Illinois Entertainer has published a new Chicago-centric list of the top 25 tracks in the city’s history.  The Smashing Pumpkins make an appearance at #20 with “Cherub Rock” from Siamese Dream:

Bdddrrddddrrrr-bap! The greatest guitar album of the alt-rock era began with an impish drumroll, followed by rudimentary, clean-tone octave chords. “Cherub Rock” was one of Billy Corgan’s earliest rebukes to a scene that didn’t want him, but the success is in its disarming simplicity, not the textbook rage. The rest of 1993’s Siamese Dream – Corgan’s masterpiece before he latched onto the idea of attempting masterpieces – traversed gauzy textures and pumpkin chords, yet needed a “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to focus it. “Cherub Rock,” one of the last songs written for the LP, was its godsend.

Other notables:

• #1 “Dust My Broom” - Penned by Robert Johnson, performed by Elmore James, covered by Zwan.
• #2 “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” - Muddy Waters’ biopic and related thoughts were recently covered on HU.
• #14 “Come Sail Away” - Styx.  This song?  Amazing.

Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin faves Ministry, Material Issue, and Cheap trick make the cut too.  Click here for the full list.

Despite recent publicity-grabbing controversy regarding what Billy Corgan did not say about Apple’s flagship iTunes software (hey lazy journalists, original interview here! We call that a PRIMARY SOURCE!), there is some real news today on the tech front.

Macworld is holding its annual conference today in San Francisco at the Moscone Center.  Engadget liveblog here.  The morning’s keynote speakers have made a few new announcements that may affect the Smashing Pumpkins catalogue as well as the music industry at large:

• The debut of new software, “iTunes Plus,” will feature DRM-free music in “much higher quality” — 8 million songs are launching today — sans DRM – and another 2M will be available by the end of the quarter.  Can a girl hold out hope for FLACs?!
• iLife will be updated for a 2009 release, featuring a new version of Garage Band with ‘lessons’ from celebrity musicians like Sting, John Fogerty, and that dude from Fall Out Boy.  Hilarious. I can already see the South Park spoofs pitting Apple and Guitar Hero against each other.  When will BC join the $4.99-a-lesson gravy train?

Making a fashionably late appearance to the tizzy around the Smashing Pumpkins’ recent interview is Rock Town Hall; their byline: “governing the discourse of rock since 2007.”  Their mission statement is equally hilarious: “Rock Town Hall is a place to discuss - and debate - self-important topics in the world of rock ‘n roll…”  Not to put the cart before the strategic marketing horse, but if it’s one thing to which we can claim expertise, it’s self-indulgence — so these guys must be right up our alley.

RTH Blogger “Oats” presents an article today titled “Billy Corgan: The Limits of Winner Rock” and asks two fine questions about the Kot interview:

Is this what happens when you treat every single musical endeavor like you’re entering the ring? Is Corgan emulating post-game press conference-speak to an almost ridiculous level here?

This article on “Winner Rock” is a must-read for context.  Also, blogger “Mr. Moderator”’s comments couldn’t resonate more strongly:

By “winning,” in these terms, I mean things like “being all that one can be”; trying to live up to some ideal rock model; believing that what you are doing is approaching par with rock’s highest achievements, even if it’s wholly delusional. And yes, it’s also about winning over an audience, but not in commercial terms.

ChartAttack.com is no stranger to Hipsters United for their (pathetic) coverage of the Smashing Pumpkins’ latest tour.  Their latest desperate move is to half-heartedly editorialize the recent interview between Greg Kot and Billy Corgan instead of, you know, breaking some news or writing original content:

The Smashing Pumpkins aren’t going to make any more albums, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll be spared from their singles.

No new news in the article, of course, which leads me to wonder why they’re covering the band in the first place.

This just in:  I heard that ChartAttack.com isn’t going to be writing any more articles, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be spared from lazy, vacuous blog posts.

