Any reviews of the non-"secret" show in Berlin? Columbiahalle reviews anyone?

[Cherub Angel]

The setlist is up on the main site yet I don't see any reviews here. Did no one from here go?

[Kahlo]

wow..Drown!

[smashapumpkin]

i think theres already a thread for this show

[paranoid]

oh wow.. i completely overlooked drown..

[davin]

lol -- i made a similar post. there's a "berlin tomorrow" thread about it.

http://forums.netphoria.org/showthread.php?t=142150

[JRiordan]

Lucky 13 again!!

[Virex Kills]

http://forums.netphoria.org/showpost...2&postcount=51

Thats the only "review" in the whole thread (so far).

[Cherub Angel]

ok, guess I missed it. thanks.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

Originally Posted by Kahlo

wow..Drown!

yeah. wow.

[JRiordan]

Originally Posted by Virex Kills

http://forums.netphoria.org/showpost...2&postcount=51

Thats the only "review" in the whole thread (so far).

So this is Uli John Roth's 3rd appearance on Gossamer, and 1st on Glass + GC? It is not noted on the setlist image on the o-site:
http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/phot...y_1018?ID=1115

[Cool As Ice Cream]

uli jon roth's first appearance on gossamer is also not mentioned on the setlist of rock am ring.

[wHATcOLOR]

my d is microscopic

[ciGarski]

yeah. the show was fantastic. and whatcolor is embarrassed and lacking material.

[wHATcOLOR]

i'm hoping that things really turn around and that we can somehow make this a great year despite all my shortcomings

[million_watts]

band was in a exceptionally (!!) good mood. the crowd sucked big time though, there was lots of talking going on. it was also hot as fuck and several people collapsed. the show suffered a lot at times due to these circumstances. acoustic set was pretty much unlistenable unless you were on the balcony or up front, but all in all it was still a good show

several tapers were present, including the guy who uploaded the secret gig.

[sweter33]

ok, here's my Berlin Pumpkins review/relation:

That was my first Smashing Pumpkins concert, so I didn't really know what to expect, or rather I didn't have any Pumpkins experiences that I could compare this show to. I was at the Corgan's solo show in Cologne and it was like two billion miles away, as far as the level of enternainment is concerned. And I don't mean: oh Billy didn't play Pumpkins' songs at solo tour, Jimmy was absent etc. of course it all mattered but what I mean is atmosphere in general, people's reactions, Billy's behaviour, banter, band members relations, general level of excitement etc...

So, we departed from Warsaw at 6 am, there were 7 people from Poland in our train, more came by cars, so we all met in front of the venue at 5pm. There already were some people of definitely varied origin (Japanese people, southern, latina faces Scandinavian lads, we Poles, gothic German gals... but I guess that's just multicultural Berlin). We had a guitar and our friend keito played some pumpkins tunes for one hour or so, Scandinavians also wanted to show off with their awesome acoustic versions of Disarm or 1979... some people joined us and we all sang along for some time... that was quite nice a warm-up. At 6.30 the pre-gates area got pretty dense and we decided to squeeze into the crowd to get as near the stage as possible. The security was quite ok with the cameras, or so it seemed at the beginning... we occupied awesome places a little bit left from the stage, right next to the Billy's mic stand, in front of Ginger's mic. We stood there looong long time, listened to some uncanny, scary music theme, eventually band was late half an hour. First, Jimmy appeared, in white short pants and white t-shirt (he looked like he just got out of bed, in his favourite pyjamas), sat at his set and raised his drumsticks to greet us. The crowd went already wild. He started the United States intro, which sounded really awesome. By the way: (I mentioned this after every single song's description below, but then edited it out because it was getting too repetitive ) Jimmy is a drum-monster. A fucking android. He's just perfect in every single song, the drumming is not more, and not less that you'd want the drumming of a given song to be.
Anyways, after Jimmy we saw Ginger in her enchanting white gown-like dress (she's really tiny, but that's what's so lovely about her) and Billy in his white cape. He turned his back to us, he had a strange eye-of-God like symbol on the back of his rain-poncho. Jeff appeared unnoticed, but he was also obviously dressed in white. I thought it was really cool idea to wear all black and white, especially that the drum set and all the guitars were also black and white. The band looked great against the background of the US/SP flag, after the "US" the flag was dropped.

