This was the second time that I have seen the Pumpkins live. The only complaint that I really have was waiting for almost 2 hours for the show to begin. Once they came out my frustration went away. I loved the setlist although I thought they could have changed it up a little. Billy seemed to really enjoy performing. To sum it up I LOVED IT.

"Set The Controls, though... talk about a waste of time. The few on here who have said it was some artistic thing they were glad to be a part of are full of crap, to be honest. It was more like Billy playing on some kettle drums for 10 minutes like a child in a music store who's intrigued by the funny noises all the strange instruments make."

I guess the older crowd may have enjoyed it more because they are more familar with and have a greater appreciation for Pink Floyd and some of the older psychedelic bands from the 60's and 70's that also engaged in that sort of 'extended experimental jam'. I completely understand if the younger set did not appreciate it, but I thought it was transcendtal and reminded me a lot of my first Pink Floyd show in the 80's. Plus the acid probably isn't as good today as it was back then...

This was my first time seeing any version of the Pumpkins, and I've been an avid fan for over 13 years. I'm still disappointed that James Iha isn't involved, and I honestly feel like they should call themselves something different with only 2/4 of the band (Bashing Pumpkins?)

Honestly, I tend to regard the new CD and the current lineup as Billy's REAL solo project (ignoring TheFutureEmbrace), since the new band members - who do an excellent job - haven't contributed to the writing or recording of any of the new music. I've listened to a lot of live recordings from the old days, and the new live sets just don't seem to have the same kind of energy that I think a guitarist like James brought to it.

But, enough complaining. It's still wonderful to see Billy and Jimmy playing music, and they still put on a great show and do the old songs justice. As other reviewers have mentioned, they took over 90 minutes longer to come out than the advertised time, and took the stage without even acknowledging that everyone had been waiting for so long. It's extremely disrespectful to fans who have traveled and spent hard-earned money to see the show, and no matter how much fun I had, I don't think it's excusable.

United States was by far my favorite song of the night, and Billy let out a few of the screams you don't hear very often that he's so good at, it made my night.

Set The Controls, though... talk about a waste of time. The few on here who have said it was some artistic thing they were glad to be a part of are full of crap, to be honest. It was more like Billy playing on some kettle drums for 10 minutes like a child in a music store who's intrigued by the funny noises all the strange instruments make. I know he has a penchant for extending songs, rearranging them, or going to into long instrumentals, and on a song like Gossamer it's a little more tolerable and welcome (though some of the bootlegs of that drone on forever, too, in between the actual verses and song). I'm aware they really don't care what anyone thinks, and they're just there to have fun and do what they want, but all I could think during the 20 minutes they were making spaceship noises that they could have been playing one of the hundreds of songs I've waited 13 years to hear them play. I realize this wasn't the 'comeback' tour (I won't call it the reunion because it's NOT a reunion if only half the band is involved) and they're using the same setlist, and I was very happy with the other songs (Eye, TBITEITB, Today) and Once Upon a Time was fantastic.

Despite my gripes, I'm glad I went, and will try to go see them again on the next tour. Just be ready to put up with some rock star egoism, but really, if you're a fan of Billy Corgan, you already love and hate him for it and should be expecting it.

Loved every second of it. God bless!

Been a fan of the band forever. Thought the show was solid overall and only have 2 complaints:
-Don't start a show that late and not say anything about it, that's kind of disrespectful to everyone there, if he metioned it i woulda been cool and i understand the whole waiting for night thing. poor planning.
-i'm a musician in what is considered sort of a jam band...meaning i'm very open minded to long drawn out "songs" or "experiments", but this is a band that can't do it. sorry but it's true. feedback isn't jamming, it's making noise...set the controls at its heart is good, but that was too much jibberjabber going on...i tried so hard to get into it but couldn't. it brought the show to a screaching halt. ashame really. and again, im all for "art", but come on, we know that was pushing it to the point of obserdity.
-other than that though, brilliant show, sounded great, good mix of material. GLOW, Tranformer, and Tarantula are awesome. The hits were solid...The speech about it being a gift and then going through the motions of Today kinda ruined that song for me a bit, but still a great tune. I wish artists would embrace their past, its frustrating when they dont and act ashamed of it, but at least he includes old tunes in the sets and seems to enjoy most of em.
-I totally would see em again, again, and again...that was lame, sorry.
-billy might be the most underrated guitar player ever by the way, amazing stuff.

