At 9:30 Club, Smashing Pumpkins Both Overcooked and Underdone

By David Malitz
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, July 12, 2007; Page C01

Billy Corgan and His Enormous Ego, er, Smashing Pumpkins, visited the 9:30 club on Tuesday, and well before a single note was played, the evening was already quite the spectacle. Corgan threw himself a party on the release day of the new album, "Zeitgeist," although it really was more of a retro, faux-political campaign. The band rolled up late afternoon in classic cars with a fake Secret Service detail. Nominating convention-style posters and buttons were handed out to fans lined up outside. The interior of the club was festooned with Smashing Pumpkins flags and red, white and blue bunting.

President Corgan? Nah, far too democratic. Dictator Corgan? A little closer. Grand Exalted Leader Corgan? There we go. It was a silly if slightly entertaining commotion, but "Gilligan's Island" would have been a more appropriate theme. The actual show was nothing but a three-hour bore.

Yes, three hours. At one point early in the evening Corgan actually muttered, "I'm having one of those I-don't-wanna-play-music moments." Rest assured, that moment passed. Boy, did it ever. The sold-out crowd got treated to bloated, directionless rockers like "United States" and "Heavy Metal Machine," lackluster versions of '90s hits such as "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Zero" and a truly excruciating 20-minute unreleased jam called "Gossamer," which for some reason was saved for the second encore and sent a good third of the audience scurrying for the exits.

It's hard to know how they lasted even that long. There were just a few songs when everything clicked and you were reminded why for a few years back in the '90s the Pumpkins could legitimately be viewed as one of the best and biggest rock bands in the world. "Hummer" found that happy middle ground between the group's early shoegaze tendencies and arena rock ambitions. "Cherub Rock" was a full-on sonic assault, sounding even more vital than it did nearly 15 years ago. "The Aeroplane Flies High" was the one meandering epic that actually felt epic and not totally pointless.

As far as highlights go, that was it.

The very tall, very bald Corgan is an imposing figure on stage and an electric guitar seems like a natural extension of his body. He's a technically proficient player who can make single notes scream and power chords rumble like few others. It was his songwriting ability that was mostly exposed on Tuesday. The best of the new tunes, "Doomsday Clock" and "Tarantula," simply chugged along at a brisk pace. The worst, like "Starz" and "Bleeding the Orchid," would be forgettable if they weren't so annoying. Even when the band broke out mega-hits "Tonight, Tonight" and "1979" it was hard to hear what made them modern-rock radio staples in the first place.

The inclusion of a six-song mini-set of acoustic material was as inevitable as it was intolerable. Corgan's nasal wail is tough enough to take when it's accompanied by massive guitars and thundering drums -- and that's on record, with the assistance of studio trickery. In a live setting, with nothing but an acoustic guitar to accompany his voice and embarrassing lyrics ("This is the song I've been singing my whole life / I've been waiting like a knife / To cut open your heart / And bleed my soul to you" -- there are so, so many more where that came from), it was borderline torturous. Ten more minutes and I would have confessed to war crimes.

After the massive buzzkill of "Gossamer," Corgan and Co. -- that would be original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who has been playing with Corgan for the past several years, and, um, some other people on bass, guitar and keyboards -- actually came back for one final song: "Fuck You."

Yep, that's pretty much how I felt all night.

Actually that's written pretty well in terms of concert reviews.
This dude just isn't a fan.

<a href="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=12714794">Full Throttle Douche Bottle</a><br><embed src="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/myspacetv_vplayer0005.swf" flashvars="m=12714794&type=video" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="430" height="346"></embed><br><a href="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.addToProfileConfirm&videoid=12714794&title=Full Throttle Douche Bottle">Add to My Profile</a> | <a href="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.home"> More Videos</a>

too much music! help!

Smashing Pumpkins = most hated band alive.

Which is slightly better than a few months ago when they were the most hated band dead.

yeah, who wants 3 hour shows anyway?

this review is hilarious

I bet he liked transformers

Actually that's written pretty well in terms of concert reviews.
This dude just isn't a fan.

