Zwan doesn't spark crowd

[Purr Snickety]

Zwan doesn't spark crowd


BEN RAYNER
POP MUSIC CRITIC

The Smashing Pumpkins still cast a long, caped shadow, but Billy Corgan has done a respectable job of stepping clear of the wreckage with his new band, Zwan.

While it's not that much of a musical stretch, there's a welcome levity and brisk, ringing tunefulness to Mary, Star Of The Sea, Zwan's recent recorded debut, that makes it a far more appealing piece of work than the Pumpkins' cold, humourless last couple of albums. The pouty Corgan is likewise oozing good cheer both in song and in person these days, even going so far as to ditch his customary black turtleneck during Tuesday night's sold-out Zwan stop at Kool Haus for a garish, patterned sweater straight out of Jim Carrey's ski-chalet fantasy in Dumb & Dumber.

It's nice to see the big lug with a grin on his face. And who wouldn't be grinning, really, if each night brought another chance to jam with this extraordinarily talented ensemble of players — Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, Slint/Tortoise guitarist David Pajo, Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney and A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin — in front of deferential, built-in audiences from city to city around North America? Good times, no doubt.

It was a different story on the Kool Haus floor, however, where neither the positive vibes nor much melody at all could penetrate pronounced audience apathy and a thick, roaring sound mix that muffled everything but the rhythm section and Corgan's brittle whine — an acquired taste, perhaps, but still not enough to carry Zwan's tunes on its own — and turned the band's entire set list into a featureless bore.

"How's the sound out there?" Corgan asked at once, to hearty cheers that confirmed suspicions hardly anyone in the subdued, hands-in-pockets crowd really knew what they were listening to (at least until the single "Honestly" appeared, to a half-hearted facsimile of enthusiasm, late in the set).

The Pumpkins were infamous for the same inability to reproduce the pristine sonics of their studio recordings on stage, but at least they had the metallic heft of Corgan's darker material to fall back on. Comparatively dainty Zwan songs like "Lyric" and the gliding New Order tributes "El Sol" and "Settle Down" require at least some mid-range, some detail, in a live mix to be appreciated. During "Declarations Of Faith," only Pajo's atmospheric guitar fills were audible amidst a blur of stifled, low-end fuzz, while the other two guitars were gobbled up along with the song's elated, rise-and-fall hooks by the dull rush of mud emanating from the PA. It was a waste of some decent songs, although there were moments of clarity — usually, curiously, during meandering jams that allowed Corgan (though rarely Sweeney or Pajo) repeated opportunities to show off his arena-rock guitar chops.

A genteel cover of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down" devoid of the original's gruff catharsis, meanwhile, coaxed a blip of enthusiasm from the room, but did little to alleviate a serious case of the doldrums. By the time Lenchantin's violin came out for a run of mix-mauled slow numbers, the crowd was visibly thinning out and one got the feeling that those who stayed were doing so out of duty. Maybe next time, Billy.


http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=969483191630

[spfreak]

wtf?!?!
the crowd seemed really into it

....atleast from where i was
bah! the star knows jack shit

[shaniqua]

Originally posted by spfreak
wtf?!?!
the crowd seemed really into it

no they didn't.

i had to walk up to a few people and tell them to at least pretend they were enjoying themselves.

who spends 40 bucks on a ticket to talk on their cellphone at the bar anyway?

[Caine Walker]

wow, that's pretty surprising. but it's not like zwan is bang-your-head music.

[Injektilo]

The guy must have spent the entire concery from the bar... where I was, everyone was completly into it.

[wangcomputers]

Originally posted by shaunna
i had to walk up to a few people and tell them to at least pretend they were enjoying themselves.

yeah man! preach it!

[Banky7796]

Heh... I saw that article, too. Here's what my girlfriend said when I e-mailed it to her:

LOL!!!

What a terrible review. That's one of those folks who feels they got done by tSP. You can tell. A wee bit bitter. He was most likely standing outside the crowd, where, I don't know if you noticed, the sound really wasn't that good. It's not Zwan's fault, though. The Warehouse was known for it's crap sound, and it didn't seem to me that they did much to clarify the accoustics. Where we were standing, though, was good. I really would like to research the effect human bodies have on accoustics. They seemed to be keeping the sound in.

