Last time that The
Smashing Pumpkins came through Austin, they were touring with Marilyn
Manson, tickets were surprisingly expensive, and after being less
than impressed the last time I saw them live (
in 2012 in St. Louis), I just couldn't
bring myself to go. It looks like I missed what may have been a
compelling acoustic rearrangement of "Thru the Eyes of Ruby",
but probably not much else new or unusual. (The setlist is
here.)
That show was in July of last year, and I was surprised that they
were touring again so soon, but this time the prices were slightly
more reasonable and the touring mate was Liz Phair, who interested me
somewhat more than Manson did. I decided to take a chance. After all,
the prospect of a mostly-acoustic show seemed novel enough (I usually
have enjoyed Corgan's past flirtations with acoustic arrangements),
and I was encouraged by the return of original drummer Jimmy
Chamberlin to the band.
Artist: The Smashing
Pumpkins
Venue: Bass Concert
Hall
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: 19 April 2016
Opening Act: Liz Phair
Liz Phair's setlist
(with some help from
here):
01.
Johnny Feelgood
02.
Fuck and Run
03.
Polyester Bride
04.
Stratford-on-Guy
05.
Never Said
06.
Quiet [debut live performance]
07.
Our Dog Days Behind Us
08.
Extraordinary
09.
Mesmerizing
10.
Supernova
11.
Why Can't I?
12.
Divorce Song
The Smashing Pumpkins'
setlist:
01. Cardinal Rule
02.
Stumbleine
03.
Tonight, Tonight
04.
The World's Fair [originally performed by Billy Corgan]
05.
Space Oddity [David Bowie cover]
06.
Thirty-Three [backing vocals by Liz Phair]
07.
Jesus, I [traditional rearrangement] → Mary Star of the Sea
[originally performed by Zwan]
08.
Mayonaise
09.
Soma
10.
Rocket
11.
Spaceboy
12.
Today
13.
Whir
14.
Disarm
15.
Sorrows (in Blue) [originally performed by Billy Corgan]
16.
Eye
17.
Saturnine
18.
Identify [originally performed by Natalie Imbruglia; co-written by
Billy Corgan]
19.
1979
20.
Stand Inside Your Love
21.
Pinwheels
22.
Lily (My One and Only) → Blister in the Sun [Violent Femmes cover
tease]
23.
Malibu [originally performed by Hole; co-written by Billy Corgan;
lead vocals by Katie Cole]
24.
The Spaniards
25.
La Grange [ZZ Top cover; lead vocals by Sierra Swan]
Encore:
26.
Angie [Rolling Stones cover]
For some reason,
although I knew that Corgan and company were supposed to be
performing an acoustic set, I didn't think that Liz Phair
would do the same. I was wrong: she appeared solo with just an
acoustic guitar, although she also played an electric for about half
of her set. The stripped-down arrangements did her songs justice: the
lyrics were much easier to parse than otherwise, sharply revealing
just how blunt and direct her songs are. I appreciated the
perspective of her songs, but realized that I didn't actually like
them all that much. Nonetheless, her guitarwork was solid and her
voice was quite strong. Absent of the characteristic 90s alt-rock
production of her studio work, her songs came across much more
pop-oriented, and I even heard a conspicuous country inflection in
parts. She played twelve songs in rapid succession, but I was
surprised that she left after only 40 minutes. When Manson
co-headlined last year, he was allotted time for an almost complete
set, and I was expecting something similar from Phair. My impression
was that she was similarly co-headlining, but this seemed more like a
traditional opening set.
Billy Corgan initially
appeared as the sole representative of The Smashing Pumpkins.
(I've joked for years that the reformed version of the band would be
better titled The Billy Corgan Experience.) Corgan began with a new,
unreleased song ("Cardinal Rule"), two Mellon Collie and
the Infinite Sadness classics,
and then the lengthy "The World's Fair", originally part of
his abandoned Chicago Songs
project circa 2004. The MCIS
songs are clearly favorites of Billy's and came across well, and "The
World's Fair" was a treat to finally hear; before this tour it
had only been played twice.
