Whatever Will Be Will Be Again

The Smashing Pumpkins @ United Palace, 11/7/2008 (White Crosses)

Ava Adore / Cupid de Locke / 1979 / 99 Floors / Owata / Sunkissed / Soma / Cherub Rock / Zero / Bodies / Crestfallen / I of the Mourning / Song For A Son / Landslide / Disarm / Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness / Galapagos / Gossamer / As Rome Burns / The Sounds Of Silence + Little Red Riding Hood metal dirge medley / The March Hare / Suffer / The March Hare (reprise) / Age of Innocence // That’s The Way (My Love Is) / I Am One, Part Two

The Smashing Pumpkins “Soma” (Live in 1993)

This was much more like it, though there were still some problems. The band wisely got the audience on its side right away with strong, faithful versions of three old classics before settling into a handful of mellow and nondescript new numbers. Following that, they just totally killed it from “Soma” through “Bodies,” which, as you can probably imagine, made the audience go bananas. “Soma” in particular was exactly as amazing and powerful as you’d hope, and thoroughly brought the house down. Why it was not saved for the end of the show is beyond me. In both nights, Corgan’s logic appears to be “I’m going to give you some songs you want, but then the rest of show will be very taxing and questionable in terms of quality,” and I think it would be wiser to have those more challenging moments followed up by the reward of a mind-blowing fan-favorite like “Soma” or “Zero” rather than to burn through all of those songs by the 90 minute mark. (That said, I got a lot out of “Age of Innocence,” which is one of my own sentimental favorites, but I don’t get the sense that a significant number of people share my affection for that song.)

A few notes:

* Before “Landslide,” Billy had some guy from the audience come on stage to tell him that the previous night’s show sucked, but that he didn’t want his money back. While Corgan was unreasonably gracious to give this dude a voice, he followed it by mocking the guy in a way that was obnoxiously defensive and somewhat homophobic, something to the effect of “Oh, I loved that song you wrote. “Take Your Dick Out Of My Ass And Stick It In My Mouth,” that was a big hit in Europe.”

* Of the new material, the reprise section of “The March Hare” is the most interesting, if just because it goes off in this sorta quasi-Afrobeat zone that is genuinely different from music the band has done in the past. Ultimately, the trouble with much of the new tunes is that they generally seem like uninspired versions of archetypal Pumpkins songs. “Gossamer,” for example, aspires to be this grand, epic psychedelic ballad, but it lacks anything in the way of an ingratiating hook, and so it just comes off like 15 minutes of aimless riffs and noodling. “As Rome Burns” recalls the heavier songs from the Mellon Collie era, particularly the outtakes that ended up on the “Zero” EP, but Jimmy Chamberlain’s drumming is overly busy and prevents the piece from gelling into something strong and cohesive. The group’s extended metal take on “The Sounds of Silence,” which has virtually nothing to do with the Simon & Garfunkel hit aside from retaining its opening lyrics, was a distant cousin of “X.Y.U,” but was utterly devoid of that song’s brilliant dynamics and momentum.

* More to the point, I found myself thinking about whether or not Corgan is noticing, as he plays the songs, that his compositions from the early to mid 90s are far more sophisticated and well constructed than his latest work, which mostly seems rather lazy and tossed-off. “99 Floors” and “Owata” are pleasant, but desperately need to be tightened up, as both go on too long, and just plod from part to part in a way that robs the chord changes and nice bits of melody of any impact. His work has become increasingly undisciplined, and it breaks my heart because he’s capable of such great things.

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