Really? I thought a lot of it was petty.


"Billy Corgan and His Enormous Ego, er, Smashing Pumpkins"

"Grand Exalted Leader Corgan? There we go. It was a silly if slightly entertaining commotion, but "Gilligan's Island" would have been a more appropriate theme. The actual show was nothing but a three-hour bore."

"it was borderline torturous. Ten more minutes and I would have confessed to war crimes."

"After the massive buzzkill of 'Gossamer,' Corgan and Co. -- that would be original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who has been playing with Corgan for the past several years, and, um, some other people on bass, guitar and keyboards -- actually came back for one final song: 'Fuck You.'

Yep, that's pretty much how I felt all night."

Smashing Pumpkins = most hated band alive.


I think you're right.


I knew the record would be exposed to criticism but I always assumed that you couldn't fault them live right now. They're playing audience friendly sets and adding at least another hour to a typical show length.

Well-written in my opinion, also. Said what he didn't like and why he didn't like it. So he's not a fan, no big loss.

Jesus. Im glad he got to go and a fan didnt.

Billy Corgan and His Enormous Ego, er, Smashing Pumpkins
lOlLOl~ so true am I right????

Really? I thought a lot of it was petty.

Well, all those lines you picked are from his perspective, yes, which is bitter...but he backs up all those opinions with evidence and frames it in a way that a reader will quickly understand why he thinks that way.

My gauge of a bad review is some armchair critic who drops these one-liners without any explanation.

Also, this guy acknowledges that they had the potential to rock. If they played a different kind of show, I have a feeling this review could have been positive. So I'll give him a pass.

screw this guy.

He even attacked Gossamer.

ie. not credible.

screw this guy.

Really. So sorry he had to sit thru 3 hours of SP.

...original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who has been playing with Corgan for the past several years...




Several?

It is true though, lots of people did leave during Gossamer right?... It makes you wonder who has been buying these tickets?

Some of the Asheville gigs also had lots of confused folks wearing country music t-shirts mixed in the crowd.

It reminds me of myself defending SP in high school, trying to explain that they were a lot harder than 1979 and Tonight, Tonight.

I think I begged my elderly English teacher not to attend one of the Mellon Collie shows, I could just imagine her head exploding during X.Y.U.

Orchid's one of the worst new songs, eh? Next he'll try to convince me that dicks taste good.

this fellow probably prefers to listen to maroon 5.

Orchid's one of the worst new songs, eh? Next he'll try to convince me that dicks taste good.

I bet you he thinks it does.

I think I begged my elderly English teacher not to attend one of the Mellon Collie shows, I could just imagine her head exploding during X.Y.U.

OMG :rofl:

Smashing Pumpkins = most hated band alive.

100% correct. I think this year, Billy has gotten more heat than ever before. and I believe that most of it is unjust.

Gossamer was too long. I was in the 2nd row and everyone was kinda looking at each other going "huh?".

It's not a bad review. Like someone said, he's just not a fan.

Gossamer may have been a tad self-indulgent as others are claiming, but isn't that Billy Corgan in a nutshell? What else do you expect from an SP show?

Besides, it was quite entertaining...



Snapped some pics of the show:
http://flickr.com/photos/9971324@N04/

After listening to some boots from the recent tour the review is pretty spot on. I have no idea why people, albeit a small minority, are buying into this tour? I know I wouldn't care and most people wouldn't but I guess everyone is just sort of amused at this accelerating downfall. Probably the biggest crime of the SP reunion is raping all the old songs in this reformed attempt at bland modern rock. It used to be that I thought Zwan sucked and TFE sucked but I always had the old pumpkins records. Now old cherished songs like Hummer and Cherub Rock have been thrown into the shit pile along with Starz and Gossamer that it all blends in and the old songs have died as a result. This review nails it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR2007071102378.html?hpid=sec-artsliving

At 9:30 Club, Smashing Pumpkins Both Overcooked and Underdone

By David Malitz
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, July 12, 2007; C01

Billy Corgan and His Enormous Ego, er, Smashing Pumpkins, visited the 9:30 club on Tuesday, and well before a single note was played, the evening was already quite the spectacle. Corgan threw himself a party on the release day of the new album, "Zeitgeist," although it really was more of a retro, faux-political campaign. The band rolled up late afternoon in classic cars with a fake Secret Service detail. Nominating convention-style posters and buttons were handed out to fans lined up outside. The interior of the club was festooned with Smashing Pumpkins flags and red, white and blue bunting.