Following up on his interview with Greg Kot, the big squash extends his remarks at SmashingPumpkins.com.  The main clarification on offer is this:

If you come see us on some crazy big tour you will hear a few familiar songs, because that is the right forum for it. But it certainly won’t be the main focus. When we play small venues we won’t be playing those songs pretty much at all cause that won’t be the place for it anymore.

The Friday night show at the Ogden Theater in Denver received a rather intense negative review (though not without begrudging compliments) from DenverPost.com blogger Bree Davies.

Bree pulls no punches with her single sentence lede:

The Smashing Pumpkins are dead to me.

The review checks off the many of the typical list of complaints that we’ve heard time and again:

• Billy’s a dictator: …Billy Corgan’s abusive, manipulative, tyrannical stance over-shadowed any credibility this band had left.
• Jeff and Ginger too closely resemble James and D’arcy: The new members played their parts and did so well, but their uncanny resemblances to the discarded members only added to the sham of it being a real Pumpkins show.
• Set the Controls sucks: It was the perfect end to a baffling, unsatisfying set of non-hits, Billy Corgan-style.

Bree has a personal blog as well, and submitted an entry that further explained the back story behind her disillusionment with the band.

I had vowed not to see them ever again.

I vowed never to see them again because this band, the band I loved had betrayed me.

Bree’s break with the band began with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Wait a minute, MCIS? Not Adore? Not Zeitgeist? Bree’s certainly an example of a relatively rare genus amongst the ranks of those who have been left by the roadside by the musical excursions of the Head Pumpkin.

Regardless, I’m not here to say that Bree’s opinion isn’t worthwhile. But the two blog entries, side by side, each written for a different audience, provides a little more insight than the usual concert review. Billy’s crime in her view is (from her personal blog):

It was that Billy just didn’t give a shit about us anymore. He didn’t give a shit about his fans. He didn’t give a shit that we bought Siamese Dream, the record that almost killed him to make, while simultaneously making him a commercial success. He didn’t care that we identified with him and James and D’Arcy and Jimmy in a way that others outside of this album could understand.

Bree’s armchair psychological diagnosis is offered on her DenverPost.com post:

It seems that no matter how far he comes, or how successful he is, Billy is still fighting his way out of the nerdy, outcast kid body he was given. And as long as we adore him, he will continue to berate us.

In his latest missive for Buzzbands.LA, the Smashing Pumpkins guitarist speaks out regarding the “somewhat unenthusiastic press” directed toward his band on its current tour:

As a band, I think we go up there every night and attempt to convey some notion of the truth—both as individuals and as a collective. But we’re stuck in this moment too. We’re quite aware of the age in which we live, and I feel our musical choices reflect it. We’re not outside it either. To think that we are would be extremely naïve.

As we reported on Monday, the Smashing Pumpkins are due in the Q101 studios in a few minutes to sit down with Local 101 On Q101 and host Chris Payne. Click here to access the live feed and follow along with our comments below!

1:55pm CST - Hostess “Electra” says she’s happy to be taking off a few minutes early from her show since Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan are in the studio to take over for the next hour. Cue the Stone Temple Pilots.

2:00pm CST - Jimmy and Billy are now on air, joking about requiring a “clean” playlist. Chris asks what took them so long to come back to Chicago and Jimmy replies that “it just didn’t add up” yet — they wanted to make sure they came back at a time that “meant something.” They cop to the low-key nature of the post-show partying; Jimmy reports that half an hour after the last show, he was tucking his kids into bed and drinking tea. First song pick?

now playing: Alice in Chains - Dam that River

2:05pm CST - Reminiscing about Alice in Chains… ahhhh, the ’90s. “That record was a big reference for low end for us,” referring to Alice in Chains’ basslines. On to the state of the early ’90s music: “I think we brought a different set of alternative values,” Billy says regarding the grunge scene, claiming they got wrongfully lumped into the Seattle scene. Billy argues that they always thought of themselves as more of a European band; Jimmy concurs.

