-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Official Smashing Pumpkins thread
- Thread starter Diablos
- Start date
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
pumpkins are still my band buddy, but i've always loved the foo's. don't be jealous 
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
you didn't notice my post about the concert from a year ago!?
i meant pumpkins be jealous, not you sugarcakes!
p.s. i was going to give you one of those pumpkins SF posters but you never asked, now i gave it away to someone else :*(
i meant pumpkins be jealous, not you sugarcakes!
p.s. i was going to give you one of those pumpkins SF posters but you never asked, now i gave it away to someone else :*(
distantmantra
Member
Diablos said:
I have an actual copy of the Machina advance release CD, The Scared and Profane has the drum beats at the beginning and not the end. Age of Innocence is slightly different, too.
BigJonsson
Member
Just had to remind you all that I'm seeing the Pumpkins headline day 2 of V-Fest tomorrow
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
report after the show BJ!
also, does anyone have a video link to anytime the band has played 7 shades of black? best song on the album and i think they've only played it live once (from the setlists ive seen!)
also, does anyone have a video link to anytime the band has played 7 shades of black? best song on the album and i think they've only played it live once (from the setlists ive seen!)
BigJonsson
Member
I'll post one for sure, dunno how detailed it will be though
BigJonsson
Member
WICKED INSANE AWESOME SHOW
After 12 years of listening and loving SP, I finally got to see them live
Lemme try and list what they played tonight in Toronto at V-Fest...(I can't remember the order)
United States/Star Spangled Banner
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Hummer
Stand Inside Your Love
Neverlost
Tarantula
1979 (Acoustic)
By Starlight (Acoustic)
Tonight Tonight
Heavy Metal Machine (Some really long version that must have been another song as well)
Thats the way my love is
Doomsday Clock (Sounds really messy live)
Zero
Glass and the Ghost Children
Starz (It DOES sound better live)
Today
Billy kept busting out these crazy solos, was totally awesome
I took some video, I'll youtube it sooner or later....
As for the rest of V-Fest day 2....
I saw these bands...
Tokyo Police Club - Pretty good set
Stars - I was eating/chilling while they were on, they were ok
Metric - Played a few new songs and were awesome like always
Killers - Didn't play as long as I expected them to and their songs sound alot alike....were good I guess
Smashing Pumpkins - Total ownage
Day 1....
Arctic Monkeys - Awesome
Interpol - They looked bored and stage and they didn't sound very into the show
Bjork - Weird, very very weird...left after a few songs cause she doesn't appeal to me at all
EDIT - SP played for almost 2 hours
Edit 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6BJla9FMbU Today! I know the video is all over the place, but I was kinda rocking out
I'll upload Zero and 1979 tomorrow....I also have the first 27 seconds of Tarantula before a crowd surfer got dangerously close causing me to duck down to protect my camera lol
After 12 years of listening and loving SP, I finally got to see them live
Lemme try and list what they played tonight in Toronto at V-Fest...(I can't remember the order)
United States/Star Spangled Banner
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Hummer
Stand Inside Your Love
Neverlost
Tarantula
1979 (Acoustic)
By Starlight (Acoustic)
Tonight Tonight
Heavy Metal Machine (Some really long version that must have been another song as well)
Thats the way my love is
Doomsday Clock (Sounds really messy live)
Zero
Glass and the Ghost Children
Starz (It DOES sound better live)
Today
Billy kept busting out these crazy solos, was totally awesome
I took some video, I'll youtube it sooner or later....
As for the rest of V-Fest day 2....
I saw these bands...
Tokyo Police Club - Pretty good set
Stars - I was eating/chilling while they were on, they were ok
Metric - Played a few new songs and were awesome like always
Killers - Didn't play as long as I expected them to and their songs sound alot alike....were good I guess
Smashing Pumpkins - Total ownage
Day 1....
Arctic Monkeys - Awesome
Interpol - They looked bored and stage and they didn't sound very into the show
Bjork - Weird, very very weird...left after a few songs cause she doesn't appeal to me at all
EDIT - SP played for almost 2 hours
Edit 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6BJla9FMbU Today! I know the video is all over the place, but I was kinda rocking out
I'll upload Zero and 1979 tomorrow....I also have the first 27 seconds of Tarantula before a crowd surfer got dangerously close causing me to duck down to protect my camera lol
BigJonsson
Member
bump
siamesedreamer
Banned
Is that the set I should expect in Atlanta?
