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Old 11-27-2008, 06:46 PM   #1
dokhma
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Posts: 56
Lightbulb This is a long post

The internet is a pretty nebulous and ambiguous place. Blogs, networking sites, message boards--people populate them and most times are virtually indistinguishable from one another. In an attempt at maybe adding some weight/personalizing my message a little bit I thought I'd give you a little insight to some of the things I enjoy.

To give you some background on my preferences recently I have been listening to Health, MGMT, Flying Lotus, Of Montreal, Crystal Castles M.I.A. and Ratatat...My favorite movie last year was There Will Be Blood and I play lots of videogames, Bioshock being great for '07 and Fallout 3/Little Big Planet being my pick for '08. I'm comfortable saying that pop music has it's time and place and I, like any music enthusist, enjoy looking back and love the classics. Film is a love of mine as well and my favorite directors are Lynch and Kubrick. My favorite shows recently, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Entourage and the Life and Times of Tim. I also have played and recorded music for years and will have my first album out in a couple weeks.

I am blown away by the negative reaction and press for this band and this tour in specific.

I don't remember the last time the smashing pumpkins, or rather any band, has been lampooned like this on all the major music sites. I know the pumpkins haven't always been acceptable to everyone but this is just unreal. Let's get this straight, I don't think Corgan's music is as good as it was pre 2000. I enjoy it on a nostalgic level which is sometimes unavoidable being a long-time fan, but there are some new tracks that I think have been able to transcended that "blind love". Beyond this I think his music as of recent is passable. I've seen the pumpkins five times, once in their pre-break up form and the rest 2007 and on.

I attended the Columbus and Cleveland shows most recently and walked away pleased. The columbus show though, was challenging. I enjoyed it for the weirdness and the pure "fuck you" rock feeling you don't get from many major acts anymore, but I know my interests/preferences stray greatly from what I believe a large majority of casual fans have that attended. I "get" Corgan's humor and I appreciate the ridiculousness and corniness of some of the antics on stage. I love noise-based music (see Fuck Buttons new album) and appreciate atonal noises (see any Autechre Album) so I enjoy these so-called long "noise jams". I love the weird clothes, I laughed when Corgan degraded the crowd (he called Columbus a city named after a fake explorer) and the mockery of everything is beautiful was to me tongue-in-cheeck and amusing. It's all entertaining for someone like myself, and I just don't think the standard concert go-er will appreciate the left-field approach. It is misleading, he can come off as rude and the songs do go on long. But to me, it's still far more interesting than pretty much any other live show I've attended recently (all of which seem terribly safe and pandering in comparison).


Where are all the people who get it like me? Maybe not posting online. Regardless, I don't need to hear old fan-favorites, I don't need to hear the singles, I don't require these things to appreciate the live experience. I don't get tired if it's a three hour show, or bored if he's playing accoustic, or find it pretentious or formless if he's playing with feedback for 10 minutes. I can understand there are new fans or people who haven't seen them before and I recognize it would be disappointing not to hear a more sure-fire fan pleasing setlist. I have been thankful to have heard pretty much every Pumpkin song I've ever wanted to hear live (minus X.Y.U. and Geek USA) but even if I hadn't, I would still be able to recognize that what was happening on that stage wasn't a bunch of shit.

Maybe most of the people who listen to similar artists as me, like similar games, tv and film and have my kind of humor just don't typically like the pumpkins. Maybe the people who like the pumpkins who are complaining don't have as many things in common with me as I might have thought. Maybe we're just going through a similar thing like when Pumpkins put out Adore and all the fans that came to see them only for the distortion of Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie complained a lot and then lost interest.

Maybe this means the band is breaking up with YOU, and I'm still getting consistent sex. Sorry, maybe it's you that's boring in bed and all you want to do anymore is rent movies on demand and never change out of your PJ's. You aren't interesting and you're so picky. And damn do you need to lighten up. But it's too late, I'm moving in and your shit is out in the yard. Hurry up and get it, stop delaying the inevitable-- I don't want what's left of your memories to be stolen by the homeless.

 
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