Smashing Pumpkins U.S. Tour 2008/2009

[C DUB YA]

Did you guys see this???? Billy and a "fan/heckler" on stage in NYC. Man their shows are filled with crap like this.

Wonder why?

[superfiction]

how can one man do so much wrong?

seriously.

as much as i wanted to see the pumpkins before this reunion. thats how much i wish they had never gotten this half assed train back on track to ruin their name

[BobCaygeon]

All is not lost. A bit of the old Billy shows up in this video:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/147221

At least, this is the Billy I remember liking.

[C DUB YA]

All is lost - see latest derailed video from this godforsaken awful tour.

[thestripe]

this goes with the above youtube.

pitchforkmrdia.com
Poor setlist choices, awful-sounding music, and confounding sartorial decisions mixed with heavy doses of audience mockery: These are the reports we've been getting about the Smashing Pumpkins' "20th Anniversary Tour", and guesses at Billy Corgan's motivations can only confuse and infuriate.Corgan lashed out at his band's fans once again at a recent Chicago gig, and this outburst comes with a YouTube video [via Stereogum].
I mean, we get it, guy! You released a mediocre album and were disappointed when people thought it was mediocre. But Billy, let's be clear: You say in that video, "Last I checked we were in an alternative band. 'Alternative' means 'different than what everyone else is doing,' including those reunion bands that go out and just play the old songs."

Incorrect! "Alternative" means nothing in 2008, and the fact that you don't seem to realize that probably has a lot to do with your confusion over people's disappointment when you don't just play your good songs instead of meandering off into formless noise jams. You can do your own thing all you want, but it's rude, to say the least, to begrudge people their expectations when they pay hundreds of dollars to see you. And you can mock "those reunion bands" all you want, but your insistence on ruining people's nostalgic fondness for your band instead of playing to it doesn't change the fact that you're cashing in, just like they are.

Personally, I don't buy that this intentional audience befuddling is some kind of pure pursuit of an artistic muse. It seems like the flailing around of an artist who has declined and is unwilling to face that truth even when his own fans proclaim it so by their reactions to his art.

While Stereogum's hypothesis that Corgan's antics could be "some Tony Clifton crowd-antagonizing performance art BS" is certainly interesting, I don't buy that either. The man has been too sincerely whiny and self-indulgent in the past for all of this to be one big joke.

So what do we take from this: Billy Corgan is crazy? We knew that. This "20th Anniversary Tour" might not live up to the expectations of longtime Pumpkins fans? We could have guessed that. Do we "give [them] another chance," as Corgan requested in a disingenuous apology to "those of you we've disappointed"?

It seems to me that Corgan himself suggested the best thing to do when he said, "It doesn't go anywhere from here. You might as well head to your cars."

Fuck Billy Corgan.

[Cdubby]

hehe cant wait for the vegas show........oh my

[luckyface]

I think the setlists have looked really solid. I am excited for the two shows I get to see.

[kroqken]

Pack your bags Billy: You are going on an ego trip!

[BlackSwan]

this makes missing those 10+ shows they played at the Fillmore last year even more painful.

[nationocean]

I think the setlists have looked really solid. I am excited for the two shows I get to see.

you have no idea how terrible those shows will be.

[Cdubby]

The last special show of the tour in CT on 11/16, Vegas is a special show...

1. I am One Part 2
2. Soma
3. Tarantula
4. G.L.O.W.
5. I of the Mourning
6. Mayonaise
7. Tonight, Tonight
8. A Song for a Son
9. Superchrist
10. United States
11. 99 Floors
12. Owata
13. Landslide
14. Disarm
15. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
16. Today
17. Cherub Rock
18. Zero
19. Bodies
20. Gossamer
21. The Sounds of Silence
22. Heavy Metal Machine
23. Glass

Encore
24. Set the Controls

looks good to me except I heard Set the Controls is a fucking mess of shitty noise...

[Neutral Milk Hotel]

Man, fuck Billy Corgan. I'm cooking up an elaborate series of lies to explain why I have to pull out of going to the LA show with my friends despite having (supposedly) already bought tickets for all of us--that's how much I want to avoid this.

[TeamCoachellaHellYeah]

this is really sad....I was one of the biggest SP fans ever...and this just really taints everything...good job Billy...maybe you should look in the mirror and cancel this whole thing..the real SP died during Adore...everything fell apart after that..

[Cdubby]

you know i was excited to a see as close to an SP show that I will ever see, being they are one of my all time favorites, but after all the shit I'm hearing I'm going into it like it will be a circus sideshow and keep a sense of humor about everything. and i will be able to see billy corgan, the man who wrote siamese dream, in person for the first time ever.

[Backwater]

The Zwan show I saw was as close to a SP show as I'll ever see.

[paulb]

can someone tell me what cd most of the songs from that setlist are from? As long as I heard Zero live, id be a happy guy. the setlist i saw last year was:

1a. Susprisia Theme
1b. Superchrist
2. Doomsday Clock
3. Rocket (Electric)
4. Drown
5. Bring the Light
6. Tonight, Tonight
7. Tarantula
8. Starz
9. Zero
10. Glass and the Ghost Children
11. To Sheila
12. 1979 (solo acoustic)
13. United States
> O Canada [Lavallée/Routhier/Weir] (tease)
>Star Spangled Banner [Key] (tease)
14. That's The Way (My Love Is)
15. Hummer
16. Ava Adore
17. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
18. Heavy Metal Machine
>White Rabbit [Jefferson Airplane] (tease)
>On The Road Again [Canned Heat] (tease)
19. End Jam
encore break
20. Today
encore break
21. Starla

and the show was fuckin great.... I need to see them again.

[suprefan]

Zeitgeist, Mellon Collie, Adore, Machina, Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariat.

[superfiction]

Zeitgeist, Mellon Collie, Adore, Machina, Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariat.

i think he was talkign about these chris

4. G.L.O.W.
8. A Song for a Son
9. Superchrist
11. 99 Floors
12. Owata
21. The Sounds of Silence


...

and to answer the question, 2 are new songs and the rest i dont fucking know. or care for that matter. god they suck now

[suprefan]

AAah, oops sorry. Yeah Superchrist and G.L.O.W. were just released like officially, the others, yeah no clue..

[BobCaygeon]

99 Floors is the video in the "all is not lost" link I posted above.

[wmgaretjax]

really bad performance art... you guys understand that's what he thinks he is doing right?

[C DUB YA]

I understand he's a complete fucktard

[shakermaker113]

what's funny is, if he had given this band a new name, then people would be excited that billy's sucky new band is playing some smashing pumpkins songs. but calling them the smashing pumkins, everyone's upset about how he's ruined that name.

which he has.

[bballarl]

It's a shame that this man's pretensions get in the way of some great music. His ego is unreal. And he hasn't done anything to justify that ego since 1996.

[rage patton]

I can't believe a lot of you are (still) surprised about this.

[bballarl]

I think they are still capable of being awesome. The shows I saw at the Fillmore were definitely worthwhile. But he gets all hung up on conceptual bullshit that doesn't make sense or work and it gets in the way of writing great songs and kicking ass.

[rage patton]

I heard the Vancouver show last year was actually one of the rare good shows. I didn't bother going. The second I heard Iha wasn't on board is when I give up on The Smashing Pumpkins.

[suprefan]

Yeah the Fillmore shows were sick. Cant complain one bit about getting a 3 hour set from them.

[shakermaker113]

I can and did complain. I would have been happier if it had been about half an hour shorter. i.e. one song less... I didn't even stay through the end of that garbage.

[luckyface]

I will take the pretension if it means we will be getting some deep cuts from Mellon Collie.