I still can't decide if I'm gonna go or not...
I still can't decide if I'm gonna go or not...
http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/audio_upload_rules.php
Sweet!
http://www.livepumpkins.net/ - Bootleg heaven. Offers audio and video bootlegs at great quality for FREE. This is so awesome.
Sweet!
http://www.livepumpkins.net/ - Bootleg heaven. Offers audio and video bootlegs at great quality for FREE. This is so awesome.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
"Starz" may be one of my five favorite SP songs ever. Seriously, Billy and Jimmy fucking wreck it. With every downstep, Jimmy is right behind Billy beating the shit out of those poor drum skins. So awesome. He makes such copious use of the symbols too. Everything is so beautifully timed in the song.
Fuck this song owns so hard. I think I may be liking Zeitgeist as much as Siamese Dream. =O
Fuck this song owns so hard. I think I may be liking Zeitgeist as much as Siamese Dream. =O
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
I just recorded myself playing over "Starz". I don't know if I should upload it, because I was sort of doodling around in some places and not paying as much attention as I should.
It's 4MB, so I need a decent host in case I decide to.
It's 4MB, so I need a decent host in case I decide to.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
It really should be. It's a little short, but just right for a single.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiUe1derdQg
They just played Bring the Light for the first time in Vegas.
The outro is pretty nice...
They just played Bring the Light for the first time in Vegas.
The outro is pretty nice...
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
damn i wanted to see bring the light and 7 shades live
they're playing in LA tonight at LA Invasion but im not going despite foo fighters AND pumpkins being there.
they're playing in LA tonight at LA Invasion but im not going despite foo fighters AND pumpkins being there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU5soDPEHDU
Aw man, Starz is amazing.
edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO47kzNzLXM
Skip past That's the Way -- is this a new song? Has to be. It rocks!
edit 2: No, it's a completely revamped version of Heavy Metal Machine. Whoa. I thought the guy who titled the clip messed up, but nope.
Aw man, Starz is amazing.
edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO47kzNzLXM
Skip past That's the Way -- is this a new song? Has to be. It rocks!
edit 2: No, it's a completely revamped version of Heavy Metal Machine. Whoa. I thought the guy who titled the clip messed up, but nope.
Infinitemadness
Member
Diablos said:
woot! I was there! Then came back to LA for LA Invasion. Foo/Sp combo rocked. I have to say the Vegas show was the best so far (comparing to San Fran/LA/Vegas). They seriously destroyed a planet somewhere with their rock.
^ Nice.
Jimmy Chamberlin was invited to throw the starting pitch at a baseball game tonight...
Also,
Jeff is a pimp. BALLS. ahaha
Lisa's as old as me, and she's touring with the band. That's amazing. I couldn't even imagine...
Speaking of Lisa, she's quite talented. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=33038737
Jimmy Chamberlin was invited to throw the starting pitch at a baseball game tonight...
Also,
Jeff is a pimp. BALLS. ahaha
Lisa's as old as me, and she's touring with the band. That's amazing. I couldn't even imagine...
Speaking of Lisa, she's quite talented. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=33038737
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
fucking jeff probably tappin both! i dont think ginger reyes is superhot but i would fuckthe shit out of her
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
did anyone go to LA Invasion? my buddy from work says the Foo's stole the show. he said the pumpkins came on and people started leaving. said they put on a crappy show! then this other chick at work said the same thing, but i don't put much faith in her opinions on anything, let alone music. comments? opinions? i need to know!
BigJonsson
Member
Yea Diablos, they played the new Heavy Metal Machine in Toronto and I was confused, its almost a totally different song
I can't believe how awesome Zeitgeist has turned out to be, I listen to it an incredible amount and it gets better and better
I can't believe how awesome Zeitgeist has turned out to be, I listen to it an incredible amount and it gets better and better
This made me do a search for an article.FrenchMovieTheme said:
http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/rock-pumpkins-one-1846455-kroq-new
Seems like people just weren't into it.
