Hey all,


well those in Chicago, check out a small article in the Chicago Tribune or click this ...


link (http://www.wttw.com/50/)

though i'd share and hope to see some fellow Billy fans


gotta love Chi-town.

I will be watching it on tv in about 15 minutes.

Originally posted by pumpkingrrrl
I will be watching it on tv in about 15 minutes.

Awesome. Please let us know what happens. :)

i will. some opera singers are performing right now

well?

ok billy sang the song "Summertime" by Gershwin...he looked weird without a guitar and he sang kind of high and out of tune lol.

but he looked nice in the suit he was wearing :D

excellent....

i knew he would do that

i noticed people in the audience laughing at him when he walked off stage.

Let us have a moment of silence for anyone who may have traveled to see Billy perform.

..........


Thank you.

I "traveled" 20 minutes to see him perform. The performance was cool, and overall the whole 50th anniversary show was fun. Beautiful night in the city by the lake!

http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~molsen/chicagoskyline.jpg

Goddammit, why does Billy Corgan have to be so fucking goofy?

Originally posted by oddhandle
Let us have a moment of silence for anyone who may have traveled to see Billy perform.

..........


Thank you.

HAHAHA!!!!! :D

that's our billy... all i can really say

Ok so I'm back from the show, seeing as it was in Chicago it wasn't too much of a trip for me. It was a nice environment, the sound was amazing since its the first show I'd seen at Millennium Park better than the Pertrillo Music Shell.

I enjoyed it, it made for a great night out on the town.

I heard some laughs from the crowd as well once Billy began to sing, but what do you expect when you're surrounded by old folks, and social security theives.

I just wish people could appreciate things more, no matter your age or **********.

I know this was supposed to be broadcast (in HDTV, nonetheless) - did anyone cap it with plans to share? I have a MiniDV Cam video of it, but It'd be moot if something better surfaces...

The performance was...out of place but engaging. It alone was not worth the 3 hour drive, but the show as a whole was good.

someone post a video of it please!

im fuckin retarded, i was thinking it was only broadcasted for chicago, but now i realize i get WTTW. in fact i was just watching david bowie on it the other night.
anger

Originally posted by dsheinem
I know this was supposed to be broadcast (in HDTV, nonetheless) - did anyone cap it with plans to share? I have a MiniDV Cam video of it, but It'd be moot if something better surfaces...

I didn't get a chance to check it out, and would really appreciate it if you'd be up for sharing your video...

Originally posted by Marquee Moon


I didn't get a chance to check it out, and would really appreciate it if you'd be up for sharing your video...

I''ll work on it tommorrow, I guess. So no one taped the broadcast of the show? Maybe even the FM?

I was taping it (had work at that time) but for some reason the tape cut out half way through the show so I didn't get to see it.

Sorry...went directly from the Sox/Yankee game to Dinner to Millemium Park....no time to coordinate any recording gear. I didn't set my DVR, because I didn't realize it was being shown on tv. If its being replayed, I will capture it!

Originally posted by dsheinem


I''ll work on it tommorrow, I guess. So no one taped the broadcast of the show? Maybe even the FM?

Ok, here's a ~10MB wmv of the performance. This is highly lossy - a 1.2 GB version is going on the hub within the hour if you'd rather grab that.

Edit: I also posted an in-between version on the hub that is around 80MB. It's also very wathcable.

Link: http://faculty.kirkwood.edu/dheinem/bc.zip
TXT:
Billy Corgan
August 20, 2005
Millenium Park; Chicago, IL

Source: Sony DCR-PC101 MiniDV
Transfer: Firewire > Windows Movie Maker @ 25Mbps (Premiere was acting buggy)
Taped by: David Heineman (dsheinem@yahoo.com)
Notes: WTTW's 50th Anniversary Concert. Was also broadcast on (HD)TV.

1. Introduction
2. Summertime [Gershwin]

Originally posted by dsheinem

Ok, here's a ~10MB wmv of the performance. This is highly lossy - a 1.2 GB version is going on the hub within the hour if you'd rather grab that

Thanks for posting the file!

I love Gershwin...wish I could have been there to hear Billy sing this.

:D

awwwwww bless.
billy in a suit and he looked so self concious. My workmates were looking round a bit puzzled and with rolled eyes... though that's more to do with me playing continuous pumpkins and corgan...

anyway, again a big thank you for recording this and sharing it. quite a treat i would otherwise have never seen.

thank you

xxx

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

quote from one of my colleagues on hearing news that i'd just got a flat & new flatmates:

''Brilliant, just be sure to lay off non-stop SP playing and i'm sure you'll get along great!''