President Corgan? Nah, far too democratic. Dictator Corgan? A little closer. Grand Exalted Leader Corgan? There we go. It was a silly if slightly entertaining commotion, but "Gilligan's Island" would have been a more appropriate theme. The actual show was nothing but a three-hour bore.

Yes, three hours. At one point early in the evening Corgan actually muttered, "I'm having one of those I-don't-wanna-play-music moments." Rest assured, that moment passed. Boy, did it ever. The sold-out crowd got treated to bloated, directionless rockers like "United States" and "Heavy Metal Machine," lackluster versions of '90s hits such as "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Zero" and a truly excruciating 20-minute unreleased jam called "Gossamer," which for some reason was saved for the second encore and sent a good third of the audience scurrying for the exits.

It's hard to know how they lasted even that long. There were just a few songs when everything clicked and you were reminded why for a few years back in the '90s the Pumpkins could legitimately be viewed as one of the best and biggest rock bands in the world. "Hummer" found that happy middle ground between the group's early shoegaze tendencies and arena rock ambitions. "Cherub Rock" was a full-on sonic assault, sounding even more vital than it did nearly 15 years ago. "The Aeroplane Flies High" was the one meandering epic that actually felt epic and not totally pointless.

As far as highlights go, that was it.

The very tall, very bald Corgan is an imposing figure on stage and an electric guitar seems like a natural extension of his body. He's a technically proficient player who can make single notes scream and power chords rumble like few others. It was his songwriting ability that was mostly exposed on Tuesday. The best of the new tunes, "Doomsday Clock" and "Tarantula," simply chugged along at a brisk pace. The worst, like "Starz" and "Bleeding the Orchid," would be forgettable if they weren't so annoying. Even when the band broke out mega-hits "Tonight, Tonight" and "1979" it was hard to hear what made them modern-rock radio staples in the first place.

The inclusion of a six-song mini-set of acoustic material was as inevitable as it was intolerable. Corgan's nasal wail is tough enough to take when it's accompanied by massive guitars and thundering drums -- and that's on record, with the assistance of studio trickery. In a live setting, with nothing but an acoustic guitar to accompany his voice and embarrassing lyrics ("This is the song I've been singing my whole life / I've been waiting like a knife / To cut open your heart / And bleed my soul to you" -- there are so, so many more where that came from), it was borderline torturous. Ten more minutes and I would have confessed to war crimes.

After the massive buzzkill of "Gossamer," Corgan and Co. -- that would be original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who has been playing with Corgan for the past several years, and, um, some other people on bass, guitar and keyboards -- actually came back for one final song: "[Expletive] You."

Yep, that's pretty much how I felt all night.
:rolleyes:

Guys, this is getting beyond ridiculous. Corgan doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. I don't care if you love or hate Zeitgeist.

THIS IS LIKE THE FIFTIETH POST TODAY ON THIS

uh... there is no such thing as negative publicity.

for reals. it's still a fucking article about the show. that's still promotion.

THIS IS LIKE THE FIFTIETH POST TODAY ON THIS

i'm only asking this because i like you, pitchforkmedia reader and contributor...

but are you literally on netphoria every hour of every day?

ps: IAN CURTIS.

he doesn't deserve to have negative opinions about him published?

pretty sure he'll deal

THIS IS LIKE THE FIFTIETH POST TODAY ON THIS
Shut the fuck up.