First songs were new, so people just danced to the rhythm. US and Orchid were fantastic, I can't wait to hear "Orchid" on the album... I'm not so very much excited about "United States", but let's see what it turns out to be in the album version. Anyways, 3rd song was "Neverlost" during which a major drawback of this gig surfaced: gig loudness and its audio engineering. It was fucked up. I understand boosting the bass and guitars for old songs, but "Neverlost" and "Starz" were just way too loud and unlistenable, I thought it was because we were so close to the stage, but then we had earplugs so.... During "Neverlost" we wanted to mark our appearance by firing off the lightsticks we've brought, but it was not as spectacular as we thought it would be "SYIL", "Today" and "Zero" was a killer set. Literally. I thought I'd faint, no exaggerration. @million_watts stating that the crowd sucked: What we had at the Berlin concert was not a crowd. It was a wild fucking mob. Yes it could be right that some people talked at the very back of the hall, but they were people who suffered suffocation and were bitching at the temperature while putting their heads into bukets with cold water (yes I saw that myself ). In general, crowd's reaction was overwhelming. After these 3 songs it was so hot a the front that you could barely stand on your feet, not so much because of wild dancing and jumping, but rather resisting heavy punches and squeezing. I'm amazed how nobody got trampled on or squeezed to death. And it was fucking hot. There was no air conditioning, not even a fucking fan! All doors were closed. Band seemed to be hot too. During Home and Silverfuck the mob eased up a little so I could at least take a breath, I loved Jeff's guitar, especially during GATGC, which followed, featuring Uli from Scorpions. The fellow looked like an eccentric, but he seemed pretty entertained, so did Billy, and so did we, because the guitar trio really did it the right way! People saying there shouldn't be GATGC live are wrong, this song is simply not destined to be listened to in the bootleg versions, but it owns live, I mean when you watch/hear it live. There was a nice line of communication between Billy and Uli, and between Billy and Jeff, during the crazy part of the GATGC they looked at each other's guitar necks and had big fun making up solos and playing things off the cuff. Jeff looked at the audience and got a funny smile on his face.

