After Thursday night's Smashing Pumpkins show in Greensboro, it's obvious that Billy Corgan should have left the Pumpkins legacy alone.The Pumpkins took the stage at War Memorial Auditorium opening with "Where Boys Fear To Tread" from Mellon Collie. It was obvious from the beginning that it was going to be a long night. The sound in the auditorium was awful and the band's loud, super-fuzz guitars sounded like a blurred wash of sound all night. "Where Boys" and the second song, Siamese Dream's "Cherub Rock" were both disappointing. The songs were sloppily played and unimpressive.
Throughout the night when they pulled out the "hits," Corgan sang them with such disdain, it made them hard to enjoy. He slurred the words on "Today" and "Tonight, Tonight" like he really was playing them out of total obligation and with no emotion at all. "Tonight, Tonight" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" among other old songs were played way too fast. "Tonight" was so fast it just wasn't enjoyable.
Corgan actually seemed to put forth an effort on the new songs from Zeitgeist. Unfortunately, most of those songs are just an awful attempt to recapture the Pumpkins heyday. The first single, "Tarantula," and "Bring the Light" were tolerable, but the other songs were painful. Fortunately the set only included four new songs, but, unfortunately the dreadfully repetitive ten-minute-plus song "United States" was among them. Corgan actually played "The Star Spangled Banner" towards the end of the song making it even more atrocious. I guess he thinks he's Hendrix.
Corgan played two songs solo in the middle of the set including "For God and Country." The lyrics are trite, repeating "For God and country, I'll fight, for God and country, I'll die." I don't know what Corgan was going for when he was writing that song, but it didn't work. He followed the song with the uber-crowd pleaser "1979." It got the crowd's lighters and cell phones in the air. The solo version of the Mellon Collie hit was respectable.
The band's set list choices seemed to bore and annoy many fans that night. Numerous people complained that "Zero" wasn't played and a lot the crowd sat through a large portion of the set. It's not surprising that the crowd didn't take to the set, but some of the more obscure songs made for the best songs of the set.
"Hummer" from Siamese Dream, "Stand Inside Your Love" from Machina/The Machines of God and the old obscure song "Drown" were the highlights of the show. The obscure "1979" b-side "Set the Ray To Jerry" was also a nice addition to the set.
Even though the Pumpkins played a few well-played obscure songs in the set, they managed to pull a Titanic at end of the set. The last two songs of the main set were "United States," mentioned above, and "Heavy Metal Machine" from Machina/The Machines of God. Just when you think the show can't get any worse, the band drug the song out for at least 15 minutes including a string of covers in the end. R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" was first up. It wasn't awful, but it did not suit Pumpkins. Next came an unidentified blues song and then the biggest travesty of the night. The played The Arrows tune "I Love Rock N' Roll" made famous by Joan Jett. Corgan made a fool of himself getting people to sing along to the lyrics. "Open your hearts," he said. "I'm up here in some pirate clothes, you gotta sing." He did look ridiculous in his aqua blue outfit (see an picture of the outfit from the Boston show). I find it odd that he seems to think fans expect him to dress like a jackass.
The band left the stage for about 5 minutes before coming out to play the an anticlimactic one-song encore. They played the song "Starla" from the 1994 b-sides album Pices Iscariot. The song wasn't particularly impressive and left the crowd, myself included, a little puzzled when that was it. Much of the crowd grumbled while making their way out of the venue and many seemed a bit confused. The encore was certainly was the icing on top of the very crappy cake that was the show.
The Smashing Pumpkins either need to leave the past in the past and focus on the evolution of the band's sound or embrace the past and play the old hits with as much conviction as the new tunes. They seem to want it both ways and it doesn't work.
----------
Here's the full setlist.
Where Boys Fear To Tread
Cherub Rock
Drown
Bring the Light
Tonight, Tonight
Tarantula
Home
Hummer
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
For God and Country (Corgan solo)
1979 (Corgan solo)
To Sheila
Set the Ray To Jerry
Today
Stand Inside Your Love
United States
Heavy Metal Machine
[The One I Love]
[blues song]
[I Love Rock N' Roll]
-----
Starla
Here's a video of "Hummer," a highlight of the set.
8 comments:
you my friend are delusional and need to seek medical attention asap... pumpkins kickedass so boom
oh and he is dead sexy in his lil blue pj's and its lil buttholeheads like you that just dont understand the greatness that is Billy's Organ
so boom
Satur999
oh and its me again... you are a crapcake without icing...
so ya know you are entitled to your opinion even if it is nonsense
I love the pumpkins as much as anyone else. I can understand your perspective. I saw them in IL and the crowd was not very "into" the performance. I am completely obsessed with them, therefore I loved the show. I saw them at the United Center on their second to last show, they were a different entity. Although, they are learning each others styles and B.C. gave the new members the ok to try their own interpretations, therefore he is a bit withdrawn from the performances as he is acting as director and performer. They have been steadly improving and I truly beleive that he is one of the most important people of our time, even with regard to the common perception of him. I beleive that your assessment was accurate but I also beleive that you missed an infintesimally small portion of the reason for the performance, this small portion is however responsible for the manifestation of signifigance that you missed completely. Appricate my drunkenness BD.
You obviously did not attend the same show as everyone else in Greensboro. SP managed to play songs from every album as well or better than I remember them from the Siamese Dream or Mellon Collie tours, and included several rarities that SP fans are fortunate to ever hear live. Additionally, with regard to your ascertation that the crowd was not involved, I'd have to assume that the crowd in the mezzanine (where you were obviously sitting as evidenced by your video) was less enthusiastic than those of us on the floor, given that no one within my eyesight (from row 7 center) ever sat down during the show. The bootleg copy of the show I acquired from the young lady sitting 3 seats to my right also confirms that my memory is not faulty when I recall quality sound from the band AND extensive cheering before, during, and after every song in the set. The performances were notably solid, and of the dozen or so people I spoke with in addition to my own group attending, I heard not a single complaint following the show. In fact, yours is the first negative review I've heard, and I'm a bit stunned by it. Furthermore, this is the first time I've had the privelege of actually seeing the band close up after the show. For those of us who hung around long enough to see the band board the bus, every band member waved or spoke as they passed by, and Billy himself took the time to walk over, make eye contact, and speak to nearly every one of us before he boarded - a cordiality that is rare of any artist. All in all, it seems you may have had expectations that weren't met (such as a song you expected to hear - which is such a trite complaint given the sheer number of hits and fan favorites among the band's 300+ song catalogue) and you've vented by descrying a great show, which is unfortunate given that it was such a spectacular performance by a legendary band that one isn't often given opportunity to see in a venue this size.
They dissappointed???????
You must not be a Pumpkins fan, or maybe you just have a bug up your ass.
They've been delivering knockout shows this entire tour. I haven't heard audio of one show that I haven't loved. They sound better than they ever have.
And maybe their new stuff isn't as creative as their old stuff. You have to realize that this is not the old smashing pumpkins, this is Billy and Jimmy with two new members who weren't a part of creating the album, just the tour. So if fans want to see the creations that this new band will create, they will have to wait until the next sp album (and there will be one)
Smashing Pumpkins disapointing???
Just so you know: Starla is one of the most impressing songs in rock history. How can anyone complain about this as an encore?
Go watch Korn... Pearl Jam... Nickelback...
or just phukk your...
well never mind :P
I loved this review.
I know it's hard to let a favorite band die, but sometimes it's for the best - you can never go back.
I love the Pumkins AND this is a good review.
Post a Comment