This week we pondered the idea of the Pumpkins as a “collective”, speculated on whether the band will have another mainstream hit, and reviewed last year’s acoustic Berlin secret show.  See the end of the show notes for a chance to take part in a future episode of the podcast.

Listen to the whole show (1:00:49)

(download)(iTunes)

This week’s topics:

Panelists
-Chris, Jason, Jill, and Andrew

News
-In yet another post-RockWalk interview, Billy and Jimmy introduced the possibility of the Smashing Pumpkins as a collective of rotating band members.  We discuss how that may affect future plans.  Plus, Jason starts the drum circle and Andrew clues us in on the lifestyles of the rich and the German.  (13:59)

In-Depth Discussion
-Could the highest-charting Pumpkins single still be yet to come?  Jason has some compelling reasons why while Andrew maps out a plan to make it so.  Plus, Jill groups the Pumpkins in with Boyz II Men and Celine Dion, and I realize that I definitely do not have my finger on the pulse of mainstream youth.  (20:26)

Concert Review - Zitadelle Spanau; Berlin, DE June 5th, 2007
-We review this very special acoustic show.  Jason fires me from the podcast, Jill gives us the fangirl perspective, and if you listen carefully you can hear the 10:00 PM trucks slithering by.  (16:28)

This Week in Pumpkins History
-Andrew brings us down on the 12th anniversary of the unfortunate death of Bernadette O’Brien, and I attempt to cheer everyone up with a call for audience participation.  (3:38)(

Song of the Week
-Tarantula, June 5th, 2007

As I mentioned at the end of this week’s show, in honor of the upcoming 10th anniversary of the release of Adore we are planning an entirely Adore-centric show for the end of May.  If you would like to be part of the show, record yourself giving your thoughts on the Adore album or tour and email the audio file to (chris at hipstersunited dot com).  Please keep the file less than 60 seconds and limit background noise as much as possible.  You can be pro- or anti-Adore, but I will pick my favorite questions and comments to play and discuss during the show.

The second multipart YouTube extravaganza to feature Billy Corgan and Uli Jon Roth — together — has arrived, and yes, it is the full and professionally edited “Durch die Nacht mit…” man date program. After bouncing around for a few days on sketchy torrent sitez, today it showed up in six parts on the well-known Google-owned streamin’ behemoth:

Part 1 (below) / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

Alex Boyd is no stranger to our blog archives; the photographer’s beautiful work has been linked here before. However, today his photostream caught my eye with this scan of an article written about “Die Hasenjagd,” a film he created while in school at the University of Glasgow.

“Die Hasenjagd,” released in September 2007, features a soundtrack from former Pumpkin Mike Garson, as well as a contribution of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Le Deux Machina.” The article states that Boyd has contributed artwork for Garson’s solo releases, so the connection is clear.

The film’s content also intrigues me: it is based on a World War II event in northwestern Germany in which Allied forces bombed Celle in Lower Saxony. This resulted in the destruction of a train packed with concentration camp prisoners and their ensuing escape. As the article asserts, there are documented reports of local citizens’ arrests of these prisoners, oft ending in brutality.

According to the article, Boyd seeks to explore the persona and stereotype of the German soldier; to understand the conception of Germany at the time and its self-perpetuation throughout the 20th Century. He states that the film draws artistic inspiration from German art as well as the Smashing Pumpkins — his attempt at reconstructing his own personal perspective of the events in question. Boyd says:

Growing up in Britain, the only Germans I ever encountered were those in War films. They were the only German culture available to me, and I assimilated it without really understanding terrifying concepts like the Holocaust - I built up a false image of Germany… the film is shot in a similar fashion to that of The Smashing Pumpkins’ music video “Thirty-Three,” where the film is made up of thousands of still photographs. “That type of stop-start imagery appealed to me. It is dream-like and was almost surreal.”

Presumably, that surrealism always applies in retrospect, especially in historical events as caustic as this. Notwithstanding, this film has really piqued my interest. See gorgeous stills from the film here and please contribute a comment if you’ve seen this film or know where I can view it myself!

Here is a video of Boyd discussing his film on 07/07/07, coincidentally the original release date of Zeitgeist:

Billy. Uli. “[A]nd a big dinner in the Au Quai on the harbor of Hamburg”. It’s even fancier than we thought.

The band’s official site has more, or you can simply tune in:

May 1st, 2008 at 11:50 PM on TV Station Arte in Germany and France.

(Looking at this post, and looking back to March 31, it’s hard to be sure when April Fool’s Day began and when it ended…)

Remember the mystery Frankfurt soundcheck song? It turns out that it isn’t a new song at all, but rather one of the band’s always innovative cover tunes. It further turns out that the band encored with it at the next night’s concert in Berlin! (Hi, we’re the Smashing Pumpkins online fan community…a bit slow on the uptake, but we get there eventually…)

Here’s the Pumpkins’ encore song in Berlin on February 23…

Below: …and a slightly different take on Richie Havens’s “Run, Shaker Life” (Dailymotion)

Our benefactor InnaLee from YouTube has poured out several more video clips of Billy Corgan and Uli Jon Roth tentatively poking at their guitars on Tuesday in Hamburg, incorporating her previous releases into what is now a nine-part telenovela:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3* / Part 4* / Part 5…is he teasing “Siva” here?…Billy, not Uli…

… / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9

* previously linked by HU

A mustachioed Jeff Schroeder looks on in Hamburg at the Colorline Arena.
[Photo courtesy of Flickr user qnibert00]

A review from Natascha on the official website jokes:

Funny how Jeff fooled the photographers. Who´s the mustache-guy? Urgh…( please don´t do this for real, Jeff )! He looked like the bass-guy from Spinal Tap (This show went up to eleven!!!). The Pumpkins rocked Hamburg and the fans gave everything, we got everything back…i have never seen a band play so long. I was home at 0:30, so they maybe played nearly three hours! They also played Uriah Heeps “Easy Living”, this is not on the setlist. When Rudolf Schenker and Uli Jon Roth came to the stage, the party was perfect. It was really fun to see the band and espeacially Billy so happy.