Then there was acoustic set, in which 33 was definitely a highlight of the whole show, but my wife looked as if she was going to faint, so we had to go to the ladies' and do some cold-water head-dipping . Worked. We came back to enjoy Winterlong and To Sheila, during which our team put up the Polish flag saying "Spaceboy WE'VE MISSED YOU". Billy looked at us, smiled and sang towards us "I could bring you the light and take you home into the night" and then real loud "You make me real!!!" that was really cool moment Mob went insane during Tonight and Tarantula again, so we had to make a little back-off, which still was pretty close, which in turn might have been the reason why we didn't really hear the "Starz" melody played with excessive guitar loudness. I wanted to give my wife a piggyback-stand so that she could see the whole band play Hummer, which is her favourite song, and the fucking security bearded big fat short dirty fellow in punching gloves (almost) came along and told me not to do this. He also told one guy standing next to me not to film the show and warned him that if he sees him do it one more time, he's out. He also wasn't very happy seeing people crowd-surf (and that happened maaaaany times) What an asshole. Zero was beautifully played and Ginger looked as if she was making love to her bass. Yes she did develop a particular "dancing" style; Billy had a big grin when he told us they were going to play "Drown". Drown was beautiful, just an old, good version of Drown. Jeff and Ginger know their stuff, for sure...!!! And it was nice to see that they were not playing the songs as if 'mechanically', but they really enjoyed the show. "Lucky 13" was another song that was WAAAAAY too loud, it was pleasurable to know they are playing it, because you could not really tell it was "Lucky 13" (only the drumming was distinctive), so there was hardly any pleasure from the sound of the song itself. Intro to "That's the Way" might have been the one most beautiful moments, and the song itself is great. But again, really, if I hadn't known it from the earlier boots, I would've thought: "Wow, what a noisy chaos", so sound engineering failed again. "1979" and "Disarm" were classic versions, crowd was crazy, band was ultra-happy, Billy gave the first "Untitled" solo to Jeff, and Jeffo executed it perfectly and it was so evident he's so happy with it! Then Billy had the second solo and after the song Bill and Jeff smiled at each other, you could tell they loved what they just did. "Cherub" and "Muzzle" were in standard versions, and the final song... "Gossamer". I think the second encore was where Billy got rid of his tension and stress... he started smiling more, moving around the stage, Uli joined the band again during Gossamer and it was really grand version - 3 guitars... Billy Jeff and Uli were looking at each other's guitars again and improvising, Billy was almost laughing with happiness, he jumped a few times and looked happily at Jimmy. It was really cool to see Billy enjoy his band in such a good shape, with his old songs developing into such a beautiful and still so fucking enjoyable tracks after sooo much time. There was quite a lot of stage banter. First, Billy asked us how we were doing and said he is always saying that when he doesn't know what else to say. Then he responded: "I don't speak German" and "I don't speak italian either" to some screams coming from the audience, then he asked the crowd if Gerhard Schroeder was still a Prime Minister of Germany. Someone screamed back something that I didn't understand and Billy thought it was "Uli J.!!!" and said: "Uli J. is the new Prime Minister of Germany?!? Awesome!!!". During "Muzzle", Billy pretended his voice is cracking up and sang a few lines in high-pitch voice and grinned at Ginger.

During Gossamer, which lasted for I_fucking_don't_know_how_much_time, Billy said: "It's the end of the show, it's the end of the show, there's no more show!!!" and then kept playing crazy fuzzy riffs. Then he said that again, but gave Uli and Jimmy signs to keep playing. He said that one more time with this echo effect and kept on with solos and riffs, Uli was amused. He must have loved that, because when they definitely finished Gossamer (Jimmy threw his drumsticks into the crowd), Uli hugged Billy to thank him for great guitar work and wanted to do the same with Jeff, but Jeff didn't notice that and turned his back to get rid of his guitar. Generally, Jeff was quiet, stood as if "in the back", but when he pulls out a crazy intro and looks at Billy smiling, you can tell he has a monster side... it just needs to be triggered off.

Now the thing that I wanted to leave for the end, because it really, like REALLY surprised me: Billy's voice. I don't know what he did with it. He must have got a titanium throat or something. His singing is beauiful and strong, I was simply amazed at it during "33". Outstanding. During the Berlin show he did some spectacular, long screams, especially during Zero, Bullet, Gossamer, Muzzle, Silverfuck, there were really lots of them. There were some false notes, that's obvious, but generally his singing has sooo much improved live, like wow. With Ginger as a backup, the concerts are really amazing from the vocalist point of view.
Next thing that took me by surprise: energy. I knew Billy was happy at the reunion and the possibility of playing old songs again, but when I compare his on-stage behaviour with the Cologne Billy's solo show, there's like a giant abyss between the two Billys, if you know what I mean.
Sometimes he looked like a kid unwrapping his Christmas Eve presents. And that was fantasic.
Anyways, I lost my voice singing along, and I still have a giant headache from lack of sleep, and my body is bruised all over from punching squeezing and being trampled on.

In other words, the Pumpkins are back!