Also, remember during Jesus, I, I pointed out that the pit wasn't moving? We only really saw one surfer, too. I think the reviewer's half right - A lot came just because of Billy or Honestly and not for much else. That's alright. They're a new band with a famous singer. It'll eventually thin out to people who have a clue.

Still... Not to mention the incindiary sensation of the hard core, yet simple, rawk that was Jesus, I... That's just ignorance and harmful reporting.

The funny thing is that Toronto crowds are notorious for sucking. Rarely do you see them get hardcore into stuff, even when moshing and surfing were huge there was always that perimiter of "too cools" who'd maybe bob their heads in time with the rythm. That reporter needed to be standing next to us, just so he could see those cute little girls just losing their minds. That would've changed his brain. Seriously, though - Even the mohawk just stood there, and he left half way through the set. Definately before Honestly, which, incidentally, I don't think got people nearly as worked up as you normally see when people come based on a single. I think that most of the crowd either came based on Billy or Mary. So out of curiosity or interest. I don't think there was much of an in between group. Not many Honestly people out there...

I should've written that

~Banky

[melombar]

That journalist appears to have difficulty differentiating between "the sound" and "the show". Looks like his bitch was with how it sounded more than anything else.

[Diamond Dream]

F*ck... is this guy working for Virgin Records?

[zerozwan]

hmm... i was standing in the very back corner at the bar, and i thought that everything was very audible. it seemed to me like the sound would have been good closer up...

[RopeyLopey]

Hmm..Rayner according to his other reviews, he simply has opinion that grunge that was IT and since then everything's watered down (his Nirvana singles review was so pathetic).
I was like right behind the pit, so all the moshing took place in front of me, and the crowd was really MOVING during Jesus over there. I heard all guitars pretty clear for most of the time, just Riverview sounded sort of strange to me, but it was probably supposed to sound like this...
And Jesus/Soul Machine was the peak, not Honestly (at least it seemed to be like this from my location), and it's good it's been this way...

[RopeyLopey]

BTW, this is apicture of Billy I took after the show as they were leaving Kool Haus. I think an artist after some fucked concert looks little bit different than Billy on this picture, doesn't he?

[twilightfadez]

maybe Gooch was trying to grab his ass, hence the smile

[ZERO]

Originally posted by wangcomputers


yeah man! preach it!

for Mary!

[wangcomputers]

Originally posted by ZERO


for Mary!

http://www.madonnamagazine.com.au/ar...0211bullen.jpg

[Ugly]

most of the people around where we were (kinda near the sound board) were singing into it. The crowd (of the hardcore fans left) kept appluading for a second encore. When Jesus kicked in at the "reborn" part it had a great reaction from the crowd. There were some good crowd reaction moments.

That's not to say it was rainbows and sunshine and lollipops the whole show - I noticed there were several "yeah, convince me" type of people out there who just it never really sparked to begin with. The mellower set of songs really was an endurance test for some of the casual fans just comming to check them out.

I think it was split on crowd reaction - from where I was, it was fairly even. Me and my friend, of course, were some of the ones who were into it.

As for the part about the sound mix -- that's bullshit, I thought it sounded great. fuck him up his stupid ass on that point.

[the_boy]

I dont think that this guy was at the same show i was. From where I was standing, everyone around me was singing/smiling/dancing/head-bopping the whole time. I guess he doesnt know sp/zwan fans. Sure, noone was jumping around and shit, but that doesnt mean that people werent enjoying themselves. Its not like a New Found Glory concert where everyone is showing their enjoyment by moshing and body surfing the whole time. Most people go to these shows to enjoy being surrounded by the sound. In his defence, there was a significant portion of those who knew no songs other than "honestly".
I think a perfect example of the crowd being into the show was the reaction both times they walked off stage. There wasnt a single moment without constant cheering or chants for an encore. Calling them back for a second encore was especially impressive to me.
Anyhow, thats just my 2 cents. I must now crawl back into my hole for another couple months.

ciao all