he wants do make new music, but regressed to the band name he abandoned when sales didn’t follow

he went straight downhill once he took voice lessons in the late 90’s and started writing music designed to be solely carried by the vocals

Between the 2 nights I count 17 well known SP songs that they performed. So I’m not quite sure what all the complaining is about. The Cleveland show was awesome!

ive been in love with the pumpkins since 8th grade when i heard s.dream on cassette. i got to see billy do a aco set at the cat’s cradle in chaple hill back in 00, it was great and ive missed out on the many shows in my state in fear that i’ll be turned off by billy haveing a bad night and shitting on everyone. he really seems like the type of guy who gets things stuck in his head and runs with it 100%. thats all good and well but the past is who you are . i think so long as he keeps not playing old songs for the sake of new song the band will in time burn its self out.people pay rock bands to play rock music the hits the b-sides and the new shit. and adore was a masterpiece!!!

I was at the white crosses show in Los Angeles and it was f-ing rad. A little long winded at points, but still a great show. Billy added at the end of the show that he’s been pissing people off for 20 years and he’s not about to stop now. cheers, guy can play an electric guitar like nobodys business, and the leather dress didn’t hurt either.

I went to the 20th anniversary show at the Borgata in Atlantic City, a couple nights after the NYC shows, and it was obvious that Billy was very happy the entire time. Billy seems to have problems with certain cities, namely NYC and Chicago. Every non-NYC and Chicago review I have heard was that the Pumpkins were great and rocked and were not negative towards the fans at all, and also it is quite obvious that Billy, as always, attempts to bring himself down at times. There is nobody in the music business harder and more down on themselves than Billy Corgan. He wants to be teased, he enjoys being told that his jams suck because honestly, if you listen to Gossamer fully you would notice the sheer beauty in how Corgan can take two guitars and layer them together to make it seem like he has an entire orchestra behind him. Yes, he may be a weird guy, but he is possibly one of the best songwriters of this current adult generation and he is showing that now by taking chances in his music, making songs like “Superchrist”, “United States”, and “Gossamer” which seem a little long and redundant but are really just Billy attempting to take his music in another direction. Billy’s not 25 anymore. He’s not in the music business for the hits anymore, he’s in it for the love of it and for the chance to do something different than he has ever done before musically. Just calm down and pay attention to his music instead of worrying about what kind of sets the pumpkins play, because it’s never going to be exactly what you want and maybe if you open your mind you will find a few new great songs like “As Rome Burns”, “Owata” and “99 Floors”. Just enjoy what Corgan is doing and stop criticizing him, because he’s doing his best to please his fanbase and his band at the same time.

i saw the show last night in la and
thought they were great. they’re
taking chances and genuinely having
a good time, and rocking it pretty
damn hard. that’s good enough for me!

You people are pathetic, spending so much time and emotional energy online arguing over a famous persons actions. A famous person who, in all likeliness, you will never even meet. Go do something worthwhile with your human brains. …Jesus fucking Christ…

this hurt me and it was hard for me to read. i knew billy was a jackass but not this much. i just went from a huge SP fan to nothing…

didn’t billy get rich because WE, the FANS, made him rich? didn’t we all buy him his mansion, one CD at a time?

time to bend over and own up, billy. like it or not, you OWE your fanbase.

what was that song you wrote? the big single your fans want to hear? take your dick out of your mouth and sing it, you singing, dancing monkey. amuse us.

I saw the Pumpkins at Lollapalooza the year they headlined. The Beastie Boys played right before them and were received enthusiastically by the crowd. Then the Pumpkins took the stage and proceeded to bore the hell out of everyone. When people started leaving, Billy said,”Sorry we’re not the Beastie Boys” and walked out into the crowd and sat down. He refused to play anymore. I was a pretty big fan at the time and ever since then, I can’t stand his whiny ass.

“Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It in My Mouth’? Wasn’t that track #4 on that Billy Corgan solo record.”

LOL - that made me laugh for quite a while. Dear lord, the solo album was absolute garbage. I’m a huge pumpkins fan, but I couldn’t even pretend to like that one.