Guitarist
Jeff Schroeder joined in with an acoustic guitar for "Space
Oddity". The Pumpkins played the song throughout 2012 and 2013
in a rock arrangement, but seem to have brought it back in the wake
of Bowie's death. It's unquestionably a great song, but there's only
so much any cover version can bring to it. I'm not really sure why
Corgan is so drawn to it. At any rate, they arranged it well and
concluded it with a little dual-lead bit that almost fell apart but
came together just right. The two proceeded with another MCIS
classic, "Thirty-Three", joined by Liz Phair on backing
vocals. Corgan and Schroeder gradually worked their way into the
sprawling "Jesus I → Mary Star of the Sea" medley, which
comes as a bit of a surprise, as it was
originally performed by Zwan.
(Oddly, Chamberlin, who had also drummed with Zwan, remained absent.)
Zwan frequently performed acoustic sets, so the idea of this medley
in an acoustic setting is not new, but the arrangement for just two
guitars was, and again, they pulled it off exceptionally well. Corgan
let Schroeder take most of the leads, and he rose to the challenge.
Even though I find the
overtly evangelical nature of the lyrics tiresome, the two
managed to play a fairly convincing rendition.
At
that point, Corgan finally took a moment to address the audience. He
explained that he wanted to showcase a particular part of the band's
history, and as soon as he dropped the words "Siamese
Dream", the audience
erupted in a frenzy. (Billy also claimed it was "just for us"
despite that they've been playing practically
identical setlists for the entire tour.) The
two guitarists first offered "Mayonaise", which is a great
song but came with the realization that James Iha would not be
appearing on stage as he had at recent dates in Las Vegas and
Chicago. Nonetheless, I was delighted by the new take on "Soma",
in which Billy played keyboards, Jeff handled lead electric guitar,
and the rest of the band finally came on stage: Katie Cole on bass
and backing vocals, Sierra Swan on keyboards and backing vocals, and
of course, Jimmy on drums. The keyboard-heavy take still brimmed with
enough energy to make it work, even if the mix in the room made the
bass drum too boomy.
"Rocket"
was also done with Billy at the keyboard, which made for a solid new
interpretation (versions with acoustic guitar were done by the band
since before Siamese Dream
even came out) and still managed to rock. "Spaceboy" and
"Today" were both done in fairly standard but solid
arrangements, but they brought out a surprise with "Whir",
nominally a pastoral outtake from Siamese Dream
(released on Pisces Iscariot
a year later), but transformed here into a more rocking version than
appeared on record. The
highlight was Jeff's perfectly
appropriate lead electric
parts. The
last of the Siamese
tracks was "Disarm", which Billy played
solo on a keyboard. The starkness of the performance came as a sudden
departure in tone and didn't quite work. While certainly not a bad
song, it stuck out and felt tedious.
The
band made another sudden departure when Jeff began layering guitar
effects and gradually building up to "Sorrows (in Blue)",
originally from Corgan's 2005 solo album, The Future
Embrace. Corgan, in the first
instance I've ever seen, didn't even play an instrument! Partway into
the first verse, a electronic backing tracks
began filling
in the drum and synth programming. It sounded cool, but it was an odd
choice to use pre-recorded tracks when the full band was available.
This same trend continued for "Eye", which was especially
odd, considering that the band have done excellent rock arrangements
(including the first time I saw them in 2008). Nonetheless, Jeff kept up the
lead
guitar work and they made it work. For "Saturnine" (an
Adore outtake that
eventually appeared on Judas O),
Chamberlin came back out, but
Corgan remained instrumentless and they still relied on electronic
backing. "Identify" followed suit, but I was surprised
enough as it was that they were even performing the song! Originally
written primarily by Billy Corgan, it appeared on the Stigmata
soundtrack, but performed by Natalie Imbruglia. In 2014, a demo
version featuring Corgan's vocals was leaked (perhaps through some
party involved in trying to get the Machina
reissue released), which made
me wonder if this performance was connected to that recent spark in
interest. The last song with a discernible backing track was "1979",
which was played in the standard acoustic version with doubled drums
parts.
