Los Angeles, CA 12/2-3 Gibson Amphitheater

[Reyngel]

Anyone know if the Pit section is seated or not? I know it's General Admission, but I've seen both scenarios happen before.


I have front row center seats for tonight, which I'm cool with, but I have Pit tickets for tomorrow. I think after chilling in front row center seats at the San Diego, which was so nice, I'd rather trade my Pit tickets for seats.

Anyone wanna trade? I'd only be interested in trading for front-row seats in either the first Orchestra section, or either Orchestra section to the right or left. And the trade would have to happen after we all get inside the venue.

[Diss N. Chanted]

No seats in the pit.

[davin]

lucky bastards, wish i had pit. the things you do to accommodate friends who only want to pay face.... then again, seeing all these shows with diff friends is awesome. its like the first time, everytime.

i'm wearing a green obama shirt if anyone wants to say hi.

i cannot wait! its almost time for the roctopus.

[Reyngel]

I'm going with my best friend. I'll be wearing... who knows, ha. Nothing special. I guess just what I'm wearing now, which is a red hooded sweatshirt and black pants.


I think I stopped dressing up for these shows back in 2000. Not because I care less, but more that it's just more comfortable to just... go.

[Reyngel]

By the way.


What's the deal with parking? The last time I was at this venue was when it was called the Universal Amphitheatre, and it was for the show on 5/23/00, or whenever it was that the band announced the break up. I ended up having to park on some side street.


Is there a garage to park in? If so, what's the fee?

[Diss N. Chanted]

I'll be wearing what I am now. Black jean shorts, grey t-shirt, black long sleeve under it, and a grey dickies workshirt over it all. Oh and black converse low tops. I'll be in Orch 5 row KK.

BTW, parking is the same as then they have garages just probably more expensive than 2000, probably 15-20 bucks. I was at that show too.

[davin]

Originally Posted by Reyngel

I'm going with my best friend. I'll be wearing... who knows, ha. Nothing special. I guess just what I'm wearing now, which is a red hooded sweatshirt and black pants.


I think I stopped dressing up for these shows back in 2000. Not because I care less, but more that it's just more comfortable to just... go.

lol. whose dressing up? i just told you what tshirt i was wearing at the time. so you can spot me.
but thanks for calling my tshirt special. i forget people around here have stylists.



LAST BLACK SUNSHINE OF THE TOUR MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!

[sppunk]

YEAH MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

[davin]

you fucking know it!!

[ChaosEffect]

You bought the flag at the concert or did you just decide to bring it?(if that photo was taking at an SP concert?)

[JRiordan]

STAND INSIDE YOUR LOVE playing right now (after Speed Kills in the setlist). Debut this tour!

Billy mentioned to fans after the 2nd Chicago Theatre show (11/19) that he might play that song, but there wouldn't be drastic changes in the setlist. The video is on Youtube.

-------------

More updates: No Transformer, but "sickest fucking Superchrist ever", followed by very fast and tight United States. Energy level from San Diego on Sunday is in effect tonight. "Billy going nuts"

---------

More: They played/sang "Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear" (apparently NOT from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory -- LOL, um... my friend originally said they soundchecked "Candyman" from Willy Wonka. Then I got the text about "Birds Suddenly Appear", and I think he or both of us were thinking of the line in the movie, "In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; Sweet lovers love the spring." ). Still not sure about "Candyman" actually being soundchecked.

One guy I know said this was possibly the best show he's seen. I think he means out of SP shows (but maybe all shows). And I think he's been seeing SP since SD era.

[dustrock]

sweet love the cali vibe.

I thought they weren't changing up the black sunshine/white crosses?

[jamesey]

just got back...
the show was fantastic. the crowd (despite being older now) was really into it. Billy was really into it, and it showed in his performance. I had the Five star VIP package and that was definitely worth it. We got to see the genesis of Close to You/Birds Suddenly Appear. I'll post a full review with pics tomorrow.