I'm on here most of the day, because I'm in a city where I know absolutely no one and just waiting to go back to college and actually have a social life. I did go to Bonnaroo, two SP shows, and Destin, FL so far this summer though.

he doesn't deserve to have negative opinions about him published?

pretty sure he'll deal
The negative opinions about him are overwhelming and mostly unjustified and borderline nonsensible

but this guy is complaining predominantly about the music. he doesn't sound unjustified to me, even though i imagine i would've left with a different impression had i been at the concert. certainly not "borderline nonsensible", whatever that's supposed to mean

I'm glad you have all the answers, luke :rolleyes:

I'm on here most of the day, because I'm in a city where I know absolutely no one and just waiting to go back to college and actually have a social life. I did go to Bonnaroo, two SP shows, and Destin, FL so far this summer though.

come to gulf shores some time and we'll get drunk and high and listen to three inches of blood, and discuss why king diamond isn't MORE influential.

ps: aren't you like an hour or so out of atlanta? get the fuck out of dodge, dude.

I'm glad you have all the answers, luke :rolleyes:
that's ironic coming from a guy who's prepared to write off vast swathes of opinions as "mostly unjustified"

come to gulf shores some time and we'll get drunk and high and listen to three inches of blood, and discuss why king diamond isn't MORE influential.

ps: aren't you like an hour or so out of atlanta? get the fuck out of dodge, dude.

3 hours or something away, plus im a bit of an agoraphobic

I'm on here most of the day, because I'm in a city where I know absolutely no one and just waiting to go back to college and actually have a social life. I did go to Bonnaroo, two SP shows, and Destin, FL so far this summer though.

heh. kinda like my summer. I did Bonnaroo, 2 SP shows, a Shins show and a Live show.

sounds like one of those guys who hates Tom Cruise but will go see his movies anyways.

that's ironic coming from a guy who's prepared to write off vast swathes of opinions as "mostly unjustified"
well they are

so you're just a troll now? jesus

What?

[sarcastic] "glad you have all the answers"

"i have all the answers"

i mean how else am i supposed to read that

haha

that doesn't imply that i have all the answers but I'm definitely not wrong on this one.

Fuck that guy for dissing the lyrics in CTOM, what a blithering superficial dolt. The visceral imagery in the line 'cut open my heart and bleed my soul to you' is like the perfect way to express a desire for sympathy, there's such frustration in the desire that it becomes masochistic and perverse, he wants to save himself by killing himself and becoming someone else, there's such emotional depth there damn it, it's a fucking tragic line. Who's with me.

can you think of a time when you've been wrong about something, effloresce?

so you're just a troll now? jesus

http://forums.netphoria.org/showthread.php?t=142678&referrerid=11388

Fuck that guy for dissing the lyrics in CTOM, what a blithering superficial dolt. The visceral imagery in the line 'cut open my heart and bleed my soul to you' is like the perfect way to express a desire for sympathy, there's such frustration in the desire that it becomes masochistic and perverse, he wants to save himself by killing himself and becoming someone else, there's such emotional depth there damn it, it's a fucking tragic line. Who's with me.
i think it's pretty hackneyed imagery really

i think it's pretty hackneyed imagery really
Lies. Provide at least 3 other artists who've used similar lines.

can you think of a time when you've been wrong about something, effloresce?
Absoultely, how about you

<i>"and a truly excruciating 20-minute unreleased jam called "Gossamer," which for some reason was saved for the second encore and sent a good third of the audience scurrying for the exits."</i>

Well now, there goes any credibility this guy had before he even sat down to write up this horrible piece of shit editorial

Lies. Provide at least 3 other artists who've used similar lines.
heart/bleed/soul

it's lazy lyricism and i'm not going to bother looking for examples.

Absoultely, how about you
i can think of lots of times where you've been wrong, sure

I think Bleeding the Orchid is the best song on the new album. He doesn't know what he is talking about.

heart/bleed/soul

it's lazy lyricism and i'm not going to bother looking for examples.
Your comment thus has no credibility. Corgan rarely reaches for interesting words, but the meaning in those lines is uniquely tragic.