On celebritydom: Jimmy says the guy at TCBY totally recognizes him.

Now on to the Scorpions. Predictable. The Man-Love for Uli Jon Roth is undeniable. And gee, I sure don’t hear the influence.

now playing: The Scorpions - Sails of Charon

2:12pm CST - Storytime! They’re talking about playing in Germany and meeting Uli Jon Roth and Rudolph Schenker for the first time. They invited Uli to get up (at Rock am Ring) and play with them on “Gossamer,” unrehearsed, in front of 80,000 people. Billy jokes: “It’s 30 minutes long” and Chris laughs. They expected the crowd to go crazy, but Uli’s been out of the Scorpions for 20+ years. “Not exactly the pop we were expecting,” Jimmy says. But it was amazing because of his playing, Billy purports. “Once Uli plays with you, he’s in the band.” They laugh and talk about learning Scorpions songs for a later concert in Germany and surprising Rudolph and Uli. On a related note, Billy tells of being surprised at a U2 concert that Bono was using “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” lyrics.

now playing: The Cure - Fascination Street

2:20pm CST - “We take requests at our concerts,” Billy says. “Just shout it out.” Billy continues on to talk about the structure of the Black Sunshine / White Crosses structure: It’s like “walking through the valley of darkness on the first night and on the second night they seem to embrace us in ‘agape rapture.’” And on the murmurs of audience dissatisfaction? “It’s not a local thing - it’s nationwide.” Jimmy jokes.

They’re talking about what sets the band off and what frustrates them: “when there’s a general assumption that the band doesn’t have a bright future and there’s no hope for the future… That’s what drives us crazy,” Billy says. “We’re really not interested in being that band [of the past].” Billy continues on to talk about the younger fans being more interested in the experimental and the older fans wanting to only hear the old hits.

now playing: ZZ Top [tease]

2:27pm CST - Back to decide another track since the station management calls to cut poor ZZ off.

now playing: UFO - Space Child

2:32pm CST - Now to solicit questions from texters (text to 99161) … this should be interesting.

2:33pm CST- What are the clubs they miss playing at? The Unicorn in Milwaukee. Billy relates a story: “A guy in one of the middle of our goth songs takes the microphone and says ‘play some music!’” That will be part of our bootleg release series, he says. Jimmy jokes that it will be the 30th anniversary before that happens.

2:35pm CST - Question from the peanut gallery about Gossamer. Billy plugs the new DVD, If All Goes Wrong, and says you can find the song there. Billy states he’s very proud of the documentary and how ‘real’ it is and how well it portrays the band as musicians. Jimmy’s song pick next.

now playing: The Killers - Spaceman

2:42pm CST - Time for the text Q&A.

• Will there be a soundtrack to accompany the new DVD? They’d like to do one, but it’s going to come down to fan demand.
• If you could jam with any artist ever, living or deceased, who would it be? John Coltrane quartet for Jimmy. Billy goes for the classic Jimi Hendrix Experience.
• What are some of your favorite and most respected musicians from Chicago, any era? Ministry. Urge Overkill. Material Issue. Precious Wax Drippings. “Oh man, taking me way back,” Jimmy reminisces.
• On the local music scene, Billy says he’s given up and felt that the clique mentality is what hurt the scene back in the early days. “There’s a lot of pressure these days for a band to get really narrow,” Billy argues about the music industry at large and cliquishness.

2:49pm CST - Billy makes some very interesting comments about his inability to relate to contemporary music culture. When they first started the band, he states that they felt they had to work unbelievably hard to even begin to approach the legacy that bands like The Beatles had achieved.