I can't wait for tomorrow night's supposedly better show.

[markpregen]

i got dead center row 3 for $50 just before the show.. the scalpers were not having a good night

Anyway billy had some freeway banter.. 101 ridin, 405 suicide, 5 mexico... which led to sammy hagar discussion where jeff choked (he teased Van Halen but the wrong era).. Billy teased some Sammy Hagar solo supposedly and was proud of it, can't remember the name of the song.. Billy has been in Los Angeles for a while, not sure why he was pretending like he doesn't know the freeways (for the lols)

Davin was that you waving the flag during United States in the Orchestra?

10.00 vip tent was a joke

parking is free on cahuenga

did anyone wait for billy? not sure if thats possible at universal

heard one guy say the requisite "worst show ever" outside. otoh, i liked it

Did anyone catch the BOLLY on the Verizon Wireless text message jumbotrons?

[Diss N. Chanted]

I had a great time!! It fuckin kicked ass!! I recorded and I'll get it up tomorrow. And yes the shit about the LA freeways was hilarious. Jeff knows. Peace I'm out I need some slepp, see you all manana!

[danondorf]

Just got back from the show. It was awesome, a great crowd that showed SP lots of love; to which Billy even said "many crowds don't understand us, but you do!" and thanked the crowd often and told 'em eventually to sit down 'cause "you guys are old, just give it up already; the 90's are but a distant memory-but seriously thank you very much". It was really cool to see Billy feed off the crowd's enthusiasm, and in turn we got some damn good Billy screams.

Great version of United States (he screamed a lot throughout the 2nd verse), We Only Come Out At Night just made me smile

Set The Controls even got a good reaction.

Man it was just a great show, everything was fucking on tonight.

Can't wait for tomorrow.

[danondorf]

I got some good video as well, I'll upload on YouTube and post here soon.

[danondorf]

Here's the vid I got of Mayonaise

[danondorf]

Billy's speech

[jamesey]

I put up a review on my own personal blog

I'll add some more highlights from the Q&A with Billy and Jimmy here.

Billy is cool with bootlegs and demos getting leaked. (we all knew that). He was going to release official sets of boots and demos from every era but he got so much negative feedback from fans about this tour that he's not going to anymore. There's also a James/D'arcy lawsuit with Virgin that is killing that.

I don't know if this is a bombshell or an empty threat. Billy said this is the last tour where old songs will be played. Everything from here on out will be forward thinking, new Pumpkins material.

Billy ranted about pitchfork types of folk who can't like anyone successful except for Radiohead and Coldplay. He claimed that the Pumpkins music was above the level of Foo Fighters and Coldplay and at least at the level of Radiohead. The state of music sucks right now because a band like Radiohead can release a great free album that makes no money and gets no radio play.

He went on to blame the community for this a little bit. Apparently Pumpkin fans are apathetic and dont stick up for Billy. He wants us to bombard a reviewer with 100 emails if he says the Pumpkins suck. He says other band's fans do that, but not Pumpkin fans. He doesn't know who we are or wtf we want anymore. At this point of the Q&A he was cussing a lot and even took his hoodie off as he got really pissed. One guy was taping this with his digicam and Billy caught him and got more pissed. He again stressed that they will only be playing new songs after this tour.

Billy picks the songs they cover by instinct, and doesn't care if someone covers him poorly.

He doesn't think the 7 year hiatus hurt. He said that musically, the band is more talented, hard working, and sober than ever before. He feels more creative now than at any other point in his life.

I think that was about it at the Q&A. Shoutout to Jeff, Rocky and Lee.

[Reyngel]

It was a good show.



But maybe I'm alone in thinking he was being kind of sarcastic with the crowd? He certainly didn't seem as sincere as he was in San Diego when it came to saying he liked the crowd. I know there were people in my section that were talking about how he seemed like an asshole for being condescending. I mean, he certainly didn't reprimand the crowd like he has at other shows this tour, and there were times when I think he seemed to be having a good time. Maybe it's hard to tell after just the first night, since it's really a two-day experience.