Oh, man. I love this guy.

Above: Uh, Billy Corgan and Uli Jon Roth stand there and noodle (YouTube)

Sometimes stuff shows up online and, despite its uploader’s effort to provide context, you still don’t completely understand what you’re looking at.

About This Video

Billy Corgan and Ex Scorpions Guitarrist are having a little jam session at the Laeisz Music Hall in Hamburg on the 25th of February 2008. In this very hall the Scorpions guy has seen Jimi Hendrix live in the 1960’s

Okay, cool, but…the Pumpkins aren’t playing the Music Hall (they are playing Color Line Arena in Hamburg tonight, the 26th). So why is there one group of people moving some big gear around…and why is another group filming the action? Seems like something else was taking place there other than this little jam session.

Oh, and don’t try to tell me the “something else” was this second, longer, funnier clip. :)

Als wir dann die Halle betreten hatten, war die Band schon mitten in ihrem Soundcheck. Ich zögerte nicht lange und holte direkt meine Videokamera aus dem Rucksack.

Lies mehr hier.

This video clip of the band practicing on Friday in Frankfurt is the first 10 minutes of a 49-minute recording that’s floating around online. Anyone think Billy okayed putting this out? I’m guessing not. So how did it get to us? Well, not only was it this guy who uploaded the clip, but a text file that accompanies the full recording says:

Thanks for re-seeding …
and please make sure to visit my bands website www.saviour.de and www.myspace.com/saviourband

That would seem to narrow it down quite nicely…but was it Jan, Manuel, Ufo, or Frank?! Wenn Sie Deutsch sprechen, vielleicht koennen Sie ihnen fragen. Hier klicken.

Below: But I don’t know whether you should thank them or complain (YouTube)

Trinity Concerts, the promotion company responsible for the upcoming Berlin show, is running a great contest right now.

Apparently, if you comment on their MySpace with reasons for why you should be the lucky winner, you may be chosen to attend the soundcheck and meet the band, according to this poster.

Very nice!

The Smashing Pumpkins
May 14, 1998
Spielbudenplatz, Hamburg
(or a similar show)

To Sheila / Tear / Once Upon a Time / Crestfallen / Ava Adore …

… Daphne Descends / Let Me Give the World to You / Tonight, Tonight / Bullet with Butterfly Wings / Shame / 1979 / Thru the Eyes of Ruby / Transmission [Joy Division]

The Smashing Pumpkins played fewer concerts in support of Adore than for any of their other albums, but this still included stops on five continents. After a one-off warmup gig supporting Cheap Trick in Chicago, the band made its way to Hamburg for the first full-band headlining show.

With Jimmy still in time out, the band’s ability to rock was greatly reduced, and they wisely tamped down the sound. Billy and James turned down the gain and put their delay pedals in storage, upping the reverb instead. Mike Garson was brought in and set loose on keys and science. Kenny Aronoff and multiple ancillary percussionists were hired to bang drums and things, but the tempo was kept in check and syncopation was reduced. The result was a live sound that in hindsight appears more in step with 2008 than it was with 1998: more chamber-pop than electronica, more Neon Bible than OK Computer.

As the tour went on, I feel the band stretched out too far, with the talents of Garson being particularly indulged. That makes the Adore tours unusual in Pumpkins history to me; usually I feel the band gets tighter and more powerful as it goes, with the last shows on an album being my favorites, but here I like the first show the best. “Tear” hasn’t yet been ripped in half by a crazy piano solo; instead, it’s a disciplined electric-guitar epic punctuated by a memorable climactic lead from James. “Let Me Give the World to You” practically brings the show to a standstill, for once seeming worthy of the hyperbolic praise it received from Rolling Stone. Among the rejiggered Mellon Collie hits, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” is notably reimagined as comic relief, yielding ten minutes of silly joy, while “1979″ is the one song in the set allowed to break free of tempo constraints, hurtling ahead much like a tire down a hillside.

After the recent secret acoustic show (that was known about days in advance) in Berlin, the Smashing Pumpkins responded to a variety of audience-submitted questions that were first vetted through an approval queue to avoid uncomfortable queries into the whereabouts of former band members.  One question that received a pretty amusing response:

When asked why he chose the German word “Zeitgest” for the band’s new album, Corgan replied, “Because the word Hasselhoff was taken.” He added, “We don’t like to play our old material, we get Hasselhoff to play the songs off ‘Siamese Dream’ (their 1993 album).”

Now, despite all the awful Baywatch visuals this conjures, has anyone actually LISTENED to Hasselhoff’s latest album?  I have a feeling this artist is being fully dismissed just because of his bygone red short shorts.  I, on the other hand, have the fortune of having a boyfriend that has actually submitted me to several of these geniusly-written albums.  I’ll give you just a taste of the lyrics:

If you believe in the darkest hour
It can take you to the higher ground
And if you love somebody
That love won’t let you down
I was so blind ’til I met you
I was just about to fall apart
Then you came to me
To shine your light
On the dark side of my heart

Next time, Billy, pick on another national hero.  You’ll drive him to drink if you don’t.  And we know to well what will happen…