March 1, 2008 - Hovet - Stockholm, Sweden

[markpregen]

[JRiordan]

Official venue site: http://www.globearenas.se/sv/evenema...-pumpkins.aspx

Originally Posted by Venue site

Återförenade The Smashing Pumpkins kommer till Europa för en stor arenaturné efter släppet av nya albumet "Zeitgeist".

Det här är tredje vändan över Atlanten för The Smashing Pumpkins sedan de släppte sitt kritikerrosade album "Zeitgeist" i somras, och andra besöket i Sverige under den perioden. Senast spelade de på ett utsålt Cirkus i augusti.

http://www.globearenas.se/sv/arrango...rna/hovet.aspx

Originally Posted by Hovet description page

Välkommen till en riktig multiarena! Hovet är en av Sveriges både största och faktiskt äldsta arenor som har exemplariska ytor och funktioner för alla typer av evenemang.

Från stort till smått
– inget är omöjligt

Med två exklusiva VIP-avdelningar och en exklusiv balkong – Guldhyllan – som kan ta upp till 1200 personer har Hovet blivit en av våra populärare arenor för företagsevenemang. Totalt kan man vara drygt 8000 konfererande, ätandes eller dansandes personer. Välkommen att skapa din egen show i Hovet.

http://www.globearenas.se/sv/arrango...isk_fakta.aspx

Originally Posted by Hovet history

nvigt 1955, inbyggt 1962, ombyggt och totalt uppfräschad 2002 och med en publikkapacitet på 8300 personer. Ett hockeytempel med enorma möjligheter till företagsevenemang, konserter och representation av olika slag.

[JRiordan]

Early reports indicate that sales of the new flag are rather poor. King Carl XVI does not approve of the design.

[mpp]

i'm so glad y'all exist

thanks again for providing this info


can't wait for the new N.A. tour...autumn???

[mrk]

Good show. Standard setlist (minus Daydream/Wound) and United States was the encore. Soundcheck included Bury Me, Geek, I Am One according to Billy. I was on the same flight as them from Stockholm to Helsinki this morning.

[mpp]

i'm calling the BS card

[mrk]

Well you can call it what you will. BC told that they're about to release some unreleased stuff, starting from pre-gish / gish era stuff and do a small tour of about 20 dates (us/europe combined) later in the year playing Gish-era type shows. And mentioned that they actually soundhecked those songs yesterday. Asked them to play those in Helsinki tomorrow, but no chance he said, have to wait

[Mo]

Originally Posted by mrk

Soundcheck included Bury Me, Geek, I Am One according to Billy.

[leena]

Originally Posted by mrk

I was on the same flight as them from Stockholm to Helsinki this morning.

So that means you'll be at the gig tomorrow?

[Cool As Ice Cream]

Originally Posted by mrk

I was on the same flight as them from Stockholm to Helsinki this morning.

omg! how many times did they go to the bathroom? what did they eat? was jeff drunk? did he yell and make a scene? did they nap? if so, did billy have his teddy bear (jimmy james) with him? did he snore?

[leena]

Lol. I was kinda wondering about the same things. Did they fly with SAS? Finnair? Planes from Stockholm to Helsinki are pretty small so if Billy was snoring everyone must have heard ! So was it the 5 of them on the plane or does part of the band travel by bus?

[Cool As Ice Cream]

we need answers, mrk!

it's for a school project.

[NothingSafe]

Nevermind.

[mrk]

It was the Finnair AY636 flight leaving Stockholm at 10:30am. Airbus A319 plane, 21 rows of seats (6 seats each) so plenty of space for the band (sitting in the business class) and the entire crew. There you have it.

[tcm]

cool man, thanks for posting.

[mpp]

i think we all require more information

please

[leena]

Originally Posted by mrk

It was the Finnair AY636 flight leaving Stockholm at 10:30am. Airbus A319 plane, 21 rows of seats (6 seats each) so plenty of space for the band (sitting in the business class) and the entire crew. There you have it.

Lol. And thanks. I was curious as i was thinking about taking a later flight myself but i was flying SAS . And hey, you can't blame us for being curious, one doesn't fly will Billy and co that often!

[mrk]

I can post some more dirty details tomorrow. I spent quite a while talking with Billy, Jimmy and Jeff before we boarded the plane.

[JRiordan]

mrk, that is very juicy info, thanks! Please post more, and any more comments about the Stockholm show / crowd, etc.

[Mo]

Right next to your last post it says Yesterday, 11:07 PM, So, where are the infos?

[stumpycat]

Originally Posted by mrk

Well you can call it what you will. BC told that they're about to release some unreleased stuff, starting from pre-gish / gish era stuff and do a small tour of about 20 dates (us/europe combined) later in the year playing Gish-era type shows.

(If I had a dick) it would be turning into a fucking tree right now. Oak, to be exact.
I hope to hell teh Bollster's not just blowing BS again.

[redbull]

my dick is turning into a tree

[mrk]

I guess this is the most interesting stuff that we talked about. I walked into the airport and saw the band and the crew waiting at the gate. It was about 40 minutes before the boarding time. Nearly panicked but tried to play it cool, went over to say hello and thank them for last nights show and mentioned that I'll be in Helsinki too, to which Billy said that "sorry it's going to be the same show" jokingly. They seemed to be in a good mood and willing to talk to me. We talked about traveling, early flights, kids (Jimmy and I both have kids who turn 2 this month), Finland, some old shows etc.

