(Originally published on FasterLouder)
How the hell do you review a Billy Corgan show? The main vision behind all that was The Smashing Pumpkins, one of the most loved bands of the ‘90s, has returned after seven years, touring on the back of his first solo album, which has received mixed reactions. Expectations, fears and a touch of hysteria could all be said to be running high. Tears, joy, sorrow, passion… it was hard to tell which the night would end in.
Initially there seemed a very real danger that the night would be a disappointment. Visually the show was a feast. Front and centre was the man himself, Mr. Corgan, alone with a guitar and microphone, surrounded by a very futuristic landscape. A giant screen of tiled lights displayed moving patterns and images behind the band, which consisted of fellow Chicago folk Brian Liesegang (who has worked with Filter and Veruca Salt) on laptop and synthesisers, Matt Walker (who amongst other projects played with The Smashing Pumpkins during the recording of the Adore album) on electronic drums and the relatively unknown Linda Strawberry on synthesisers and backing vocals. Each band member had specially constructed stands for their instruments which seemed to contain them within circles of alien technology, with only Strawberry venturing outside of hers to sometimes sing closer to Billy. But the overwhelming feel was a little cold. With such a reliance on synthesised and digital instruments, the live recreations of songs ended up sounding exactly like the album versions. Although they did provide something far more interesting visually, the band could have been replaced with backing tapes, with no notable change to the sound (indeed, closing track Strayz was performed in just this manner).
Quarter way through the show, Corgan stopped to talk to the audience, “I don’t know what to say about all the sitting [and] non-rock stuff. It’s so anti-me I don’t know what to do”, but with the all the synths, there really wasn’t the sense of urgency or performance that make for a good rock show. The most exciting moments thus far had come at the end of songs where Corgan had walked around on stage to play guitar solos after the backing stopped. And with my favourite song from TheFutureEmbrace, Mina Loy (M.O.H.) already played; there didn’t seem much hope for change in the rest of the night. But fortunately there were a few tricks left in the bag. Many non-album tracks were played, including a cover of James Moore’s I’m A King Bee, into which he casually slipped the opening bar of Today in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fashion, and another unknown track which fortunately featured a sample of a groovy and dirty bass line. By the time they pulled out AC/DC’s Long Way to The Top, the gig seemed like a complete turn around. Not a person was left in their seat and the show was genuinely pumping. It took a while, but Billy had clearly won over the audience.
Other standout tracks included The Camera Eye and the first song of the encore Walking Shade, which saw Billy return to the stage with an all-black Dimebag-style Washburn, ready to kick some ass. The closing song was the aforementioned Strayz, done in intimate mode, just Billy walking around the stage with a microphone accompanied by a keyboard backing as he reached into the crowd to shake hands. The hysteria and tears that had seemed a possibility all night seemed to come from many corners of the crowd.
And then it was over. But soon the man returned, not to play any more music, but to give a speech which is already on it’s way to becoming infamous. A few audience members couldn’t contain their excitement, and after the first girl rushed the stage to hug him, a small crowd of five or six surrounded him before security could stop them. After this died down, Billy spoke. He thanked us for hounding him over the last seven years, making sure that he was always going to come back to Australia, and for turning the gig from something which had felt like “Grandma’s funeral” into a rock show. He then gave us a “heads up” about the possibility of an acoustic gig in Sydney on their day off. Constant interruptions and calls for information about the possible Smashing Pumpkins reunion (which he must have expected since he announced this desire to the world through a full page newspaper advertisement on the day of his albums release) seemed to test his patience and he gave up, dropping the mic and walking off stage. While handled badly by both sides, it was unfortunate that this ending left everyone with a sour taste, especially after the earlier performance had managed to win over even the most fearful of old fans.