This show was amazing, and many people's comments have summed up what happened. The journey through the music was phenomenal, the sounds and Billy's words held up a huge mirror in my face, showing my faults and the good things too. It cut to the core of my being, a healing process. The setlist was fantastic, and soaring through the Set The Controls psychedelia was a highlight. The birdcalls, distortion, drones, screeches, it all created a mass of energy, and I'm glad some people could feel it, and its great to hear the Pumpkins doing this, showing their mystifying potential to manifest the anamoly, chaos, and vision. I agree, Billy is certainly a magician!

Gosh, there is so much to be said about this show! Oh anyone who reads this is welcome to read my blog about the journey Out and In to the Charlotte, Charlottesville, and Raleigh shows! Enjoy, and many blessings! www.myspace.com/hellodolly

2008-08-16 Smashing Pumpkins - Charlottesville Pavillion, Charlottesville, VA

Billy Corgan changed my life tonight. Maybe it was the full moon. Maybe it was the lunar eclipse, but Billy is part magician, all genius and he was on fire tonight. I arrived not knowing what to expect and it didn't help that the Smashing Pumpkins did not take the stage until 8:30pm, a full 90 minutes late ('Billy does not want to start playing before sunset' - anonymous security guard), or that I was the only 40-something in a crowd of 1000 black-clothed, nose ring-wearing, Goth teenagers, some of whom may have been in diapers when the SPs released their first album, 'Gish', in 1991.

When Billy finally took the stage wearing a shiny silver metallic skirt, I did not know what to expect and, not being too familiar with their songs, I was slightly disgruntled at first. Very soon that feeling left as Corgan rocked that pavillion like he was half Hendrix, half Pearl Jam with some Peter Gabriel-style showmanship thrown in for extra measure.

Jimmy Chamberlin was very competent on drums, but I could barely take my eyes off Billy long enough to notice that he was there. The bass player, Ginger Reyes, looked like a blonde doll in a red tutu, black stockings and black leather boots up to her knees, but laid some down some of the most ferocious bass riffs ever with an instrument that was almost as tall as she was. A very sexy 'dominatrix' handled keyboards with incredible dexterity. 'Our keyboard playing will be handling all of your domination needs after the show' Billy said as he introduced keyboardist Lisa Harriton.

At one point they played a song called 'United States', where Billy started playing this Hendrix-style version of 'Star Spangled Banner' and then during 'Heavy Metal Machines' he quoted Cream, Jimi Hendrix 'Wild Thing' and Ted Nugent 'Stranglehold' on guitar. The speakers were so loud that I actually thought I was having a heart attack.

Then there was a brief set where Billy played some slow songs on a miniature piano and drum set, while the rest of the band took a break. I also went for more wine during this interlude. When I got back, things really got crazy.

They played several of their hits, such as 'Bullet', and then went into this long extended Pink Floyd-type jam called 'Set the Controls', where Billy started out on timpani and then moved to guitar, while Jeff Schroeder played a theremin. I was tripping so hard at this point I forgot that I hadn't even taken acid...although a couple of guys were smoking some righteous stuff very nearby.

As I walked off into the night, completely transformed and fully satisfied, I could hear Billy playing some kind of bizarre kazoo solo and I was thinking to myself "I have not felt this good in a long time and I wish that I could share this feeling with everyone." That's what music does: it energizes, transforms and inspires us to feel the best we are capable of feeling. Everyone with a pulse should try to catch the SPs while they are still touring and see what it feels like.

I've seen SP about 8 times... but this one was very special to me... I have never seen billy have so much fun on stage than he did tonite... and since he was having fun... I was having fun.... they played an old ass pink floyd song which was incredible... Tarantula rocked the house.. and I loved the references to Radiohead and the Beatles... did anyone catch what he said about that? I felt like BIlly was talking directly to me... its weird, like I could feel it.... strange.... strange.... strange....

