Comments on: Billy Corgan Prepares To Test That “1000 True Fans” Hypothesis By Alienating A Huge Chunk Of His Audience

By: Richaod

Richaod — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:41:15 +0000

Anyone remember when Billy refused to play Pumpkins songs on his solo tours? Seems like he's still doing it!

Btw, "that song from the Watchmen trailer" is about 10 years old and originally featured on the Batman and Robin soundtrack, which I suppose is why no one remembers it.

By: Dick Laurent is dead.

Dick Laurent is dead. — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:56:33 +0000

I like to pretend he died after making Machina and was replaced a Cylon/alien/Elvis/whathaveyou…it’s less painful that way.

By: so1omon

so1omon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:31:23 +0000

I know it’s not a popular opinion, but Jeff Schroeder is 10 times the guitar player that James Iha ever was. That being said, I’ve been bored to tears with everything the Pumpkins have done since Siamese Dream.

By: Christopher R. Weingarten

Christopher R. Weingarten — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:02:38 +0000

I hope Weezer does this too.

By: T'Challa

T'Challa — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:32:21 +0000

@sydbarrett05: I'm right there with you. I was lucky enough to see the SP multiple times during the Gish era, and they were brilliant. At the same time, Billy would barely speak between songs, which was obviously a wise choice.

But when I saw them on that notorious Lollapalooza tour in '95(?) with the Beastie Boys, it had already turned to shit. Billy berated the audience basically for not screaming as loud for them as for the BBs. And as much as people tried to get into it, he just settled into dick mode for the rest of the night. I think I saw them once after that, and by then D'arcy was gone, and it was just not the same.

I'll always swear by everything they put out through 'Siamese Dream'/'Pisces Escariot', and that's pretty much it.

Don't you just hate it when a good artist turns out to be a screaming ass? I sure do. He can't even get James Iha to come back around, and that's a genuine shame...

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:22:42 +0000

Funny…I saw them in 1991 at Barrymore’s in Ottawa…and that show was AMAZING!!!
I never saw them again…
And they never were making music I liked after that…(Billy’s nonsense to the press about how the second LP was gonna be miles different to the first one…resulted in king-sized disgust in me when I heard it…yep…it was just better produced versions of the first record…in my mind at the time….and also it wasn’t as good…)

No…I saw them at their Zenith..and James Iha covered Syd Barrett’s “Terrapin” at that concert too! Billy played a mean guitar that night….it was great…

By: Elijah-M

Elijah-M — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:45:53 +0000

He more or less did the same thing when I saw them open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Roseland in 1991. He berated the crowd for not being more enthusiastic, which seemed odd, since his band wasn’t what people had paid money to see. At the time, I made a very important mental note: no matter how good their albums are, never pay to see this band. It’s hardly a suprise that 17 years later, he’s still every bit as much of a dick.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:32:49 +0000

I was there last night, wasn't as bad as everyone is saying. I think he was saying these things in more of a sarcastic manner but, if there's anything to be learned from this situation, we should never take Billy Corgan too seriously.

Also, there was a shirt they were selling that read "The Smashing Pumpkins: 20 Years of Sadness." My friend and I both decided it would be better if it read "The Smashing Pumpkins: 20 years of sadness (13 years of baldness)"

By: smashirony!

smashirony! — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:03:25 +0000

Are they sure it was Billy Corgan, and not Lou Barlow in goth drag?

By: Ned Raggett

Ned Raggett — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:58:58 +0000

My decision to pretend this ‘reunion’ never happened keeps being increasingly justified.