The
band took it down a notch for a serene version of "Stand Inside
Your Love", which started out with Cole on lead vocals before
Corgan joined in. Swan also contributed backing vocals. This lighter
theme with both women singing backing parts continued for "Pinwheels"
and "Lily". This led to an abrupt change when
Corgan introduced
"Malibu" (originally
by Hole but co-written with Corgan)
with Cole on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Swan on
bass and Corgan on
electric guitar. The latter
two both sang backing parts
as well. There was a redemptive feeling in Corgan finally wielding
his classic electric guitar sound, but it was strange to see it
applied to that particular
song. It was followed by "The
Spaniards", a new,
unreleased song with Billy back on lead vocals. Jeff and him shared
lead parts, which was a pleasure to behold, albeit again
somewhat out of place in the
set.
Most
dates of the tour ended the
main set there. We were granted one extra song, apparently due to our
proximity to the subject matter of the song: a cover of ZZ Top's "La
Grange", written about a brothel in the Texas
town of the same name. Swan
took lead vocals initially but then just wandered about the stage
with her phone in hand while the guitarists wailed. Sure, the
interplay was great, but the song is horrible. Matters weren't
improved by the encore, which was just a cover of The Rolling Stones'
"Angie". While not a bad song, the Pumpkins just didn't
have much to add to it. What's with Corgan and seemingly not knowing
how to end concerts? Finishing with a few middling covers just
doesn't leave a strong impression. This wasn't as bad as when I saw them in 2008 and they concluded with three long, heavy,
meandering covers, but it was also just a bit of a letdown.
[The only halfway decent shot I got all night.]
Other
than the covers, I got the impression that Billy was in a mood to
reclaim some of his history. He historically has generally shied away
from mixing up the various projects of his life (i.e. Zwan never
played Pumpkins songs, the reformed Pumpkins never played Zwan songs,
and the same separation was
also mostly
true with Corgan's solo work), but this tour is a deliberate
deviation from that pattern. He played plenty of hits and select
album cuts, but he also chose a few fairly obscure songs, and the
performance of several songs Corgan wrote outside of the Pumpkins is
quite a novelty. For a fan well-versed in the Corgan discography, it
was a delight. Still, one can only wonder at some of the choices.
There was nothing from Gish
or Adore, nor anything
from the early reunification years (Zeitgeist,
If All Goes Wrong, and
the early Teargarden by Kaleidyscope
era) or even the latest album, Monuments to an Elegy.
There were two new songs, both decent, but those and "Pinwheels"
from Oceania were the
only post-reunification selections.
The
acoustic arrangements were mostly quite successful, adding further
proof that Corgan is a gifted arranger when he sets out for it. It
also helped that I generally
find Corgan's live sound to
be superior to the weird,
artificial sheen that graces the production of all of Corgan's studio
work since the days of Zwan. The full electric portion at the end was
a bit out of place, but only somewhat
disappointing because it didn't feature any
classic Pumpkins jams. The
biggest surprise for me was the electronic portion in the middle: but
again, I felt like Billy was trying to reclaim his mark on music
history. Indeed, he was a bit ahead of the curve in embracing
electronic music in alternative rock, and it's easy to forget how
jarring that was at the time.
It
was also nice to see Corgan play with a band that he felt comfortable
and confident with. Schroeder,
despite being silent and inscrutable, performed
wonderfully and apparently
serves as a
reliable foil for Corgan. He
seems to have grown into his role well. Chamberlin
is always a welcome addition,
and Corgan's work is consistently the better for it. His
drumming was more restrained than
normal, as appropriate for the material, but when he let loose, he
was incredible. Cole and Swan both performed
well, but there is something odd about Corgan's revolving door of
women bassists. Maybe I'm being unfair.
The
only other thing on my mind during the show was Corgan's appearance
on Alex Jones' Infowars
show before the concert. I already knew that Corgan was somewhat out
of touch and bizarrely critical of millennials (is that related to
why Mike Byrne left the band?), but his politics have veered towards
the terrible as time has gone on. This time, things got even worse:
he compared social justice warriors to the KKK. If that had happened
before I bought the ticket, I probably wouldn't have gone. Pull your
head out of your ass, dude.
Scores:
Liz Phair: C+
The Smashing Pumpkins:
B+
[Edit 2019.08.11: P.S. Somehow I forgot to mention that this show was bootlegged. It's available for download here.]
