Take Your Dick Out of My *** and Stick It in My Mouth’? That was a big hit in Europe
Billy Corgan, comedy genius.
| | | billy corgan, the andy kaufman of music
| | | sounds exactly like the show they did here in Adelaide earlier in the year...ever detail the same down to the Zero t-shirt then never playing it. Worst gig i've ever been to IMO
| | | It's a shame he's such a pretentious prick. Although, no matter how big of a douche he becomes, I'll never stop loving the original Pumpkins.
| | | I've always hated Billy Corgan.
| | | I love his music, but Billy Corgan is a jerk
| | | Comedy genius? That is such a basic, playground level comeback, he may as well have said "OH YEAH???????WELL UR GAY LOLZ!!!!!". Which probably would have been funnier, anyway. Are you listening, Corgan?
| | | "there isn't a Mellon Collie pt 2 get the f*ck over it."
yeah really. thats my only gripe with fans. machina was awesome. adore was pretty good, and zeitgeist is great too. the problem is people are expecting them to be the same pumpkins they saw live in 97 or some crap.
ya know, this transition wouldn't be so bad if billy wouldn't open his mouth so much but I mean what are you going to to? that's just they way he's always been. If you don't know that, then you aren't a real pumpkin fan. I think that's where the real dispute lies and could be where billy's getting at. there are people who like the sp and then there are fans. that's just my opinion
| | | Well, can anyone truly saw that Zeitgeist is anywhere near the caliber of their earlier work? I love SP, one of my favorite bands, but I'm just not a fan of Zeitgeist at all.
| | | gish is their only good album
zeitgeist sucks
| | | zeitgeist is pretty bad
| | | what does he wear the same shirt everyday?
| | | tis, but Gish is incredibly mediocre, Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie are their true achievements, Adore was alright. But Smashing Pumpkins are long dead.
| | | yea... the audience sounds disappointed alright...
watch this video and you decide who the asshole really is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ChKmwD0b4This Message Edited On 11.13.08This Message Edited On 11.13.08
| | | I fucking hate Billy Corgan, always have, always will.
| | | well looking at the youtube video, that fuy in the audience was a huge asshole, this story seems a bit biased
| | | ill admit that if he is trying to have a sense of humor, its absolutely hilarious in my eyes, and good for that...
BUT!
i would much rather an artist play some damn good music that give me a wasteful comedy skit. sure, i enjoy the artist interacting with the audience, but i also want most of the show to be ABOUT THE MUSIC, which is what these fans usually pay for.
| | | this whole tour is one lousy cash grab anyways. the day that billy corgan and the drummer they kicked out for being a junkie are "the smashing pumpkins" is the day that Chinese Democracy unanimously wins "album of the year" from every reputable publication on earth
| | | Just for this Billy Corgan is a G.
| | | Saw them at the start of the year here in New Zealand. Corgan was wearing a skirt. Pretty bad set list, but did an awesome acoustic 1979, but mostly crap off Zeitgeist. Audience was shouting Cherub Rock for the encore they came back with a song not many people had heard. Pretty naff really
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^^^ It's always been the Billy Corgan/Jimmy Chamberlin show. Iha and Wretzky rarely feature on any studio recording.
actually, he's half right, Chaimberlin was kicked out when he overdosed on heroin and almost died. He wasn't on Adore.
And the only reason Iha and Wretzky aren't on many studio recordings is because Corgan is an ass and recorded over their parts.
| | | I never liked this band. They were and still are so overrated. How the hell did this band become so successful in the 90s when the good quality shit during the 90s was ignored? Thanks Gen X!!!!
| | | Zeitgeist sucks and Iha and Wretzky got screwed over every album because Billy Corgan is a control freak who loves the spotlight.
| | | Corgans biggest problem seems to be that he's good at what he does, and he knows it.
| | | i dont see how his fellow band mates can stand to be by his side...
| | | It's a good concert, really only the die-hards will like because of the setlist, a lot of deep cuts people have been wanting hear for a while.
I lost nearly all my respect for Billy during Zeitgeist, but after watching If All Goes Wrong, he truly is doing it for himself and not trying to make money. If he was, he'd be playing Reunion shows.
Also, his voice has returned, which will make any album he makes listenable and awesome.
| | | this news post was definately very biased, I watched the video, and the fan was asking for it. he was a douche
and Billy Corgan was just doing the lame Billy Corgan humor that he does at every showThis Message Edited On 11.14.08
| | | well, then i plead ignorance on my part. i oughtta read up more, but i always thought James did a fair bit of the songwriting back in the day. i musta been way off. it happens, and my apologies for that one! thanks for the heads up tho!
i still think it's a cash grab tho. like a lot of these reunion tours going...
| | | Anybody who has watched If All Goes Wrong will notice that bill isn't a dick, he's just slightly autistic (no seriously) and has no idea how to behave socially. Man is a talented songwriter and has earned his place in rock history. Just cause he doesn't say cool shit and go around saving the planet doesn't make him a douchebag.
| | | well James Iha has no talent, its fact.
| | | they should be called Jimmy Corgan!
they are destroying the legend of The Smashing Pumpkins!!!!
| | | It really comes off as this: Smashing Pumpkins reformed and Billy Corgan is annoyed that the whole world didn't stop and applaude him and HIS band. It all sounds to me as if he's a big attention seeker.
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