Oh well!
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
yeah corgan needed to treat that show as a festival and not a pumpkins show. i love united states but that is a horrible lead off song and for this event the set list should have started with where boys fear to treat! my friend who is a pumpkins fan told me yesterday she was bored at the show too :/
oh well indeed my friend. i still wish i went
oh well indeed my friend. i still wish i went
siamesedreamer
Banned
I think I've decided to go to the ATL show. My flight gets in from Houston around 4:30. I'll just have to go straight to the show.
United States isn't a bad song to start out with, IMO. But it might be better in the middle or towards the end of the set...FrenchMovieTheme said:
They really need to bring back a lot of their rockers.
I'll put it simply: Corgan has made a huge mistake by not playing the following yet:
-Geek USA: wtf Billy, PLAY IT. If you can play Hummer 100 times, you can play this 200 times. Also, stop ignoring the solo. Everyone knows you can play it, and we all disagree with you when you say a solo isn't needed because the dynamics of the song are intense enough. Please. Play the solo. If you can play an awesome solo in Tarantula you can do it for Geek USA.
-Ruby
-Porcelina
-I Am One
^
The fact these four have not been played yet really boggles my mind. Does not compute.
-Siva
-Soma
-Mayonaise
-Here Is No Why
-Fuck You
-Where Boys Fear to Tread
These songs would also be nice, and I'm sure I forgot some.
As for the show, it just seems like they neglected the type of crowd they were playing to and treated it like something that consists only of very interested to hardcore SP fans.
I'm still excited to be going. It almost seems surreal that I am finally seeing Billy and Jimmy on stage.
The tickets for their newly announced Austin show went on sale this morning, which is the first time they've come here in ages. Between that and Dallas, I'm up to see almost the entire Texas leg of their tour, sans Houston -- which I won't go to since I can't stand the city or the venue.
distantmantra
Member
Seattle 09/22/2007
United States
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
That's the Way
Drown
Bring the Light
Tonight, Tonight
Disarm
Tarantula
Superchrist
Heavy Metal Machine
Today
United States and Drown (even though I've heard it a lot) were the highlights for me, and the one two punch of Superchrist and Heavy Metal Machine really fucked with the crowd, causing a lot of people to leave. But, aside from that, it was a pretty formulaic radio festival show: 1. Play a Zeitgeist track, 2. Play an old radio single, 3. Repeat. Far from being a terrible performance, but it's the least favorite of all SP shows that I've attended.
I had been moving into our new house all day, so I didn't get down to Qwest Field until 6pm. Bright Eyes was the only other band I wanted to see at End Fest, and they only played for 30 minutes... ?!?
United States
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
That's the Way
Drown
Bring the Light
Tonight, Tonight
Disarm
Tarantula
Superchrist
Heavy Metal Machine
Today
United States and Drown (even though I've heard it a lot) were the highlights for me, and the one two punch of Superchrist and Heavy Metal Machine really fucked with the crowd, causing a lot of people to leave. But, aside from that, it was a pretty formulaic radio festival show: 1. Play a Zeitgeist track, 2. Play an old radio single, 3. Repeat. Far from being a terrible performance, but it's the least favorite of all SP shows that I've attended.
I had been moving into our new house all day, so I didn't get down to Qwest Field until 6pm. Bright Eyes was the only other band I wanted to see at End Fest, and they only played for 30 minutes... ?!?
Oh don't worry distantmantra, you'll only see another 100 SP shows before you die
Some short but informative new info from Jimmy:
So basically, James lied, since he said he hasn't talked to Billy or Jimmy in years.
Also, very excited to hear about another album and even a new COMPLEX album. I know that tidbit will probably make Macam's day whenever he reads it.
Since we just got a Pumpkins album, I think I'm a little bit more excited for a new Complex album. Jimmy, Billy Mohler, and that new Gannin Arnold guy are really tight as a trio.
Some short but informative new info from Jimmy:
Hatephoria said:
So basically, James lied, since he said he hasn't talked to Billy or Jimmy in years.
Also, very excited to hear about another album and even a new COMPLEX album. I know that tidbit will probably make Macam's day whenever he reads it.
