Friend of HU carapatricia has posted a number of YouTube videos of the recent Chicago shows. Included is this one, a bit of Chicago sports themed banter leading into Disarm from the “White Crosses” show at the Chicago Theatre.
Billy first predicts a victory in the Super Bowl for the Bears in 2012 thanks to Mike Ditka returning to the field. But not one to disappoint the assembled fans with strictly positive thoughts, Billy went on to blame his beloved Cubs disappointing post-season performance on Eddie Vedder’s bitterly ironically titled Cubs anthem “All the Way”, which debuted in September before the Cubs’ season collapsed.
If, if, if the Cubs did have a chance this last year that just passed, fucking Eddie Vedder killed that shit dead. Last I checked, Eddie ain’t living here. Eddie ain’t living here to write a song about my fucking team.
Personally, I blame Vedder’s turning “Wrigley” into three syllables to fit the song’s meter.
Never one to let an opportunity to display his hubris pass him by, Billy also boasted he could write a better Cubs-themed song than the longstanding “Go Cubs Go”, which was penned by the late Chicago folk artist Steve Goodman during the equally disappointing 1984 Cubs season. HU anxiously awaits Billy’s Cubs song and we also eagerly await Billy’s thoughts on the Bulls’ chances in the upcoming NBA season during the shows at the Auditorium Theater. Vinny Del Negro: hero or zero?
Those of you who bought Guitar Hero World Tour in anticipation of being the first to hear the exclusive studio recording of G.L.O.W. will need to wait a bit longer. Originally scheduled for release on November 15th along with The Everlasting Gaze and 1979, smashingpumpkins.com reports that it will be at least December 4th until cyber-Billy can play any of his own music besides Today.
While Guitar Hero tracks aren’t released on any particular day of the week, it’s possible that G.L.O.W. got bumped last week to make room for a Jimi Hendrix track pack, which dropped on November 13th. So why not shift the Pumpkins to this week? The Raconteurs are already scheduled for a 3-song track pack this week, and next week all of the attention will fall on The Killers, giving Guitar Hero fans everywhere yet another outlet in which to hear Mr. Brightside.
SmashingPumpkins.com reports that G.L.O.W. will be released on iTunes tomorrow as the b-side of what they’re calling a Digital 45:
How is this a digital 45? Well historically 45’s had enough room for one song per side creating the main single (the A-side) and a subsequent song (the B-side). G.L.O.W. will be sold together with Superchrist as a digital 45 at a discounted rate on iTunes starting tomorrow.
If you wanted the hits, you stuck with the video games. But if you wanted stimulation and not simulation, you hung with the Pumpkins, whose set for the Guitar Hero World Tour launch party included, oh, about two hits — if you count “G.L.O.W.,” the new tune the seminal Chicago rockers released via the game. There were a couple covers, a couple tunes from deep in their catalog and some fresher stuff that let the six-piece blast into a psych-jam-metal-core haze. Take that, button pushers.
Over a dozen pictures from the event have been uploaded at Getty Images.
The band should be taking the stage within the hour at the Best Buy in West Hollywood, between the DVD section and the appliances (joke), for a set expected to run somewhat longer than the five-song set performed last night for the studio audience of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” We hope to bring you some kind of report as tonight’s concert proceeds.
Our source must remain confidential; I don’t make the rules, but I do follow them.
12:17am: Setlist so far: “Tarantula”, “G.L.O.W.”, “Siva”. Very August-y!
1:10am: Well, no further word…sorry if you’ve been waiting (so have I).
UPDATE (10/26): Our source apparently stopped texting because the songs became unfamiliar, if that tells you anything :)
Yes, I know the quality sucks, but truth be told, I am happy I got it at all. Some stoner buttmunches stole my seat at half-time and right when the little preview thing that I knew I wanted to record came on, their morals got the better of them and they walked right in front of me to return to their shitty seats. I should have been a bitch and made them wait, but I was too excited.