I went to the “Black Sunshine” show in Boston, and I was one of the fans turned off by the lack of actual SP music (not just ‘hits’, but SP MUSIC in general).

On any other tour, I probably wouldn’t have minded so much.. but on the 20th anniversary tour celebrating 20 years of Pumpkins I expected more. But I remain optimistic, and hope the next tour will be more promising.

Corgan and his spare parts band of misfit toys should play whatever the fuck they want to play.

The worst thing all you assholes did was buy that fucking double album, Mellon Collie, like it had the secrets of the universe. You let Corgan believe he was an artist, and look where that led him. Any of you showing up at a 2008 Smashing Pumpkins gig with at least one post-Siamese Dream album in your collection deserves what you get, all the Nosferatu emo prog-wank the spoilt little rich boy can cram down your fat, sweaty gullets. It’s all your fucking fault.

…when you f around with Courtney Love?

Billy needs to stop with the BS.No myspace,no video-game music, and no more concerts with stupid costumes.Just make music dude…

My favorite bc moment was in Asheville: “This song is about how none of you know what love is like I do.” Too true.

Oh, this was painful to read. Because I can believe it. SP is the most important bad I’ve ever come across but I’ve seen him taunt the crowd and leave the stage for extended periods back in ‘93. I had thought that he had matured by now.
And I’m also sick of bands who have no perspective about their “older” music. Is the music of Bach no longer good because its old? If you wrote it, celebrate it! Unless it was just written as a fashion accessory.

I went to the show on Friday at the United Palace Theater in Manhattan. I had read the blogs about the night before and how the show wasn’t that great, but I knew they weren’t “real fans” and didnt appreciate billy’s creative tangent. Being apart of 7 smashing pumpkin shows including two last year, I can easily say this was the worst show billy has performed thus far. The best way to describe it was like seeing your girlfriend go away for a while and come back 70 pounds fatter, or like going to watch your favorite sports team play, and they blow it in the sixth inning. The show got off to a good start, but when billy started howling like a wolf and dancing around the stage to african tribal music the hands dropped, the cheers subdued, the energy was drained, and the crowd died… By the end of the show I didnt see one head even bobbing to the music. Certain artists have charisma as they move around the stage (Anthony Kiedis, Scott Weiland) and certain artists lack it. Billy - You got to keep that guitar in your hand, because you are one awkward dude without it. I think its great to be creative in your work, but you still have to tie in the very roots that made you the smashing pumpkins in the first place. That includes heavy guitar riffs and strong vocals, not bongos and weird howling noises.

Gossamer was only 14 minutes long, not 20 minutes plus.

Sorry, I can’t read a review when the writer can’t even get the location correct. The United Palace Theater is in Washington Heights, NOT Harlem.

It’s tragic that a musical talent such as BC cannot grasp the concept of humility. Most can agree he’s a talent but how about removing that 20 year-old stick from your ass? This has been his MO throughout his career. What is so bad about fans LOVING the older songs? I simply believe that you cannot defend such arrogance. Some commented that those turned off by his demeanor should just stop listening to Smashing Pumpkins. Done. He’s all yours. Maybe that verse from ‘Range Life’ is actually valid…”out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, nature kids, they don’t have no function..”

I’ve been a pumpkins fan since the early 90’s. They were my favorite band to come out of that decade even though Billy was often a douchebag. But his egomaniacal behavior since this comeback has really put me off for the first time. To insult fans who spend their hard-earned money to see a band that has lost its way in these economic times is truly reprehensible. I have no problem with bands playing new material; U2 is one such band that does it beautifully without pissing off the people who just want to hear the hits. But to make people sit through 20 minute freeform performances of songs that are unreleased is asking a lot. The 70’s are over Billy. Led Zep and Pink Floyd have come and gone. Last night I watched SP’s new documentary and Billy really came off like a whiny little bitch. Throwing his guitar around because people want to hear songs like Soma. Cut me a fucking break. If this guy is so miserable with all his hit songs and money, then just stay the fuck home. Try living in my world Billy. Try a mortgage payment, 2 car payments, a wife and a 4 year old kid plus a high pressure job and then see what you have to bitch about motherfucker.

