London signing

[frenchy]

Originally Posted by fmrees

Yes, I remembered your face with the bunch of the other guys that woke up late and wanted to be as good as the others A few got in in front of us... some others didn't it.

Yeah, that was the face i was doing when i saw them all coming late :

(oh oh ... i don't know those guys... la la la la la...)

[Cool As Ice Cream]

Originally Posted by The Gaddrow

James was asked back.

i thought he wasn't. wasn't billy's explanation something like "i think they've shown a clear disinterest in returning to the band, in the last years, in the media" and that was it?

i can't even think of what he's talking about. did james or d'arcy ever speak about the pumpkins between the breakup and now?

[pete]

I'm pretty sure i remember the words 'the door was left open' in regards to JI + DW

[Cool As Ice Cream]

didn't james say something like "i haven't spoken to billy since 2001", somewhere around the time sp2 played their first show? doesn't sound like an open door to me.

maybe they kept the option open, but if you hear the other interview, where billy says that james and d'arcy had made it clear they were not interested in joining the band to be more than a simple reunion and to make new music again, it seems to me that they decided not to let them be part of the band without ever contacting them about it. apparently they had made it clear already (don't know how - maybe at the time of the breakup?) that they wouldn't want to do it anyway.

[hnibos]

"i havent spoken to billy in years"

[davin]

Originally Posted by frenchy

Very nice event, quite well organized.
The London fans are really shy and polite.

Almost everyone got access to the signing.

You could get (almost) anything signed, i got my white Tarantula vynil signed.


Now the good news :
BC is in the best mood i've seen in years !!!!
And he told us that today they will play new songs, and seemed excited about it !!!

he probably just meant new songs relative to the last time they were in London...

[davin]

Originally Posted by Kahlo

nah, i'm not too interested in that side of things

I just passed on a message and told them who I was, and thanks etc

nice guys.

was it the first time you met/spoke to billy and jimmy? just wondering...

[Kahlo]

Jimmy yes, but I've spoken to BC quite a few times

[lucid_interval]

had a great little chat, got these signed, well worth the hassle that morning

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...HOT0012_25.jpg

BC (about i am one 7"): that'll be worth a fortune now.
ME : i will never sell this

[DougieZero]

You did kind of ruin that 7 inch... from a super collector standpoint. There are so few of those out there and now your copy has ink all over it. But if you aren't selling it... more power to you.

It's like people getting expensive baseball cards signed... it actually takes away value.

[lucid_interval]

Originally Posted by DougieZero

You did kind of ruin that 7 inch... from a super collector standpoint. There are so few of those out there and now your copy has ink all over it. But if you aren't selling it... more power to you.

It's like people getting expensive baseball cards signed... it actually takes away value.

i dont care. it feels way more personal now.

[skipgo]

of course supercollectors are crazy. (in their own wonderful way, that is)
I would've gotten it signed too.

[JRiordan]

After the Manchester show, we met Netphorian lucid_interval and headed to the train station to wait for the 3:40AM departure to London. We had to wait a few hours, and I had to pay 30 pence to go pee and wash my face in the bathroom. Nice one, UK! Two different guys from Scotland, both quite strange, approached us and said they liked our accents, and told some weird stories. I also met Netphorian Geek UK (or is it Geek_UK? I don’t see him post much) in the bathroom at the train station.

After changing trains in Sheffield, we got to London at 8AM, and got the Tube to Zavvi. lucid_interval and I arrived about 8:15AM, and there was already quite a line down the block. We ended up getting wristbands and were numbers 181-182 in line. They said they were giving out about 300 wristbands. They told us to return at 12PM to line up.

We returned at 12PM and headed up to the first floor where they had people waiting. It was quite hot and stuffy in there. Talked to some cool people.

Some near the front of the line got their stuff signed and then called others still waiting in line and said that they had to move very quickly and didn’t get much time to chat with Billy and Jimmy. When I approached the table, Zavvi security/staff kept shouting that you could only get one item signed. Unfortunately I listened to him, while other people got 2 or 3 things signed with no problem. So I made the quick choice to have them sign the Zeitgeist booklet instead of my freshly-purchased American Gothic.

I had to place the booklet on the table next to Billy, and he didn’t look up, but took the booklet and started signing. Meanwhile, I told Jimmy that I absolutely loved his drumming on Superchrist, and he smiled and said thanks. Billy still seemed to be looking down when I said “Hey Billy, I have to thank you again for giving me the Fillmore ticket last summer” (Billy put me on the guest list since I did not have a ticket for that show -- see the 8/1/2007 Fillmore thread). He quickly looked up, extended his hand and said “Oh hey man how’s it going?!”. He gave me a nice handshake (unexpected). I said “it’s going great, it’s been a great time seeing you guys in the last year.” And I re-iterated to Jimmy: “Superchrist – man, it really gets me going!” Jimmy again had a huge smile and said thanks. Gio also shook my hand. I told them I’d see them later tonight at the gig!

It was a very nice experience, but of course I forgot to ask any interesting questions, such as “Will you dust off ’99 Floors’ and ‘Question Mark’, and why weren’t they on American Gothic?”