Here are some photos and vids, good sound quality, a little bit shakey video but there are some almost complete songs, so enjoy.

everything was taken and shot by keito, our fellow pumpkinhead and guitarist, the same who shoot parts of Cologne gig, it's even the same camera so if you remember those clips, these are also of cool quality

http://grafit.mchtr.pw.edu.pl/~gorsk...lin2007/w2.jpg

http://grafit.mchtr.pw.edu.pl/~gorsk...007/ginger.jpg

http://grafit.mchtr.pw.edu.pl/~gorsk...2007/perka.jpg

http://grafit.mchtr.pw.edu.pl/~gorsk...007/billy2.jpg

http://grafit.mchtr.pw.edu.pl/~gorsk...n2007/jeff.jpg



Annie Dog (cut) 8 MB + sorry I don't speak German/Italian
http://www.sendspace.com/file/d9aiq8

Disarm (beginning is slightly cut) 16 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/?bdyy9jkdhyy

Drown 31 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/?7mb5yxlj9lx

"End of the show" 10 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/?3tap9451ctn

glass and the ghost children 19 MB (cut on the second verse)
http://www.mediafire.com/?1aw91yeihw2

Home 9MB verse+chorus
http://www.mediafire.com/?0a3h31xzs1m

Hummer 47 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/?cwc20ztlcuv


thank you keito for the media!!!

[davin]

good review!

i heard it was hot and loud in that place, especially chatty durign the acoustic set.

[million_watts]

i enjoyed the guitar playing before the show. thanks for that.

[redchandelier]

[QUOTE
Drown 31 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/?7mb5yxlj9lx

"End of the show" 10 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/?3tap9451ctn

glass and the ghost children 19 MB (cut on the second verse)
http://www.mediafire.com/?1aw91yeihw2

Home 9MB verse+chorus
http://www.mediafire.com/?0a3h31xzs1m

Hummer 47 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/?cwc20ztlcuv


thank you keito for the media!!![/quote]


thank you so much. Drown is one of my favorites!!!

[memories_unwind]

I had a brilliant place on the upper balcony on the right and didn`t hear any talking at all so I`m a little surprised about the complaints.
I thought the reactions of the crowd were brilliant for German standards, but on the other hand I was glad that I wasn`t standing downstairs due to massive crowdsurfing and quite a lot of topless idiots going mental...

[Endar]

"and the fucking security bearded big fat short dirty fellow in punching gloves "

lmao best line ive read in a while

[steelfaerie]

That review kicked ass, man. Thank you. I'm so excited now I almost feel weepy with glee.

[keito]

here's the last two of my videos

Rocket acoustic 12 MB 2:56
http://www.mediafire.com/?7ymgfwgzcx4

Thank YOU = farawells
8 MB 1:20
http://www.mediafire.com/?3hr1rhlzaj9


sorry for "shaking" but I guess it gives a good view on the atmosphere when they bump you from left and right

as I see sweter33 did the international review as i did Polish, well done

he forgot to mention my failed mission
I threw a teddy bear for Ginger at the stage she noticed it, looked at it and threw it back to the crowd
Then one guy caught it and I wanted him to throw the bear to Jeff, but that fat guy from security grabbed the bear and it was the end of his flights

I guess Ginger doesn't like teddy bears but it would look so cool on her loudspeaker!

and YEAH - the temperatures in this place were horrible. I remember after ZWAN gig I was all wet (it was in winter), but now even before the show we were already sweating. So lots of people from front tried to go back a bit for a while and returned later.

@memmories unwind saying: "I thought the reactions of the crowd were brilliant for German standards"

I guess we can't say about German standards here, 'cause the show was international. The bunch of Poles, standing next to Scandinavians, American and Australian. A bit further there were French and of course a lot of Germans among us.
And we were all close to the stage, and it's obvious that if the first rows have good fun it cathes the back too

on the other hand at ZWAN show the Germans also were really vivid so it's just kind of cheap talking...

[keito]

Originally Posted by million_watts

i enjoyed the guitar playing before the show. thanks for that.