Haha, he sounds like a cartoon character.

i admire his willingness to try something new, but it wasnt working for him.

LOL! :erm

why does he always have to make it so hard for himself? he could've just sung it in a lower key. it looks like he wasn't too pleased, the way he walked out, but apart from those high notes it actually sounded great

He seemed so uncomfortable up there. Although I would've been uncomfortable too, if I was butchering such a beautiful song.

I thought it was nice. Billy kinda reminded me of an alley cat singing it, in a good way, which is kinda apropos with the whole Porgy and Bess thing. The orchestra was beautiful and really backed him up well. And he used some good dynamics and vibrato.

Thanks for posting.

not your song billy.. not your song..

Originally posted by TuralyonW3
I thought it was nice. Billy kinda reminded me of an alley cat singing it, in a good way, which is kinda apropos with the whole Porgy and Bess thing. The orchestra was beautiful and really backed him up well. And he used some good dynamics and vibrato.

So many people being critical of Billy's performance, including the local papers. But I agree with you ... I liked what he did with it. Really nice Billy-style interpretation of the song. It reminded me a bit of the vocal style he used in "My Blue Heaven."

This performance also made me think of the collaborations with David Amram, which *******d a song for Billy to sing with some members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Wonder what became of that? This is what I'm talking about:

From an article written by David Amram in 2004:

Billy Corgan and I met three years ago in Chicago when we played for a benefit concert for homeless kids, and he and Marianne Faithful were performing together.

She had just spent time with Gregory Corso, and as she and I spoke, Billy told me how interested he was in Gregory's work, in Kerouac, and in what Jack and Gregory and I had all done together so long ago.

He subsequently read my second book Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac and got in touch with me to have me record with him on part of his new album.

They are very beautiful and touching songs. A complete departure from heavy rock. And a treat to do with him spontaneously.

On one of the songs, we did a duet where I accompanied him on Pennywhistle.

On the other, I am using ten members of the Chicago Symphony and writing a smallpiece that he will sing over, based on one of his songs. No restrictions. Just to write the very best music I can, which is what always do.

He specifically said he wanted that, not something that would sound like a hack arranger with five ghost writers, ground out on a synthesizer in five minutes.

http://www.popmatters.com/chapter/04Autumn/amram.html

Originally posted by Marquee Moon


So many people being critical of Billy's performance, including the local papers. But I agree with you ... I liked what he did with it. Really nice Billy-style interpretation of the song. It reminded me a bit of the vocal style he used in "My Blue Heaven."

This performance also made me think of the collaborations with David Amram, which supposedly including a song where Billy was singing with some members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Wonder what became of that? This is what I'm talking about:



from the Sun-Times:

Corgan's odd solo turn, a falsetto-infused "Summertime'' with the Grant Park Orchestra, was the concert's only outright clunker. Wearing a suit and tie, the former leader of the Smashing Pumpkins resembled another edgy Chicago icon, actor John Malkovich. Corgan was a late addition to the show, and WTTW's desire to ******* a leading representative of Chicago's rock scene was laudable. But he joins a long list of fine musicians, among them some of opera's greatest names, who have crashed and burned on "Summertime's'' deceptively gentle terrain.

The rest of the soloists were entirely at home performing with a full symphony orchestra.

Originally posted by dsheinem


from the Sun-Times:

Corgan's odd solo turn, a falsetto-infused "Summertime'' with the Grant Park Orchestra, was the concert's only outright clunker. Wearing a suit and tie, the former leader of the Smashing Pumpkins resembled another edgy Chicago icon, actor John Malkovich. Corgan was a late addition to the show, and WTTW's desire to ******* a leading representative of Chicago's rock scene was laudable. But he joins a long list of fine musicians, among them some of opera's greatest names, who have crashed and burned on "Summertime's'' deceptively gentle terrain.

The rest of the soloists were entirely at home performing with a full symphony orchestra.

Funny!

I have always seen similarities between Malkovich and Corgan. Must be something in that Chicago water! ;)

Originally posted by byoung88
not your song billy.. not your song..
That's what I thought as soon as I read what he sang. I haven't heard the performance...but I can imagine.

Oh well. Nothing wrong with giving it a shot.

the high notes are a little painful

i like it, the orchestra is extremely good (this coming from a classically semi-trained person). He's obviously been listening some of the original orchestral versions of it and not any of the rock ones

look, its kenny arrooonoof