Since we just got a Pumpkins album, I think I'm a little bit more excited for a new Complex album. Jimmy, Billy Mohler, and that new Gannin Arnold guy are really tight as a trio.
Infinitemadness
Member
FrenchMovieTheme said:
I have to admit, no matter what KROQ festival it is...people just leave during the last act. They're tired, want to beat traffic etc. I thought they put on a great show, but it was totally played as a nod to the Sp fan, and not the radio fan. The place was far from empty despite people leaving.
Foo's did own that show, Dave had crowd interaction and spoke to them. If anyone has been to a Foo show, you know Dave is not just a story teller, but he can work a crowd.
The best part for me, I was by the stage, and this couple was watching SP, the girl was a fan dancing away and the whole time the BF was just standing there...no movement. Once the set was complete he was like "holy shit, these guys are really good!" Kind of funny to see people just being exposed to Sp.
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
i think the next SP record will be awesome (zeitgeist is also) simply because i felt like zeitgeist was an "ok we're back" record, and the next one will be a bit more fleshed out. can't wait!
distantmantra
Member
Just saw this over at Pitchfork:
After conducting an autopsy yesterday, September 27, Vancouver regional coroner Owen Court determined that the death of 20-year-old Richmond, British Columbia resident Kenny Leung at a Smashing Pumpkins show earlier this week was not the result of moshing or crowd-surfing, according to a report on The Globe and Mail's website.
The Globe and Mail quoted Court as saying, "There is absolutely no evidence of any injury and therefore I would say, what you would call moshing or crowd-surfing would have nothing to do with this whatsoever. There was no injury on this young man."
In the absence of a trauma injury, the coroner is looking to toxicology tests to provide an explanation for Leung's death.
The Pumpkins responded to the tragedy with a post on their website:
"The Smashing Pumpkins were deeply saddened to learn about the passing of a young man who attended their Vancouver show Monday night (September 24). As they and everyone else await news from the investigation into the nature of his passing, the band want to express their sincerest condolences to his family and friends."
After conducting an autopsy yesterday, September 27, Vancouver regional coroner Owen Court determined that the death of 20-year-old Richmond, British Columbia resident Kenny Leung at a Smashing Pumpkins show earlier this week was not the result of moshing or crowd-surfing, according to a report on The Globe and Mail's website.
The Globe and Mail quoted Court as saying, "There is absolutely no evidence of any injury and therefore I would say, what you would call moshing or crowd-surfing would have nothing to do with this whatsoever. There was no injury on this young man."
In the absence of a trauma injury, the coroner is looking to toxicology tests to provide an explanation for Leung's death.
The Pumpkins responded to the tragedy with a post on their website:
"The Smashing Pumpkins were deeply saddened to learn about the passing of a young man who attended their Vancouver show Monday night (September 24). As they and everyone else await news from the investigation into the nature of his passing, the band want to express their sincerest condolences to his family and friends."
^ That's really a shame.
Some interesting news... there was a rumor that there is gonna be a special edition with a DVD on 10/16. Despite the lazy writing style, the guy who wrote this is reliable. Not to mention a Best Buy (yuck) employee on Netphoria checked the company's inventory and there is indeed a special edition coming on 10/16. Anyway:
While I could be completely wrong, I have a hunch that some of these special editions may have been out of Billy's control. He seems pretty fed up with the record industry. Usually he's vocal about extra stuff that gets released, but he hasn't said much of anything about the special editions. It just seems really weird that after releasing, what, five different versions of the album (Target, iTunes, Best Buy, standard, and standard w/booklet), that they would instantly want to go to an indie label.
Some interesting news... there was a rumor that there is gonna be a special edition with a DVD on 10/16. Despite the lazy writing style, the guy who wrote this is reliable. Not to mention a Best Buy (yuck) employee on Netphoria checked the company's inventory and there is indeed a special edition coming on 10/16. Anyway:
It would be nice to see SP go to a completely indie label. He did say during their radio interview thing that they might go wherever they want.
While I could be completely wrong, I have a hunch that some of these special editions may have been out of Billy's control. He seems pretty fed up with the record industry. Usually he's vocal about extra stuff that gets released, but he hasn't said much of anything about the special editions. It just seems really weird that after releasing, what, five different versions of the album (Target, iTunes, Best Buy, standard, and standard w/booklet), that they would instantly want to go to an indie label.