He argues that today’s culture doesn’t support the work-hard-and-reap-rewards mentality; celebrities can be made on MySpace. I have to agree strongly with Billy here when he says (with sadness in his voice) that those stars really never understand their full potential.

now playing: Ministry - Supernaut

2:55pm CST - Billy talks about his recent visit to the White House. Members of the Republican Party wanted to talk art and policy with him over breakfast, he says. Men behind the scenes. [Conspiracy theorists unite!]

On the recent election: “We love Obama” and then “Billy doesn’t vote.” So much for rocking the vote, they joke.

2:57pm CST - Oh no. They have thrown down the Bon Jovi Sellout Gauntlet. Both Billy and Jimmy argue that the Smashing Pumpkins never sold out and never plan on it, even if they can throw down the hits. On their reformation and what to expect in the future, an esoteric response: “I think in another four or five years it will be clearer what we came back to do.”

now playing: Michael Schenker - Rock Bottom

Thanks for playing along with the liveblog. The band is now off the air and on their way to the Auditorium Theatre for Black Sunshine, round two.

So, after entering the Cone of Silence for 3 weeks in order to keep myself as surprised and open-minded as possible about the first 2 dates of the Pumpkins return to the “city by the lake,” the Chicago Theatre shows have rolled by, and here I sit, ready to review.

Only, I’m left entirely flummoxed by the whole ordeal. I could quibble about the song selection, or the performance itself, or Billy’s supposed “rant” Tuesday night, but really, is that remotely any different than any other show in the scheme of things? There’s nothing that was unique about Chicago, and really, that’s probably the main story itself. Chicago shows always used to have an extra jolt of electricity in the air, even if the performance itself was nothing special. Once upon a time the delivery of the “city by the lake” line would be drowned out by the roar of the crowd, but Tuesday was more of a reserved detachment, more of a “what have you done for me lately?” Tuesday’s crowd was especially lackluster, which may have had a lot to do with Billy’s comments by the end of the night. Felt more like a morgue than a rock show a lot of the time. Wednesday’s energy was better, but there was still something lacking, with the only thing making it uniquely Second City the Cubs/Sox discussion midshow.

There’s always been a little bit of a sense of joint experience, common mindset in shows past, but any goodwill Corgan and co. had engendered coming up through the Windy City has passed. It’s not the fault of the band, or the crowd, but too much time has elapsed, and the sense of ownership and the shared pathos has faded into nostalgia. We may both be from the same city, but we’re no longer from the same place.

(more…)

Within the hour, the Smashing Pumpkins will appear on stage at the Chicago Theatre for their homecoming show in the City of Big Shoulders. Marking the beginning of their sold out four-night run, tonight’s show should prove interesting; there are already rumors flying of potential “special guests” and plenty of hype.

HU reader Cara graciously offered to liveblog tonight, so we should be receiving regular updates from her. Stay tuned for her reactions!

6:26pm CST - Cara texts: “Having our own preshow dinner at Elephant and Castle on Wabash and Lake Street, just one block from the theater. Place is packed and they are playing the Pumpkins’ Greatest Hits disc start to finish!! Pumpkins energy is palpable!” Funny, HU blogger Pins was also there earlier for happy hour. He should be wrapping up his thoughts about tonight’s show later this week.

7:00pm CST - It looks like the SPMM Flickr page is being regularly updated, complete with the shot of the marquee below. Ahh, I miss you, city by the lake. At least when it’s not winter.

8:53pm CST - We’re nearly an hour into the show and the first update I’ve received is from Pins. “”New York? Didn’t get the first half of the set. Boston? Not so much. You guys are focused; that’s good. Now he’s talking to a girl in the balcony. Literally.” I am assuming that the first part of this text refers to some ongoing confrontational banter Billy is having with the crowd.

8:59pm CST - Pins responded again, stating that the banter’s weird becaue the crowd is kind of dead. Billy’s going on again: “Oh, good quote. ‘Now that we live in a democracy, you can say what you want.’ BTW, when did it become August again?” I think the latter statement is a testament to Pins’ unwavering decision to ignore all coverage of the shows thus far. He’s catching on quickly.