Absoultely, how about you

Quit lying Effloresce. I've seen you continue flame wars for pages because you won't concede a minor point. And A really funny one a few months ago with Luke and Christ Himself. Effe' you were hysterical. I'm not even mentioning the politics board.

Funnier still is you're actually doing it again and you don't even realize it! you soo funny man.

i can think of lots of times where you've been wrong, sure
Yeah but I was asking if there's been any times where you looked back and felt that you were wrong. You can keep dodging and look like a fucking prick or you could just say yes like any other decent human being would.

Your comment thus has no credibility. Corgan rarely reaches for interesting words, but the meaning in those lines is uniquely tragic.
if i don't capitulate to your demands for THREE EXAMPLES my statement lacks credibility?

seriously?

i mean come on. the heart/bleed/soul combo is stupidly uncreative (and i don't care about interesting words, i care about interesting images). i'm surprised anyone would think otherwise, but to be honest this isn't interesting enough to labour over

Shut up luke

Eff, I feel that you could be a good person and poster, but you really need to drop this whole Stonewall Jackson robot persona and be more like a human.

Yeah but I was asking if there's been any times where you looked back and felt that you were wrong. You can keep dodging and look like a fucking prick or you could just say yes like any other decent human being would.
take a joke. of course i've been wrong in the past

I'm probably one of the more genuine people here, it's just that so many of you are so strange. This is hatephoria afterall.

you're too abusive to be genuine. well. you probably couldn't get away with it day-to-day

I found this one yesterday and couldn't even finish reading it. Looks like the Billy bashing bandwagon is back on th road. Now we've brought back the Billy hate let's bring back other fads from the late nineties like Y2K phobia and Monica Lewinsky jokes.

I demand exactly three examples for credibility on all issues of any kind, it's common sense. But whatever, I'll defend CTOM to my last breath.

you're too abusive to be genuine.
:rofl:

you just made my night luke, kudos

I demand exactly three examples for credibility on all issues of any kind, it's common sense. But whatever, I'll defend CTOM to my last breath.
also souls probably don't exist. so there's another hurdle for mr. bill

Perhaps Zeitgeist burned so many lies that it took your soul itself

pretty sure i'm just a (lie-free) bag of meat and bones

viscerally accurate description of the current setlist

edit: having experienced it three times

I'm on here most of the day, because I'm in a city where I know absolutely no one and just waiting to go back to college and actually have a social life. I did go to Bonnaroo, two SP shows, and Destin, FL so far this summer though.

Oh.. PRBB.. I would love to know what your "social life" is like back at college. Wii wankoffs and dreaming about hot college hotties that won't talk to you perhaps?

Oh.. PRBB.. I would love to know what your "social life" is like back at college. Wii wankoffs and dreaming about hot college hotties that won't talk to you perhaps?
Sure beats stalking someone online just because they don't agree with your stance on remastering and acting like a cockbucket.

Sure beats stalking someone online just because they don't agree with your stance on remastering and acting like a cockbucket.

Pitchfork Reader Byron Barnes - It's only tough love. Plus your amazing guitar skills (you taught yourself damnit!!) make me wet between the legs.

You had me at 'cockbucket'.

Alright then stag beetle.

hopefully stuff like this fuels the band, not gets them down, although I doubt they're reading it anyway.

Alright then stag beetle.

Is that some kind of "secret" D&D reference?!

P.S. I hope one day to grow up and be like you (but with having a girlfriend, of course..)

Screw the sun times!

Fuck that guy for dissing the lyrics in CTOM, what a blithering superficial dolt. The visceral imagery in the line 'cut open my heart and bleed my soul to you' is like the perfect way to express a desire for sympathy, there's such frustration in the desire that it becomes masochistic and perverse, he wants to save himself by killing himself and becoming someone else, there's such emotional depth there damn it, it's a fucking tragic line. Who's with me.
you don't know what you're talking about, most of billy's lyrics are terrible and while CTOM wasn't that great an example, it's pretty awful