So, having spent twelve years getting my arse around to seeing the Smashing Pumpkins live, it ended an hour early with a botched acoustic version of 1979.
He walked off, no goodbye, no Cherub Rock, no nothing. Billie afterward explained that he's always looking to the audience to see smiling faces, and that last night there weren't any. Apparently we as a crowd were not entertaining enough.
It's a shame, because despite my first instinct to moan at such an unproffessional display of diva, for the hour and a half they were on stage they were fucking brilliant. And in a way I can't really blame him. Since the Pumpkins proper folded, Billy and Jimmy haven't had too much luck. Rumour has it that communications in Zwan had become so strained that Pajo quit by fax. The Future Embrace was an interesting experiment in aural endurance, but it didn't really have any songs on it...and Corgan's decision to announce the reformation of the Pumpkins the day before the album was released suggests he knew it.
So he reclaims his name and his songs, but can do no better than a half full house at the Nottingham Arena (small by arena standards...). It's gotta be tough looking out to see a LOT of empty seats when you were hoping for a return to former glory.
Whatever the case, you can't beat Porcelina as an opener, newish song Tarantula sounded absolutely immense, and Mayonnaise will stay with me for a long time. I only wish Billy could have faked it, for just one more show.