9:08pm CST - HU friend Davin sends a rogue text Jason’s way: “LOL. Billy tried to get a rise…tried to instigate…but nothing but love from Chicago. Now playing: Today.” Looks like the comments have started.

9:30pm CST - Wow, the texts are picking up, this time from Mr. SPMM himself, Paul. “New Heavy Metal Machine breakdown. More like the original song,” he reports. You know, Zach and I both commented about this at the Mohegan Sun show - they seem to be mixing it up a lot.

10:01pm CST - Now this takes the cake. Pins continues his series of texts, presumably about Billy’s ah.. stageside manner. He paraphrases the banter: “When I go home tonight and masturbate to Sarah Palin, bent over that amp right there, I will think of you. [points to crowd]” Oh, lord. Time to back up the HU servers and prepare for the Blogosphere Armageddon, you betcha.

10:05pm CST - My mobile is blowing up. Paul: “This is insane.” And Pins again: “Billy chant by the crowd after he gives the mic to a guy in the crowd.” Say what?! They’re chanting for him? And some dude has the microphone? I feel like I’m hearing a bizarrely retold modern version of Macbeth. Or something.

10:57pm CST - Well, after nearly an hour with no updates, I’m going to assume the show is over and people are on their way home or out for post-show drinks. I know this isn’t a satisfying end to a liveblog, but consider it a nod to that song. You know, HOTS, the set-ending crowd-pleaser.

Joe Doh, a non-dork, publishes his thoughts directly to the Internet:

 

Billy Corgan is on my flight. Smashing Pumpkins ring any bells?

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!  [ed. not this message…]

HU has been following along with the Smashing Pumpkins’ guitarist, Jeff Schroeder, and his new tour blog via Buzzbands.LA.  Today’s installment was published today from D.C.

Jeff begins his post by confessing the tour has been a blur thus far, and then corroborates my NYC liveblog story.  Though his guitar embraced its, ah, kinetic properties when Jeff threw it down after a solo, stellar technician Jason Baskin has nursed it back to life to soldier bravely on through subsequent shreddings.

Jeff also discusses the new lineup and his feelings about the tour so far. Check out the full post here!

Find out by following along with his tour diary at Buzzbands.LA; the first entry is up!

First he found his way into the Smashing Pumpkins’ semi-private West Hollywood Best Buy gig, and now Buzzbands.LA blogger Kevin Bronson has an exclusive:

His close friends call him Shredder, thanks to his talents with a guitar, but two years ago Jeff Schroeder was just a part-time musician — and a full-time graduate student, working toward his Ph.D. in comparative literature at UCLA. Then a mutual friend helped him get an audition with the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, who were rebuilding a band to play behind their new album “Zeitgeist.”

About 150 shows later, the Orange County native is still carving out his place with the Pumpkins. And as the band hopscotches through a 20-plus-date tour marking its 20th anniversary, Schroeder will share his experiences in a tour diary on this very blog.

If you followed along with our liveblog for tonight’s Smashing Pumpkins show in the Forest City, you know that Cleveland got to hear what Jason suspected was a brand new song:

Billy Corgan has broken out the tambourine to play what he thinks is a new song.  Lyrics are something along the lines of “What will be will be again.”

Just a few minutes ago, I received confirmation.  Apparently, HU friend Davin spoke with Jimmy Chamberlin after the show and he stated it is indeed a brand new song, though it’s unclear if it was recently written or just new to the set.

Moments later, Davin updated HU to say he received further confirmation from Billy Corgan.  The song is called “March Hare” and material from “Suffer” was added to it for the live show.  Hmm, an allusion to Alice in Wonderland?  Or a poetry festival?

According to Corgan, the song will be recorded in the studio.  Soon?  I hope!

Update #1: For those of you into that ‘instant gratification’ thing, check out this YouTube clip of “Disarm” from this evening, complete with horns and violins.  Oh, how I wish it was better sound quality.