Wow.. Billy, you’re such a class act. Good to see you grew up.. =/

Billy Corgan is making new music. If you don’t like new, then listen to the old CD’s and dont goto concerts, because he will play new stuff. And as for the cover songs they play, including ’set the controls’, they play these as a tribute to the bands they loved growing up. If you dont like it, dont be a fan. They don’t need fans like you anyway. He is a great songwriter. Give him a break. To you people that shout ‘play bullet’ ‘play soma’ play today’ shut the fuck up.

I cannot believe he told some fan: “By the way, I liked that song you wrote. What was it called? ‘Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It in My Mouth’? Billy has lost it. He is all out of ideas and is filling the void with antics like these. The self-indulgence has hit new heights of pomposity. He is a douchebag

Corgan is a self-important ego-turd. He thinks he ranks up there with real legends such as Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, The Who, Hendrix.
Just a pop act that had some really good songs but he wants to forget them and wank off on drivel.

I was at Thursday nights show. It was BAD. It wasn’t just the set… there was no flow. Billy was TAUNTING the audience. “So you guys just want to hear songs you lost your virginity to”

Hell yes! They have a ton of good material and the stuff they played was just off.

The long, space jams, were torturous. I’m a Deadhead too! There was no music there.

Adam, I agree. I just tried to make a comparison about bands being confident in their new material. ZOO TV and Achtung Baby were, and still are, groundbreaking. Zeitgeist, at times hard rockin and pretty good, is nowhere near that level, or even 90% of the Pumpkins material. The simple fact remains, new or old, this pair of concerts was a misstep.

I was at the Thursday show, and it was indeed pretty weird. Especially since at the Philly show I went to a year ago, they played it pretty straight and were excellent.

But then again, Corgan has said (in a recent RS article) that he knows people expect him to just play the old hits, and he doesn’t really like that - he cites Bon Jovi in that article. Nobody goes to Bon Jovi to hear 15 minute jams and kazoos. So he knows what he is doing, and so it is.

While I did expect a more traditional show, I am not going to go out and say that I “deserved” one - he will put on the show he puts on, and if it costs him fans moving forward then so be it. He should just go all the way and cover Revolution #9 at some point.

they need to stick to their classics, and not try to impress anyone with new rock shit…do what the pumpkins do best…

I was the biggest Pumpkins fan, not anymore… and I told you so. What has he become? I loved Zwan, Djali Zwan, the Solo album… but this? What a waste.

If I was on stage and he said something like that to me, I don’t know… is he looking for validation or what?

Sad.

JOE, by the way, the Pumpkins are no U2 circa ZOO TV Era… that was brilliant, “Zeitgeist” is just desperate.

Adam

Billy, You’re killing us with new junk and over-inventing the classics.

B O R I N G & W R O N G

Bad acoustics - maybe if you have a pair of bananas stuffed in your ears. 40 minute jam - my word - was your reporter actually there, in not one of the 20th anniversary shows have they played anything approaching 40 minutes. Get your facts right and stop going on about Billy Corgan - talk about the music for a change; the amount of genres they traverse with aplomb & ease. Oh and the fact that they have one, if not the best, drummer on the planet behind them.

As for the so called fans here - if you don’t like the new stuff stick to listeing to the old. And if you haven’t even seen or heard one of these shows, just shut up. It’s really as simple as that.

Being a U2 fan myself, I remember the ZOO TV days when U2 would open the show with 7 to 8 straight songs from Achtung Baby. This was at a point in their careers when they had a solid setlist and run out about 12 to 15 songs and pleased their “post-punk” neo wave muscle-shirted “War” worshipping fanbase. But they KNEW they had great material on their hands and played it confidently from day one. Billy, don’t outthink yourself. Without the fans, none of this exists for you or any other band. They come to be entertained. Work your Zeitgeist, trot out the hits, celebrate your catalog. They are hits for a reason. The studio is for following your muse. The stage is for showing your fans a great time, not for asking their opinion and then attempting to save face with a high-school stoner wisecrack.

