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Since The Smashing Pumkins have finally announced four Chicago dates -- November 18 and 19 at the Chicago Theatre and November 21 and 22 at the Auditorium Theatre -- on their Gish 20th anniversary tour, we asked our resident music critic to debate the merits of said tour with ... our resident music critic.
CYNICAL TANKBOY: Oh great, Billy's back. As if it weren't insult enough that he pulled the Pumpkins' name out of the grave once his solo career stalled, now he has to add insult to injury by touring with a bunch of session musicians while cashing in on the sentimentality train? I understand times are tough dude, but if you're not going to tour with James Iha and D'arcy you should be calling yourself either The Billy Corgan Experience or ... Zwan.
OPTIMISTIC TANKBOY: Whoah dude, this isn't like Mike Love hijacking The Beach Boys good name and putting out a song like "Kokomo." Everyone knows Bill;y played just about everything but drum on those early albums, so I don't think it's too far a stretch to call any band he's in that includes Jimmy Chamberlain The Smashing Pumpkins. I too wish James and D'Arcy were involved, but they're not, and I actually suspect that the live show might be better for it. I mean do you remember the Gish era Pumpkins? They were terrible on-stage! I'm kind of looking forward to seeing that old material, which includes a lot of what I consider to be the best songs in the Pumkins canon, performed well for the first time.
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So the great billy corgan finally deigns to give Chicago a few dates? This assholes passes his hometown over for YEARS, playing everywhere but here and now he's finally playing? Fuck him. Go Cubs though
It's not the Gish anniversary tour, this is the 20th anniversary tour.
They have talked about doing a Gish-focused tour, but that won't be until the release of the Gish expanded boxset next year.
So long as they don't play any of the subpar new stuff though, it's a little more intruiging.
Trust me, Billy still brings it. Saw them at their chicago stop of the Zeitgeist tour @ The Venue front and center.
Tickets were overpriced, and the levels were crap (too low) at the new venue, but the set list, energy, lights, and just about everything Billy/Jimmy had control over was awesome. Don't care for most of the new stuff, but the only songs they played off the new disk were United States (my fave) as a 10 min centerpiece, which was awesome, and I beileve Doomsday Clock. One of the better shows I've been to.
^They didn't play Doomsday Clock at that show.
And they haven't passed over Chicago for YEARS.
First show back: 5/22/07
So a year and a half of touring, they are winding up in Chicago. Don't lots of artist do this? Save the hometown shows til the last part of touring?