Update #2: Here’s a really close-up video shot of the Tarantula solo and onward. The mics are severely overloaded, but nice video.

The Smashing Pumpkins have traveled just down the road from their show in Columbus last night to appear at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio tonight.  Because of a few technical problems (Sprint Mobile, I hate you), we’re a bit behind; bear with us as we catch up to the news outta Ohio-o-o-o-o!

7:07pm - Jason reports that he’s in the venue; pre-show musical offerings include “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden and perennial favorite “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys.  This really is a 20-year celebration, huh?

7:21pm - Apparently, the stage is decorated with the same gauzy backdrop hangings as it was during the August tour.

7:47pm - The house lights go down.  Minutes later, Jason texts to say there’s going to be some acoustic goodness.

7:53pm - The band’s first song is 99 Floors.

7:57pm - Owata.  Still acoustic.

8:02pm - Sunkissed.

8:08pm - The band has now switched over to an electric rendition of A Song for a Son.

8:14pm - An oldie but a goodie!  Mayonaise.

8:21pm - Tonight, Tonight.  Looks like they’ve included the missing songs from last night’s ‘official’ setlist.  :)

8:26pm - Tarantula.

8:30pm - The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling have come to Cleveland.

8:34pm - Siva is back.

8:43pm - Speed Kills, but Cleveland lasts forever.

8:49pm - It’s the second coming of Superchrist (this tour, at least).

8:58pm - Sounds of Silence.

9:11pm - The acoustic setup has made it back to the stage for That’s the Way (My Love Is).

9:17pm - Disarm.  Ooh, I can’t wait to hear how they’ve added the new instrumentation to this!  Apparently it’s still acoustic.

9:20pm - Back to electric, ladies and gentlemen!  Today.  Bring on the ice cream trucks.

9:24pm - Bullet with Butterfly Wings.  Holy singles, Batman!  Now this is what I call a greatest hits concert!

9:33pm - Back to back texts from Jason indicate they’ve played As Rome Burns straight into Heavy Metal Machine.  Uh oh - here comes the metal.

9:49pm - The Pumpkins have now resorted to shattering glass, much faster: Glass’ Theme.

9:50pm - We weren’t kidding about the fast part.  A minute later, Jason says that Billy Corgan has broken out the tambourine to play what he thinks is a new song.  Lyrics are something along the lines of “What will be will be again.”

9:53pm - Crush.  Yesssssss. Update: Scratch that — it’s Suffer.

10:01pm - I’ve just received a series of confusing text messages from Jason to try and sort out the order here.  He said that the last song was Crush Suffer, but apparently it was part of the song previous to it (the one he thought was new).  Likely, the ‘new’ song is an addition?  He also added: “Percussion Madness!”  After Crush  Suffer the set ended.

10:03pm - The band returns to the stage to play We Only Come Out at Night.

10:21pm - Apparently the last song is unfamiliar to Jason, with lyrics along the lines of “Everything is beautiful in its own way.”  With Kazoos.  And then the set ends.  He also mentions that the previous song was not Crush, but Suffer!  When’s the last time that was played in full, you might wonder.  Answer: 1994.

Two nights, two liveblogs.  Sorry about the technical issues, but I’m really excited about the setlist.  Perhaps we’ll have a few updates from Toronto for the first showing of the two-night stand — keep your fingers crossed!  Until then.  :)

Now for a random side story:  I’m on vacation in Northern California right now doing some wine tasting tours, prior to a work conference in San Francisco next week.  Today my boyfriend and I visited Seghesio to do a private tour and tasting.  Our host was an awesome guy, originally from Laguna Beach.  He’s a musician on the side, playing upright bass in a ragtime band and also in an indie rock band; apparently he saw the Pumpkins in ‘93 at the Warfield.  Best part?  He was in a Smashing Pumpkins cover band in high school.

Awesome.