Impressions (long, but you had to see this coming):
My right ear is still ringing like crazy, but it's worth it
http://www.spfc.org/tours/date.html?tour_id=1283
First of all: The Bravery sucked, except for when I saw Jeff poke his head out with his dixie cup a couple times. Last night was their last time touring with SP; too bad it wasn't the show before.
Anyway,
Not sure where to start, really. I was in a GREAT spot. Had I been any closer, I'd basically be at the very front of the crowd. I couldn't have asked for anything better after wanting to see this band for 10+ years. I could see Jimmy's shoelaces bouncing I can say is that it was a very surreal experience. I think back and it feels like a dream or something. Prior to getting in though, we all had to wait outside since doors opened at 6:30. There was quite a long line, from the entrance, to the corner, all the way up the sidewalk where the side entrance is. The audience was pretty varied, although there were a lot of people with your typical goth look. One girl was walking around offering Pumpkin-themed cookies to everyone. The fact that she was really tiny and looked like a heroin addict did not get too many people interested in taking one. I'm sure she did nothing to them, but you never know.
There was a long wait in between The Bravery and SP. If you had a seat, no big deal. If you were standing in the pit like me, it felt like forever! Well worth the wait, though. As the lights went out and the Disturbia theme started playing, I couldn't believe it. I was freaking out (in a good way, of course).
The show got off to quite an interesting start. Right at the beginning of the first song, United States, three short, drunk, smelly, catty girls decided to push their way up to the front as if they were unstoppable; BAD move. When they got there, they intentionally tried to disrupt the crowd and basically messed with everyone, distracting them (RIGHT at the beginning of the show... how rude). They got pushed back with a lot of force, and one of the drunk girls got really violent in response by punching another girl in the face, so she got hit right back (and quite frankly, she deserved it). This was quite a big deal, as the bouncers had to flash their lights on the crowd to find the girls as people pointed at them. Billy and Jimmy were eyeballing it all at this point, and as a result got distracted for a few seconds. They looked really disappointed. It's unfortunate that three girls either still in or just out of high school, who obviously didn't even really care about being there, messed up part of the first song for everyone. Thankfully there were no problems after this incident; by the third or fourth song, a bouncer went into the audience and yanked one of the girls out of the crowd and she was gone for the rest of the night. I was really impressed with the security crew; they addressed any potential incident in the crowd instantly, thus preventing anything else too crazy from happening.
The setlist was near perfect, and was off to a great start. Starz was the song I wanted to hear most from all the Zeitgeist tracks, because it's so enjoyable live from all the boots I've heard. And it WAS. It's a great, GREAT live song. I could tell I wasn't the only one who felt that way based on the crowd reaction. I was very pleased to know it was the third song in the set. The end of Drown was pretty nice with the feedback, Billy played it in a new kind of way... similar in some ways to the extended studio version, but a bit shorter. Very impressive work though. Bring the Light had an INCREDIBLE extended outro that should have been on the album. People got pretty wild during Bullet, to be expected. Neverlost started out pretty dull, but had a nice end to it. To be honest, I would've rather heard Hummer or something.
Lucky 13 was quite a surprise. Lots of feedback in some places, really thrashy and intense, weird but awesome new jam towards the end. It's definitely one of the band's more underrated loud and aggressive songs, and I'm glad they played it. Tarantula kicks ass live, plain and simple. Love the soloing and just the overall energy. It's made for a concert like this. Ava Adore and especially Home were also really nice surprises. It's one of my favorite songs from Machina II, so I was really happy that they played it. The acoustic set of 1979 and Perfect was a nice touch, with Jimmy on stage with Billy during part of it. We started chanting his name, to which Billy replied, "why are you calling him Timmy? He's Jimmy." :lol
Billy made a few comments about the Steelers, starting with Roethlisberger, which made everyone boo. He was kinda shocked to see such a negative reaction, so he talked about Terry Bradshaw, which was a much better idea.