I also forgot to ask about their comments on the BBC interview with Zane Lowe, but I overheard someone else asking what he meant by short tours / doing different eras of the band. Billy said that they would do 6 or 7 shows in a country or region – he started to list the Italian cities Venice and Milan. I did not hear or understand if he said that each show would focus on a different era, or if all of them would be a mix, etc. Of course, it’s hard to imaging the band doing a complete show focusing on the Gish / pre-Gish era, given the lack of Gish material so far. But regardless of the era, it seems like they would have a lot more material to practice before they could pull something like this off properly, so at this point I don’t know if we have solid info. The same can be said for an MCIS era show – the band has played some MCIS but not nearly enough to fill a show, so they have their work cut out for them to practice!

Someone asked Jimmy to verify when he used a double bass drum. He said he used it for part of “Quiet”, but not “Tristessa”, as the kid had wondered. He also asked Billy what pedals he used on Siamese Dream, and Billy said that he just ran everything through a Marshall rack. I am not a guitar player, so I don’t know if that is a surprising answer to anyone. I know SD guitar sound is one of the top all-time SP fan topics though…

Dan asked them if they liked the “Jeff From Above” shirt, and they all laughed and said they loved it. Dan also said that Jeff is playing so well, and Billy said something like “Yeah, isn’t he?”. So that’s nice for Jeff fans.

A huge fan from Ireland, Moe, told them that he’d seen 10 shows on the tour already (I think he only missed one or two), and thus it’d be great if they could surprise him with something else in the setlist tonight. Billy said “Do you want me to tell you there will be a surprise, or just wait and find out?”. Moe said he’d wait. As it turns out, apparently the “Lips Like Sugar” encore was the “big surprise”. Before the song started, Gio handed a sign to one of the security guards in front of the rail which read “Just for you” (or maybe “Here’s one for you”, I’m not sure). The guard held the sign up for Moe (on the rail) to see. LOL.

[New Art Rioter]

Hi, I think I met you in the signing queue.... I was the guy with dreads and the 2000 setlist... hope you enjoyed the show! I think I saw you at one point, was gonna say hi after but had to dash to catch my last train home (which I missed anyway)

[MisterSquishyHalo]

Originally Posted by Cool As Ice Cream

i thought he wasn't. wasn't billy's explanation something like "i think they've shown a clear disinterest in returning to the band, in the last years, in the media" and that was it?

I think in a issue of drummer world or some shit, Jimmy said both were asked back, and both declined.

[JRiordan]

Originally Posted by New Art Rioter

Hi, I think I met you in the signing queue.... I was the guy with dreads and the 2000 setlist... hope you enjoyed the show! I think I saw you at one point, was gonna say hi after but had to dash to catch my last train home (which I missed anyway)

Oh yes it was nice talking to you... I felt bad for those 2 kids who didn't have any money to try to find a ticket for the show (the one had his TAFH box set for signing).

Where were you for the show? I was on the rail in front of Jeff

[Loop]

lucid interval, I know you! It's Caroline, we met at the Glasgow gig & in London on Sat

[lucid_interval]

Originally Posted by Loop

lucid interval, I know you! It's Caroline, we met at the Glasgow gig & in London on Sat

hey, yeah did you have fun at the signing. i must have missed you. maybe if id been paying more attention, i think i was too psyched with meeting billy and jimmy to think straight. hope you had a great day, i certainly did!

[Zenith]

Originally Posted by frenchy

http://www.blamonet.com/vb/attachmen...1&d=1203187757

That's cool!

[The Gaddrow]

Originally Posted by Cool As Ice Cream

i thought he wasn't. wasn't billy's explanation something like "i think they've shown a clear disinterest in returning to the band, in the last years, in the media" and that was it?

Prior to / during the TFE tour, Billy tried to get in contact with James, but only got so far as his manager. After several calls, his manager said something along the lines of "I gave him the message, if he's interested he'll contact you." James never returned his calls.

[lapis]

I didn't make it to the signing myself, but I got this neat gift from Jeff from Above (it was my birthday that day):
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/763/img0434id0.jpg

Thanks Dan!! Not only did you save my life during the show, but you gave me a birthday present I will treasure forever

[lucid_interval]

ah yes lapis. dan tried to find you a green zeitgeist sleeve to get signed he ran up and down oxford street and tottenham court road to get you one, but they'd sold out, so he got you AG instead. hope you had a good gig at the o2, sorry i didnt get to say goodbye after seeing you on the train, take care

[New Art Rioter]

Originally Posted by JRiordan

Oh yes it was nice talking to you... I felt bad for those 2 kids who didn't have any money to try to find a ticket for the show (the one had his TAFH box set for signing).

Where were you for the show? I was on the rail in front of Jeff

I was between Billy and Jeff for most of it, about 5 rows back. I turned up 15 minutes before the band came on, I was surprised how easy it was to get a good spot!

[Kahlo]

http://a880.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...6ab6348f67.jpg

[darcy666]

Woah.

Did he have an audition to be a chimney sweep in Oliver Twist that afternoon?

[Kahlo]

he looks a bit bedraggled

[Cool As Ice Cream]

brutal pic, alex.

[frenchy]

More pictures of the signing at this link.