Someone asked what I thought of the gong at the beginning of Superchrist. They said that Jimmy just had to get a gong for that part, everyone seemed to think it was really funny... I said it was awesome, but should've been bigger, like Led Zeppelin... Jimmy said that the small one sounds better... they joked around saying that JC is the only one who would choose a gong based on the sound. Apparently it's really loud.

Billy asked if I'd seen the Superchrist video and what I thought about it. I said that I'd seen it and thought it was funny, something different from usual boring band videos. He then said "so you got it?". I said yeah, it's kind of a joke. He said that their "label used to pay 800k for a video during Mellon Collie days but there's not that kind of money anymore and then people bitch on the internet and don't get it that it's an obvious joke and expect the same kind of videos... And they don't even pay for the music anymore (laughs)"

Billy started talking about what they're going to do next. They're gonna start putting out their archives, starting with some Gish/pre-Gish stuff. They don't have a record contract anymore, so they're gonna put them out the way they want. He said that Warner was really bad, no promotion for Zeitgeist especially in europe, the same with Zwan and the solo album. Emi was really good but Warner has been horrible. They own their own catalog now, can make whatever kind of cd/packages they like, for example everything from the size of booklet (mentioned American Gothic) had to be approved by label previously. So there hasn't been much freedom. But now he seemed really excited about the future.

To go along with the first deluxe edition (he mentioned like 89 stuff, demos etc) they're gonna play a Gish tour. Playing the same kind of shows that they played during that era, not only Gish stuff, but some early songs (again mentioned 89), plus I think he meant Geek, Silverfuck etc. He also mentioned that they actually played Geek, I Am One and Bury Me at the Stockholm soundcheck. I asked if they want to play those in Helsinki, but no luck...

They hope to do the same also for Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, release some rare stuff and play shows of those eras, he mentioned that it will be fun to play songs like Silverfuck, since they were very different from the SD era to the 45 minute Mellon Collie versions.

He also talked about the current setlist, that it was the first time they actually have a set that they designed to appeal to both hardcore fans and the casual fans who want the hits. Anyway, he said that the Gish tour will be for the hardcore fans, smaller shows, more expensive tickets, so the casual fans wont be there... there will be about 20 shows in us / europe combined, so it will be only like London, Paris and something else in Europe. This will be late in the year or possibly early next year.

Once they were about to start letting people in the plane I stood in the line before Jeff and talked to him about how it's been for him playing in SP. He seems like a really nice guy and enjoys playing in the pumpkins. Talked about the tour so far, he said that they are definitely much better band now than they were last summer.

We mostly talked about general stuff (traveling, airports, what's there to do in Helsinki, Ice-hockey, etc) He said that there's no tour plans for the summer, Billy is going to start writing/recording some new stuff. I asked if the new guys are involved, he said that he's "going to help Billy as much as needed."

[amar0331]

Originally Posted by mrk

To go along with the first deluxe edition (he mentioned like 89 stuff, demos etc) they're gonna play a Gish tour. Playing the same kind of shows that they played during that era, not only Gish stuff, but some early songs (again mentioned 89), plus I think he meant Geek, Silverfuck etc.

Can't get my hopes up but this would be awesome.

[JRiordan]

mrk, #1 post of 2008 so far! great stuff, thanks for laying it all out!

The archive stuff sounds great...

LOL @ everyone who still can't at least understand Billy's humor / motivation / reasoning for the Superchrist video. Sorry people.

Originally Posted by mrk

He said that there's no tour plans for the summer, Billy is going to start writing/recording some new stuff. I asked if the new guys are involved, he said that he's "going to help Billy as much as needed."

So, still ambiguous about Jeff's involvement. But I think he'll be involved enough and credited on the next release.

As for no tour plans for summer, does that mean the Gish tour starts in the fall? That'd be nice -- gives them a break over the summer.

Originally Posted by mrk

He also talked about the current setlist, that it was the first time they actually have a set that they designed to appeal to both hardcore fans and the casual fans who want the hits.

A reasonable goal to have when playing arenas which will draw lots of casual fans. Of course, most probably feel that Daydream/Wound weren't the best choices for the hardcore fans, and certainly not for the casual ones. But oh well... if you were in a band, you'd probably want to play your own songs from time to time that may not be the public's favorites. So whatever... it was 8-10 minutes out of a 2hr 45min show, not a big deal if some people didn't like that part. The rest rocked.

[kingy]

Originally Posted by mrk

"To go along with the first deluxe edition (he mentioned like 89 stuff, demos etc) they're gonna play a Gish tour. "

Do you mean they will be re-releasing deluxe editions of the album with the extra demos on a bonus cd type thing or just a separate cd of demos/rarities from each era?

[Cool As Ice Cream]

Originally Posted by mrk

It was the Finnair AY636 flight leaving Stockholm at 10:30am. Airbus A319 plane, 21 rows of seats (6 seats each) so plenty of space for the band (sitting in the business class) and the entire crew. There you have it.

that doesn't answer my questions.

[mrk]

Originally Posted by kingy

Do you mean they will be re-releasing deluxe editions of the album with the extra demos on a bonus cd type thing or just a separate cd of demos/rarities from each era?

I think he mainly meant just putting out rarities discs, but he mentioned something like deluxe edition / package. All the time he was mainly talking about putting out rare unreleased stuff. It only occurred to me later that I should've asked more details.

[slowdawn]

Awesome stuff mrk! I'm just hoping for some Midwest North American shows before the summer...not really banking on a Chicago one, but that would be nice of course.

[RenewRevive]

that was some fine information, scoop.