i last saw billy and co. over 11 years ago. in richmond. on my 17th birthday. the finale of that show was a 20 minute long silver[bad word removed] that somehow turned into a feedback hate letter/therapy session filled with cryptic stabs at some woman who had done mr. corgan wrong. after two hours the hits had been played, my friends had taken their seats, bored with what the show had become. i was mesmerized. i did not sit. i was one of the few who appreciated seeing a group of musicians(specifically their frontman) creating brand new material before me on stage. experimenting and exercising demons at the same time. it was like riding shotgun with a blind person at the wheel.
and i get the feeling that this happens at every pumpkins show. last night i did not sit. i can think of no other "popular" band who does this. who taunts their audience with massive singles one minute, and closes the show with something like "set the controls". the pumpkins played every kind of song for every kind of fan last night. and challenged each of us to listen for something new instead waiting for something old.
its safe to assume billy has a chip on his shoulder and is out to prove he has no intention of letting his past determine his future. his guitar was the star of last nights show and one forgets how [bad word removed]ing good he is listening to records for so long. the drums made my chest hurt. the kazoos lifted my spirits. the pumpkins became my favorite band all over again last night. and i hope they come back to virinia next year. and bring all their complicated hearts and noises with them.

I was one who stood on my feet for hours to get up front and then hours waiting for the band to appear. It also occurred to me and a guy next to me that maybe the fans should start chanting for the pumpkins - showing them some enthusiasm. When we did start chanting "pumpkins...", they appeared. Once they appeared, the show was incredible. I am one of those fans in between the 'young' crowd and the 'old' crowd and have a ton of respect for pumpkins classics as well as their newer sounds and for long crazy space-like adventures with fun instruments.

For those that couldn't handle the long forays into experimental music - you don't know the pumpkins well. It is those journeys that lead to great music.

Fun time all around - kazoos in the crowd to my left, and the loud guy shouting his one liners after each song to my right. Billy being as crazy as ever right in front, Jimmy doing what he does best, and the rest of the band "getting it done".

Rock on!

Let's get over the disappointment of last night already. Anyone who is a true pumpkins fan knew this was a warm-up tour show. They clearly stated they would be playing the same setlist every night of this brief two week tour. It was to include a few songs from every album. For those who wanted to hear more of the hits they should have seen them last fall while they were on tour because you were going to be disappointed with these current shows. I saw them in Philly on 10/21/07 and they kicked a**. One guy who was leaving early last night said "when you see them in Philly again ask Billy if he has sold any albums". This coming from a couple who decided on an impromptu purchase of tickets for this show, this guy should have done his reasearch before paying $41+ per ticket. The crowd was awesome in the front section even though I was not sitting there. I was back in the front of the grass and behind me were mostly people too busy drinking, smoking, basically just wasting their money socializing instead of watching the show. No wonder so many people are in debt.

The true fan knew what this show was going to be like. I mean how could you not when you knew the setlist order and you knew what was coming next. The 20th anniversary shows will be awesome and even though I will not be able to attend I know the band will rock!!

As for the setlist. I agree it rocked bascially up until the last 3 songs and some people just don't understand why some of the songs are so long, but that is how SP does things. It was great to see them last night even if it wasn't quite the show they put on last fall. The true pumpkins fan will stick with Billy and the others can go f*** themselves as Billy would say. Like he said last night he has been boo'd some many times he has become immune to those kind of people who can't show any respect. Keep it rockin' SP and I will see you again soon!!

As you'll read in Chiavi_surf's post, the night did not get off on the right foot. nearly 2 hours of that horrible collection of music is enough to make a man cry.

Finally the band emerged, just as the sun was almost set, and they rocked. The first half of the set was quite enjoyable playing a good mix of old and new. The second half is where it went downhill for me. The last 30 minutes or more of the show was a display of obnoxious noise and spaceship sounds. Instead of playing songs people actually wanted to hear, we got this crap. When listening to the Porcupine Tree or the Mars Volta, I expect these type of interludes. I did not expect SP to blast the crowd with shapeless music.

After this so-called music was over, they left the stage only to return for an encore. I said to myself, "after that this better be one heck of an encore." It wasn't worth staying for. While I appreciated the humor of playing a song with kazoos, I didn't pay 40+ dollars for it.

Above are all things I was disappointed with but there was enough good to make the concert worth the trip.

For starters, the band sounded tight and the music was mixed perfectly. Billy's voice still has it going on and there were some awesome songs played. Not to sound like a total tool, but Bullet with Butterfly wings was amazing and made everything better.

"Feed Your Head" WPC channels Grace Slick??

Christ... so it is 3:00AM now, and I've just managed to drive back. And, before the gritty (and choicer) bits of the show leave me, I figured I'd try and lash something together here... make sense of that raucous we all just experienced. Wild stuff to be sure.