After Perfect, someone screamed "Set the Ray", and I thought to myself "no way, but I wish." And what do you know, as soon as I'm done thinking that they started to play it. I never thought in a million years that they would play Set the Ray to Jerry, but they did! And it was so unbelievably good. They worked a really good guitar sound into the live version.
Stand Inside Your Love is the Machina I song I wanted to hear, and they played it, so that was nice. They also played Rocket as it is on the album, not acoustic or anything (which they were doing before), which was good. It's so fun to sing along to Rocket.
Then they busted out Superchrist. Initially, when they just started playing it a month or two ago, I said it was way too similar to United States. And it was. But they seemed to have worked on it a bit, and beyond the few opening chords it's different enough to be its own song. Jimmy beat the crap out of his drums on this one, he was EXTREMELY loud and I loved it (also vastly different to his playing in US). Between the awesome main riff and Jimmy's chaotic jungle drumming bliss, this song melted my face off. I'd complain about there being no Silverfuck, but this was just as good. It basically put the crowd in a bit of a trance. Everyone just kinda stood there and absorbed the sheer awesomeness. After that, a completely reworked Heavy Metal Machine wasn't too far behind Superchrist's face-melting prowess. It's a lot better than the Machina live version, that's for sure.
As for the encore, they started out with Pomp + Circumstances. I think this may have been the first time they played it; it's always nice to be at a show when something is played for the first time. It was a lot better than the album version, as the "la la la's" were eliminated in favor of Billy's guitar taking care of it (which makes the song 110% better). And it kind of has a 70's peaceful rock vibe to it at the beginning, whereas on the album it's like Enya meets SP or something strange like that. The crunchy solo at the end was lovely. So, Macam, if you ever see this song live, it's not as bad as we thought it would be, in fact it's quite good. And then they closed with Cherub Rock! It was supposed to be Muzzle, but I'm glad they went with Cherub at the last minute.
Billy walked across the stage and said goodbye to everyone, he looked really touched by the audience's enthusiasm and appreciation. Someone threw him a note and I believe a terrible towel. He seemed to really like whatever the note said.
Now, overall, I'm so very, very impressed with how this band sounds. They are extremely tight. I know SP is not exactly the same without D'Arcy and especially James, but Ginger and Jeff are doing an outstanding job. Jeff is REALLY dedicated to his playing, and btw, seems to be much more "into" it, unlike before where he just kinda stood there (like FMT was complaining about). But I do think he was trying to learn how to play everything before, and now he's finally comfortable. He looked really happy and was moving around quite a bit. This will piss off some fans, but I personally feel that Jeff is superior to James in a lot of ways. This is by no means some kind of bandwagon comment, as I did have my doubts about him at first. The band just sounds a lot more complete on stage with him being the other guitarist. I hope he contributes to the next album, he's awesome. Lisa is a great keyboardist and adds more than you'd expect to the show. Billy's guitar playing was fantastic, vocals didn't bother me at all, and in fact, he also seemed like he was really into it unlike the first few shows we saw of the band. A lot more emotion and stuff in his voice, not just the "meh I'm here" thing. A lot of people said his voice is whinier than you think when you go see him live, but I found it to be just fine. Ginger is a solid bassist and played her parts with ease. Jimmy of course was fucking amazing, his drumming never disappoints and last night was no exception. He is absolutely flawless and it was incredible to finally hear him play in person.
Ginger looked really classy/professional, as did Jeff. Jimmy wore a white shirt with cargo shorts, and Billy, for being Billy, was pretty conservative when it came to freaky clothes. He had on his striped shirt with a shiny light blue vest over it, with matching pants. To be honest, it looked kind of cool. The lighting for this concert was quite a trip, btw.
I know for a fact that Jeff Schroeder made eye contact with me, and I'm fairly certain Billy did at the end when we were all cheering and stuff.
My complaints are very short. They would be the lack of Hummer and/or Starla, which they often play. But, there were plenty of other surprises so I can't complain. Geek USA also would have been incredible, but that's just wishful thinking (I still don't understand why this song is not played, but again, I can't complain too much since the setlist was still phenomenal).
After 10+ years of waiting, I can finally say that I've seen my favorite band of all time, and of course, this is, to date, the best concert I've ever been to (Radiohead at a very close second). I couldn't have asked for anything better. I will never forget this concert, surreal as it was. Pumpkins rock.