I can’t wait until Led Zep gets back together, charges out the ass for their tickets and everyone bitches and moan because they won’t play Stair Way for the whole show. I agree with Joe, either you bring the goods or you don’t. From what I seen so far in the four times I’ve seen them(since reforming), they’ve brought the goods around 85% of the time. And for entertainment, I’d say that’s damn good. How many albums or movies you like every second of them on a regular basis.

once a hype band, always a hype band. Sometimes it just takes time for everyone else to notice.

The intresting thing going on here, is that a lot of critics(i.e. people who do this for a living) never liked them as a live band anyway. Now that they are playing questionably shows in many eyes, they act like they were the greatest live band back in the ’90s. I only had the chance to see them once before the breakup at the United Center circa ‘00 before the Metro show. I can safely say they are a better live show now. It’s funny how everyone hates labels but we slap rock/pop band to the Pumpkins then all of a sudden we are shocked they play some songs more than four mintues. I wonder how many people got pissed when Pink Floyd went on forever. Yes, I know how dare I compare but remember they did let Corgan introduce the band at the HOF>

It’s really sad when a “fan” defends an artist who is being exclusionary and elitist with his audience by being elitist themselves. A fan deserves the best from their artist when that artist takes the stage, REGARDLESS of setlist or greatest hits content. I think Billy should send out a pre-concert questionnaire filtering out his “true” fans from the non-believers so that way he can have an Oprah-like audience ready to bend their will to him and question nothing he does or wears.

“if those same people are going to the concerts now thinking they deserve their ‘92 thru ‘97 Pumpkins back, screw off.”

“Deserve”?!? An interesting choice of words for a paying audience who — ironically enough — “deserves” better than what they’re getting from the Pumpkins these days.

You aren’t Billy Corgan by any chance are you?

ears = years - btw

nice guy slamming a fan that paid good money to come see the band - I have been an SP fan for ears, but alas it seems that Billy has fallen into the realm of douchebaggery like so many other musical has beens.

At least Axl hasn’t had the chance to alienate his fans… yet.

Wow, Billy Gorgan was a jerk at a Smashing Pumpkins show? Color me shocked… I saw the Pumpkins at Lollapalooza years ago, and Corgan managed to alienate the entire crowd at the Gorge by trashing Seattle, coffee, flannel, Sub-Pop, etc. And I showed up with an open mind, ready to be impressed… instead I just walked away amazed at what a douche Corgan is. And I’ve shown up as a neutral observer at other concerts back in the day (Alice In Chains, STP) and walked away RAVING about the bands because of what they brough to the live show. Pumpkins were just annoying.

Let’s see over 40 Pumpkin songs and a few covers thrown in; someone want to explain why it’s so horrible if they play some jams? It’s funny the comments are from people that seem haven’t seen the Pumpkins since they reformed but yet have the same opinions of the Pumpkins they had over 12 years ago. People abandoned the Pumpkins durning Machina so if those same people are going to the concerts now thinking they deserve their ‘92 thru ‘97 Pumpkins back, screw off. Oh, unless the sound was really messed up, I seen Rome Burns twice live now and it’s laughable to say it doesn’t have teeth.

Billy Corgan is a douche to adoring fans, more at 11. But our first story tonight: the sun rose today.

…and to think this guy was once considered the future of rock n’roll. It’s pretty obvious the only reason he’s even onstage these days is to satisfy his own enormous ego.

BTW Billy, fans don’t write songs, they pay good money to see your perform yours. And as the old saying goes, I don’t have to be a chef to know when food tastes like crap.

I was a huge Pumpkins fan in the 90’s, but their dismal performance opening for Kiss at Dodger Stadium pretty much killed it for me. I truly feel sorry for the fans who shelled out money hoping for something special here.

If all of “Cherub Rock” and about 6 songs off of Melon Collie were the set list, plus “tarantula” “United States” and “ava adore” I’d be happy. thank god they didn’t play “Starz” off of Zeitgeist. what a wretched song.

Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It in My Mouth’? Wasn’t that track #4 on that Billy Corgan solo record.

Way to reward the fans billy.