So, William Patrick Corgan said, "feed your head." Indeed. But it wasn't until the amassed crowd was forced to endure hours (in fact, 2hrs) of Motown -- which, granted, has a time and place -- but an Honest Man can only stand the stuff for so long before tell-tale signs of strain emerge...

And emerge they did. Vicious rumors began to circulate throughout those gathered when ticket-listed showtime of Seven o'Clock came and went. The sun was still high when whispers of "cancellation" and "expensive light-setup wasted in daylight" circulated between tattooed "co-exist" teens and 17-year-old girls being hit on with offers of cigarettes despite the Fire Marshall's best efforts. Generally speaking, it was a straight-laced crowd, young heros lookin' for a pumpkins' fix. But hell, those two hours of Motown stressed even the better of us. "[bad word removed] the lights, we're here for music. Let's rock." But in vain...

When that blasted sun finally set, the stage manager judged full-lighting effect would justify the expense -- or so we can only imagine was the twisted reasoning. Either the event booker and event manager had no idea what timezone VA was in or Charlottesville Pavilion was thought to be an indoor venue. Either way, it will obviously mean someone's ass.

And the band took to the stage. Bring the Light! Okay, so money can buy some damn impressive lighting!

And rock they did. By far, one of the more interesting pumpkins shows your humble reviewer has attended.

Highlights would certainly include the following:
+ Mayonaise: damn, it's a good song. Something more meaningful about it when viewed through the Present -- and not the past. BC seemed to sing as a guardian rather than interjecting himself within the song. "when your life is so, so dreary, Dream."

+ Transformer: heavy rhythm you can feel; the song starts out live in a form you can't quite recognize as such... and it works -- though I'd say the rhythm/intro may call for its own song.

+ The Beginning is the End is the Beginning: we're all strange and fixing on Our Strange Leader. I'd never heard this song live... between Lisa and Jimmy it was certainly a force to be reckoned with... especially combined with BC's on-stage writhings. Strange indeed. You could feel the onlookers from the road (outside the pavilion) begin to crawl! Lead on!

+ United States -- never much a fan of the album version, but this rang true tonight. Damn, and you could guess that someone really did want to fight a revolution. No doubt it is a tour-de-force with Jimmy on drums; amazing time. Plus, BC's star-spangled-banner playing w/ teeth didn't hurt either.

+ Heavy Metal Machine -- Jesus! The whole thing was like BC's referendum on the world/popular culture. "Kept your motor clean?" Keep your motor runnin'. It takes the song's original concept, "if I were dead, would my records sell" to a whole new level. The Mighty SP is alive and well in this place and "kickin' your ass for another couple years." The intro was Massive Feedback that drowned out the drumkit and had everyone around me wondering, "that can't be good. is something broken?" Hope YOU kept YOUR motor runnin'.

+ Rose March: people around me were asking, "where is that from?" It was like a new invention -- and folks really got behind it. Backup vocals really put this thing in perspective. It's a slick vehicle.

+ SuperChrist: notable for the lighting coordination -- all white lights to time. Very cool.

+ Audience exchange prior to Today, BC's "gift." Certainly the younger demographics did not go unnoticed to the band's frontman. You couldn't help but find humor in BC's account of older fans "30's+" only wanting the "older songs" -- to which the young audience, themselves, cheered heartily for the Older Songs. Whether or not the young crowd was Really just egging him on, I don't know, but that's how I took it. Much laughter.

+ Kettle-drums/bows/beachboy-device/gongs/birds/trippy sounds: holy hell, what was this!? and where did it come from? AND, why not? Mass confusion swept the previously happily head-boppin' crowd when they collectively realized this wasn't merely a tuning exercise -- nor was it in four-four time. Folks, in a desperate panic, turned to one another with questioning stares... "what is going on here?" Can you see the glory of this moment? So far out of their comfort zone, the audience was stricken, unable to move to these new sounds. Is it something humorous? How could it not be? And evokes strong memories of Iha with his laser gun -- especially when the damn birds came out. A fellow in front of me shouted at its conclusion, "That's My Favorite Song." And moments after he'd muttered it, 'song' hung heavy in the air. But it was so. Something to be enjoyed.

+ Kazoos! Accordion! We Only Come Out At Night -- Summer.
Wow! How can you not love this band? I spotted a few folks with kazoos prior to the show's commencement. I could tell by the look in their eye that they knew something was coming that I did not. And so it was.
Kazoo solos give one hope and even thinking fond thoughts of tomorrow. March On.