My right ear is still ringing like crazy, but it's worth it
http://www.spfc.org/tours/date.html?tour_id=1283
First of all: The Bravery sucked, except for when I saw Jeff poke his head out with his dixie cup a couple times. Last night was their last time touring with SP; too bad it wasn't the show before.
Anyway,
Not sure where to start, really. I was in a GREAT spot. Had I been any closer, I'd basically be at the very front of the crowd. I couldn't have asked for anything better after wanting to see this band for 10+ years. I could see Jimmy's shoelaces bouncing
I can say is that it was a very surreal experience. I think back and it feels like a dream or something. Prior to getting in though, we all had to wait outside since doors opened at 6:30. There was quite a long line, from the entrance, to the corner, all the way up the sidewalk where the side entrance is. The audience was pretty varied, although there were a lot of people with your typical goth look. One girl was walking around offering Pumpkin-themed cookies to everyone. The fact that she was really tiny and looked like a heroin addict did not get too many people interested in taking one. I'm sure she did nothing to them, but you never know.There was a long wait in between The Bravery and SP. If you had a seat, no big deal. If you were standing in the pit like me, it felt like forever! Well worth the wait, though. As the lights went out and the Disturbia theme started playing, I couldn't believe it. I was freaking out (in a good way, of course).
The show got off to quite an interesting start. Right at the beginning of the first song, United States, three short, drunk, smelly, catty girls decided to push their way up to the front as if they were unstoppable; BAD move. When they got there, they intentionally tried to disrupt the crowd and basically messed with everyone, distracting them (RIGHT at the beginning of the show... how rude). They got pushed back with a lot of force, and one of the drunk girls got really violent in response by punching another girl in the face, so she got hit right back (and quite frankly, she deserved it). This was quite a big deal, as the bouncers had to flash their lights on the crowd to find the girls as people pointed at them. Billy and Jimmy were eyeballing it all at this point, and as a result got distracted for a few seconds. They looked really disappointed. It's unfortunate that three girls either still in or just out of high school, who obviously didn't even really care about being there, messed up part of the first song for everyone. Thankfully there were no problems after this incident; by the third or fourth song, a bouncer went into the audience and yanked one of the girls out of the crowd and she was gone for the rest of the night. I was really impressed with the security crew; they addressed any potential incident in the crowd instantly, thus preventing anything else too crazy from happening.
The setlist was near perfect, and was off to a great start. Starz was the song I wanted to hear most from all the Zeitgeist tracks, because it's so enjoyable live from all the boots I've heard. And it WAS. It's a great, GREAT live song. I could tell I wasn't the only one who felt that way based on the crowd reaction. I was very pleased to know it was the third song in the set. The end of Drown was pretty nice with the feedback, Billy played it in a new kind of way... similar in some ways to the extended studio version, but a bit shorter. Very impressive work though. Bring the Light had an INCREDIBLE extended outro that should have been on the album. People got pretty wild during Bullet, to be expected. Neverlost started out pretty dull, but had a nice end to it. To be honest, I would've rather heard Hummer or something.
Lucky 13 was quite a surprise. Lots of feedback in some places, really thrashy and intense, weird but awesome new jam towards the end. It's definitely one of the band's more underrated loud and aggressive songs, and I'm glad they played it. Tarantula kicks ass live, plain and simple. Love the soloing and just the overall energy. It's made for a concert like this. Ava Adore and especially Home were also really nice surprises. It's one of my favorite songs from Machina II, so I was really happy that they played it. The acoustic set of 1979 and Perfect was a nice touch, with Jimmy on stage with Billy during part of it. We started chanting his name, to which Billy replied, "why are you calling him Timmy? He's Jimmy." :lol
Billy made a few comments about the Steelers, starting with Roethlisberger, which made everyone boo. He was kinda shocked to see such a negative reaction, so he talked about Terry Bradshaw, which was a much better idea.
After Perfect, someone screamed "Set the Ray", and I thought to myself "no way, but I wish." And what do you know, as soon as I'm done thinking that they started to play it. I never thought in a million years that they would play Set the Ray to Jerry, but they did! And it was so unbelievably good. They worked a really good guitar sound into the live version.
