View Full Version : DeRogatis compares BS/WC to Machina


dustrock
11-19-2008, 08:06 PM
Well, not really, but he thinks the entire dual show is some kind of weird dramatic statement by Billy:

Some thoughts on Corgan's show-closing melt-down - Jim DeRogatis (http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2008/11/some_thoughts_on_corgans_showc.html)


Some thoughts on Corgan's show-closing melt-down
By
Jim DeRogatis
on November 19, 2008 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

By far the most controversial part of Tuesday's night Smashing Pumpkins show at the Chicago Theatre was the long psychedelic freak-out on Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," which ended the set proper, followed by a begrudging non-encore of the wicked campfire singalong "We Only Come Out at Night" (which would have been perfect for a Tim Burton soundtrack) and the kazoo-driven sarcastic massacre of "Everything is Beautiful."

As numerous correspondents to this blog have reported in comments below, in between, Corgan went off on a bitter, somewhat demented tirade--the old Billy of "everyone is out to get me, you don't love me, I'll hate you even more than you hate me, so there!"

As I noted in my main review (which my deadline required me to file in the midst of this night-ending mess), I've long since given up trying to make sense of the Great Pumpkin's antics. But if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was all part of the show, folks. Nothing spontaneous--or personal--about it.

Despite invoking universally negative reactions from fans and reviewers across the country, Corgan has done this on every night of the tour at every one of the "Black Sunshine" shows.

I'm still not entirely sure what he means with that designation, but my guess is that night one links up with night two ("White Crosses") to form a two-part story arc tracing, I dunno, his band's journey from hard-rocking, optimistic early days (it all began with "Everybody Clap Your Hands," remember, and "Siva" came early on, too) through painful darkness and turbulent destruction ("Superchrist"/"United States") to his beloved band being reduced to a mere automated facsimile of a superstar rock group ("Heavy Metal Machine").

As a result, the musicians turn bitter and angry and decide to punish their fans with the most extreme noise and tweeness they can deliver ("Set the Controls," followed by the kazoos).

Then things move toward the white light again ("White Crosses") and the artistes find their spiritual center and Pumpkins Mach II prevail at the end of night two. Or something like that.

Why, if almost everyone has hated this tortured routine on earlier tour stops, does Corgan persist with it? The man has never been anything less than 100-percent committed (and some say that he should BE committed) to his grand conceptual conceits, even when no one understands or likes them.

It's only guessing, once again, but I'd say it's all part of a statement he's trying to make about the reconstituted Pumpkins NOT being an oldies act, alternative nostalgia or otherwise, and it is in fact on some dramatic, horribly painful but ultimately brilliantly worthwhile odyssey of its own, just like the old band. Remember, in his world, Smashing Pumpkins tours are ordeals far more trying than any military campaign, outdoing the misery even of Napoleon's infamous retreat from Moscow. And if they aren't, they're not worth doing. (See: Zwan.)

Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to such misery--whether it's Corgan himself, or his fans?

Now THAT is a question where I can't even BEGIN to hazard a guess. It's been plaguing me from day one of covering the Pumpkins, on all the occasions when the train has run off the rails.

Shallowed
11-19-2008, 09:57 PM
As a result, the musicians turn bitter and angry and decide to punish their fans with the most extreme noise and tweeness they can deliver ("Set the Controls," followed by the kazoos).

Then things move toward the white light again ("White Crosses") and the artistes find their spiritual center and Pumpkins Mach II prevail at the end of night two. Or something like that.

Wut?

So he comes up with a story for the whole first show, then passes off the entire second show as "finding their spiritual center" at last, just because the second show isn't as turbulant?

redbull
11-19-2008, 09:57 PM
oh boy, more machina. just what I wanted.

Gish08
11-19-2008, 10:04 PM
Is DeRogatis trying to be positive or negative here?

TheMilstead
11-19-2008, 10:15 PM
"Now THAT is a question where I can't even BEGIN to hazard a guess. It's been plaguing me from day one of covering the Pumpkins, on all the occasions when the train has run off the rails."

- Jim DeRogatis

<img src="http://i36.tinypic.com/35kmtcl.jpg" width=200 height=200>

Mablak
11-19-2008, 10:24 PM
If Corgan's tirades as of late are more of an act than he lets on, he's doing a damn good job. Because he seems to act exactly the same way when people meet him after the concert.

tensionhead
11-19-2008, 10:36 PM
confirm sine?

Shallowed
11-19-2008, 10:39 PM
This is probably stupid, but maybe he's been acting on stage all along, and is himself outside talking to fans after a gig. He's probably being himself on stage now.

tensionhead
11-19-2008, 10:45 PM
acting a little, just to prove a b0llweevil point?

i like dero's story line, will he win a signed gift from the band?

Shallowed
11-19-2008, 11:00 PM
Unlikely. Stories are supposed to have a start, middle and end, and that is a hell of a half assed ending. Unless he's trying to be all avant garde or something.

Elvis The Fat Years
11-19-2008, 11:15 PM
at least he gets that this whole is just an act.

most of the time he has no idea what he's talking about.

LaBelle
11-19-2008, 11:17 PM
If Billy put as much thought into both setlist, it doesn't translate all that well...
But the combined song selection from both nights is pretty damn impressive in sheer scope.

somaziro
11-20-2008, 10:29 AM
good theory