NEW YORK POSTに、先日NYで行われたSmashing Pumpkinsの20th Anniversary Tourのレヴューが掲載されています。このツアーではバンド編成が9人という大所帯になっていることもあり、楽曲にかなりのアレンジが加えられているようで、それについてこのレヴューを書いた人はちょっと辛口なコメントをしています。写真のキャプションに「ちょっと遅いハロウィーン」と書かれていますが、自分もこの衣装にはびっくり！でもライヴの善し悪しは自分が体感してみなければわかりませんよね！
原文は下記
By DAN AQUILANTE
Last updated: 7:44 am
November 8, 2008
Posted: 12:15 am
November 8, 2008
SMASHING Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan has had a chip on his shoulder since the grungy old days, when his band played second fiddle to acts like Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Twenty years later, on the band’s reunion tour that played the United Palace Theater, that chip is still there. At the close of the two-hour, 23-song set – which often meandered into mind-numbing experimental noise rock – Corgan was visibly upset at the boos that were mixed with the applause.
The bald rocker – clad in his signature “zero” shirt and a floor-length prom skirt – stood center stage and asked if the audience was asking themselves, “Did I pay to watch this sh – – ?”
He answered himself, saying “We love you so, that’s why we torture you with our music.” That elicited more boos from the crowd, prompting Corgan to counter with a non sequitur that sounded even stranger coming from a guy in a dress: “Those are the kind of boos that put the Yankees on top.”
His we’re-not-happy-unless-you’re-not-happy attitude sank Thursday’s show.
While Corgan might believe that his best work lies in the Smashing Pumpkins back catalog, in concert, fans like hits. He didn’t deliver, and he paid the price.
The fan desire for favorite songs was illustrated by the unabashed love they displayed when he and the band rendered “Tonight, Tonight” and the late-show highlight “Bullet With Butterfly Wings.”
It might be hard to do the Pumpkins’ great old songs because they’re now a nine-piece band with only Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin remaining from the original quartet. To keep the now-larger band happy (and busy), Corgan is using the Pumpkins’ more complex experimental arrangements that musicians love to play but which often turn off mainstream audiences.
How dull did it get? During the final three songs before the encore – “Heavy Metal Machine,” “Glass and the Ghost Children” and “Set the Controls” – even the guys at the light/sound station set in the orchestra were openly yawning.
Keeping the band happy is important, but Corgan has forgotten that the fans come first in concert, and if you get booed you don’t blame them.
On Tuesday the Smashing Pumpkins release a new DVD titled “If All Goes Wrong.” Those who attended this show saw that film live.