You're welcome Actually we were hoping for more people to join as we have already sang Pumpkins songs for about five hours in the train

I really enjoyed the show, and it's always good to see so many pumpkin people in one place

[Morlock]

Great review. A few comments:

I thought the sound was good. Only That's the Way was really crappy in the mix. I didn't have earplugs though.

Some corrections about the banter. The stage banter was about Gerhard Schröder first (ex-prime minister of Germany). Before Billy played For God and Country he said that the song was about the states, but also about Schröder's love affair with the states. Then he asked if Schröder was still prime minister and who was it now, and many people screamed "Angie" (for Angela Merkel). Billy's response: "What? Ali G.? Ali G. is the new prime minister of Germany? That's awesome!"

I must say that I have never seen Billy in such a good mood, and this was my fourth Pumpkins concert (seen them on every album tour since MCIS). SOmetimes he was very self-ironic. He threw a lot of rock poses with a smile and wink, like holding his hands like a boxer or flexing his muscles. At times it seemed a bit distant from the song, because he enjoyed the interaction so much. In mUzzle, the crowd started singing with him: Billy said "And I knew...", and the people finished the line. He said "Thank you" during the song, and when he noticed that most people stopped singing (probably because they didn't know the lyrics well enough), he completed the next line, shrugged and smiled. Such things are hard to describe. You just have to imagine Billy feeling incredibly comfortable.

In the end he just couldn't stop jamming with Uli. He loved it so much, that was cool, though I think the song itself went on for too long.

Jeff was really cool. His guitar was much louder than a few days before at the Rock am Ring. He also smiled a lot, though you could see that he was insecure with his interaction. Ginger didn't feel that much like a part of the band, unfortunately. Her playing and singing is great, and yes, she is a hottie, but the other band members hardly looked at her, so she ended up staying there and watching the boys play with each other.

Great concert, all in all. Incredible set.

[__mercurial__]

I went to Berlin, it was worth every last bit of the hassle it took to get there & back from the UK! I only got home at 3.30am (flight delayed) & had to get up for work and am only back from work now..and am going to Download tomorrow!...but for now, I thought it was great, I've seen the MTV Rock am Ring show and I thought Berlin was far better - Billy looked like he was *really* enjoying it. Zero was amazing, there was far more energy in the Berlin set than came across in the MTV show, and I thought Billy's vocals were pretty much spot on. I liked Ulli's input too - although he is such a wizard with the guitar he kind of put Billy and Jeff in the shade... I would have loved them to play Ava Adore, but I guess I'm just glad to hear them whatever they choose to play really. I'm really surprised people are complaining about the crowd, I was in the front row at the left and there was loads of moshing, I could hardly breathe for most of it! Still, most of the people at the front didn't seem to be German, there were Danish, Polish, Irish, Italians, Americans & more around where I was.

Question for the Polish guys though - where did you put your guitar?! did you bring it into the gig with you?

[keito]

Originally Posted by __mercurial__

Question for the Polish guys though - where did you put your guitar?! did you bring it into the gig with you?

We put it in our friends' car parked in front of the Columbia Halle.
I guess it would have been smashed if I tried to get thru the gates with it

[sweter33]

next portion of movies and photos, this time shot by Czechalnikov:

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3370/dsc02544rn6.jpg

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1973/dsc02548pr5.jpg


here's our flag
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9109/dsc02555ws1.jpg

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/4984/dsc02559kf6.jpg

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/2729/dsc02561zg3.jpg

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/9605/dsc02562ko6.jpg

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4044/dsc02565ba7.jpg


and the movies:


Stand Inside Your Love

dancing Billy

clip of US (with a special focus on Ginger )

Neverlost

[C33]

great review. my god it was so hot in there, i don't think i've sweated that much in my entire life lol but who where the ones yelling NETPHORIA before the gig started?

[New Art Rioter]

Gig sounds great from the recording. What was Billy laughing about in Tarantula?