Stand Inside Your Love is the Machina I song I wanted to hear, and they played it, so that was nice. They also played Rocket as it is on the album, not acoustic or anything (which they were doing before), which was good. It's so fun to sing along to Rocket.
Then they busted out Superchrist. Initially, when they just started playing it a month or two ago, I said it was way too similar to United States. And it was. But they seemed to have worked on it a bit, and beyond the few opening chords it's different enough to be its own song. Jimmy beat the crap out of his drums on this one, he was EXTREMELY loud and I loved it (also vastly different to his playing in US). Between the awesome main riff and Jimmy's chaotic jungle drumming bliss, this song melted my face off. I'd complain about there being no Silverfuck, but this was just as good. It basically put the crowd in a bit of a trance. Everyone just kinda stood there and absorbed the sheer awesomeness. After that, a completely reworked Heavy Metal Machine wasn't too far behind Superchrist's face-melting prowess. It's a lot better than the Machina live version, that's for sure.
As for the encore, they started out with Pomp + Circumstances. I think this may have been the first time they played it; it's always nice to be at a show when something is played for the first time. It was a lot better than the album version, as the "la la la's" were eliminated in favor of Billy's guitar taking care of it (which makes the song 110% better). And it kind of has a 70's peaceful rock vibe to it at the beginning, whereas on the album it's like Enya meets SP or something strange like that. The crunchy solo at the end was lovely. So, Macam, if you ever see this song live, it's not as bad as we thought it would be, in fact it's quite good. And then they closed with Cherub Rock! It was supposed to be Muzzle, but I'm glad they went with Cherub at the last minute.
Billy walked across the stage and said goodbye to everyone, he looked really touched by the audience's enthusiasm and appreciation. Someone threw him a note and I believe a terrible towel. He seemed to really like whatever the note said.
Now, overall, I'm so very, very impressed with how this band sounds. They are extremely tight. I know SP is not exactly the same without D'Arcy and especially James, but Ginger and Jeff are doing an outstanding job. Jeff is REALLY dedicated to his playing, and btw, seems to be much more "into" it, unlike before where he just kinda stood there (like FMT was complaining about). But I do think he was trying to learn how to play everything before, and now he's finally comfortable. He looked really happy and was moving around quite a bit. This will piss off some fans, but I personally feel that Jeff is superior to James in a lot of ways. This is by no means some kind of bandwagon comment, as I did have my doubts about him at first. The band just sounds a lot more complete on stage with him being the other guitarist. I hope he contributes to the next album, he's awesome. Lisa is a great keyboardist and adds more than you'd expect to the show. Billy's guitar playing was fantastic, vocals didn't bother me at all, and in fact, he also seemed like he was really into it unlike the first few shows we saw of the band. A lot more emotion and stuff in his voice, not just the "meh I'm here" thing. A lot of people said his voice is whinier than you think when you go see him live, but I found it to be just fine. Ginger is a solid bassist and played her parts with ease. Jimmy of course was fucking amazing, his drumming never disappoints and last night was no exception. He is absolutely flawless and it was incredible to finally hear him play in person.
Ginger looked really classy/professional, as did Jeff. Jimmy wore a white shirt with cargo shorts, and Billy, for being Billy, was pretty conservative when it came to freaky clothes. He had on his striped shirt with a shiny light blue vest over it, with matching pants. To be honest, it looked kind of cool. The lighting for this concert was quite a trip, btw.
I know for a fact that Jeff Schroeder made eye contact with me, and I'm fairly certain Billy did at the end when we were all cheering and stuff.
My complaints are very short. They would be the lack of Hummer and/or Starla, which they often play. But, there were plenty of other surprises so I can't complain. Geek USA also would have been incredible, but that's just wishful thinking (I still don't understand why this song is not played, but again, I can't complain too much since the setlist was still phenomenal).
After 10+ years of waiting, I can finally say that I've seen my favorite band of all time, and of course, this is, to date, the best concert I've ever been to (Radiohead at a very close second). I couldn't have asked for anything better. I will never forget this concert, surreal as it was. Pumpkins rock.