A few notes:


I was surprised at how appreciative the crowd was after Set the Controls. I was expecting people to boo like at other shows, and instead, the crowd got louder and more in to it as the song went along. Billy threw one of the birds that he talks to during the song so someone in the first Orchestra section, haha. Maybe that's the last time he's playing that song?

Heavy Metal Machine wasn't as tight as San Diego's. The parts where he improvises the lyrics weren't as creative. I think at one part he went "And dogs go 'woof.' Woof." But it was still okay.

Once Upon a Time sounds really good with 7 or 8 people singing backup vocals.

The volume level for Billy's voice was way too high! It drowned out a lot of the music, which is rare, because usually it's the other way around for live Pumpkins shows. But one thing that my friend and I both noticed was that there were a few times when he'd do a long scream, but his microphone wouldn't be working. I wonder if Billy realized that or not.

Lisa was dressed pretty sexy... anyone with pics can prove what I'm saying.

I was excited to hear The Beginning is the End is the Beginning... but it was kind of a let down. I'm not sure why, exactly. He just didn't seem very into it until the very end.

I'd say their best songs last night were either The Rose March, GLOW or maybe Siva. Performance-wise, I'd rate them an 8 or 9 out of 10. The rest of the show was maybe a 7 energy-wise. He didn't scream nearly as much as in San Diego. Maybe he was kind of tired from the travel, I don't know.

Overall, though, a fun show. There was one guy behind me(I was 1st row, section 11, right behind the soundboard) that kept screaming for Rhinoceros. And when they didn't play it, he was pretty upset, lol. But other than that, the crowd was surprisingly good for an L.A. crowd. I thought it was cool that we got maybe the first unique setlist of the tour when it comes to the two-night format... no Transformer, the addition of Stand Inside Your Love, and the new ending song to replace Everything is Beautiful. I also like that he acknowledged the 8-year anniversary of the breakup being last night.

I look forward to tonight! I hope traffic isn't as bad, though. I left Lake Forest at 5:30pm, and didn't get there until 7:45pm, ugh. I thought I was going to be late.

[Mayfuck]

Anyone know what time the shows end approximately?

I'll be getting off work from south LA around 5:00, and taking the 110 through downtown then the 101 all the way to universal city is going to be a brutal nightmare beyond comparison. the much better alternative is taking the the metro to the universal station but they stop service after midnight so getting back would be a little bit troublesome

[jamesey]

the 12/2 show started at 8:18 PM and ended at 10:53.

[gpub]

The San Diego show ended at 9:45

[retardovat]

Originally Posted by jamesey

He was going to release official sets of boots and demos from every era but he got so much negative feedback from fans about this tour that he's not going to anymore. There's also a James/D'arcy lawsuit with Virgin that is killing that.

[Mayfuck]

Originally Posted by jamesey

the 12/2 show started at 8:18 PM and ended at 10:53.

oh splendid.

[Mayfuck]

Originally Posted by retardovat

yeah what a fucking child.

[Reyngel]

I'd be interested in hearing his response during the next QandA session when someone's like "Hey. So why are you being so immature with the whole 'I'm not releasing all the good stuff now because fans didn't like this tour and that hurt my feelings' thing?"

[Mayfuck]

and you're going to be the one to ask right reyngel

[jamesey]

Originally Posted by Reyngel

I'd be interested in hearing his response during the next QandA session when someone's like "Hey. So why are you being so immature with the whole 'I'm not releasing all the good stuff now because fans didn't like this tour and that hurt my feelings' thing?"

Maybe I quoted him out of context, but his reasoning behind not releasing gish demos, SD demos, etc is that he's not getting fan support. This means monetarily and by attitude.

Poor sales from albums, tours, & merchandise has persuaded Pumpkin management to not finance a production of all this stuff we want.