Anyway– YES. SONG FROM 1998 BY THE SMASHING PUMPKINS! USED IN THE PREVIEW MONTAGE FOR OPENING NIGHT BY THE WARRIORS.
Activision put out a press release today to announce “a rich and diverse lineup of launch week downloadable content for the highly-anticipated Guitar Hero(R) World Tour”, but absent from the release was any mention of the 3-song Smashing Pumpkins bundle that will include the band’s current radio single “G.L.O.W.” Thus the bundle remains without a confirmed release date.
In other “G.L.O.W.” news, it was, yes, the most-added track at modern rock radio last week according to Mediabase.
The fully authorized theatrical documentary “We Believe – Chicago and its Cubs” is expected to be released in the spring of 2009. …
According to [director-writer-producer John] Scheinfeld, “This documentary film is not going be a 100-year history of the Cubs’ triumphs and tragedies. We will explore and reveal the character, spirit and soul of the city and why its people have rooted for this team so passionately and for so long,” he said. …
Interviews with current and former Cubs players, fans and famous Chicagoans have already been completed… The completed interview list also includes singer-songwriter Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, actor-director-producer Jeff Garlin of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Playboy founder-publisher Hugh Hefner, actor-producer Joe Mantegna, Commissioner of Major League Baseball Bud Selig, Former American Major League Baseball Player and current broadcaster Steve Stone, Best-selling author Scott Turow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist George Will and Dutchie Caray (wife of Harry Caray, the former Cubs television broadcaster). More celebrity interviews will be shot in October.
They got Stoney?! That alone might be worth watching.
TNA Wrestling’s “Bound For Glory” live Pay-Per-View debuts on Sunday, October 12. It looks like more promotional material featuring the Smashing Pumpkins has hit the internets, including the nearly-full-length green screen video remake of “Tarantula,” below.
The Smashing Pumpkins wouldn’t consider Hammond to be Chicago, but those developing promotional material for the upcoming Total Nonstop Action pay-per-view event “Bound for Glory IV” couldn’t seem to repeat the word Chicago often enough. The venue? Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates.
Their contrary views on suburban identity notwithstanding, TSP and TNA have finally aligned themselves from a marketing standpoint. The band’s recent single “TaraNtulA” has been creatively recapitalized chosen as theme song for the big smackdown, and there may be more partnering in the works:
TNAwrestling.com will post more information in the coming weeks on the Smashing Pumpkins teaming up with TNA.
Below: These guys don’t want to fight every single night? (YouTube)
Part of an interview with Chicago Cubs fan Billy Corgan will be shown during “Outside the Lines”, airing tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. CT on ESPN.
Cubs-blogger Kurt Evans was also interviewed for the 30-minute episode, and he relates this hearsay:
Billy Corgan, by the way, apparently swore like a sailor during his interview. He also commands great camera presence. [Photographer] Ross [Dettman] apparently wanted to get a shot of him talking and acting naturally, but Corgan exerted his rock star presence any time the shutter went off and would completely shift focus from Conversation to Christ Pose without hesitation.
Wayne Drehs of the Worldwide Leader has a feature including interviews with 11 Cubs fans; the gimmick at play here is that one fan was born in each of the last 11 decades. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman holds it down for those born in the 1960s. Here’s his take on what is special about following the Cubs:
If you’re a Cub, it doesn’t matter where you came from — it doesn’t even matter if you’re not even a Cub anymore. You’re always a Cub. Even if you came through and played one year, you’re still a Cub. It’s a weird thing. So you’d say…okay, so, to the guy in Oklahoma, what’s so special about that? What’s special is there’s a real sense of…”appreciation” is not the right word, but you really honor the player. It’s like, this is hallowed ground, and you’re playing for a great organization — even if it’s messed up. Don’t you understand? It’s not about the Tribune Company or Sam Zell or whoever owns the team now, it’s about that fanbase that will take that journey with you every pitch along the way, and that is unique. I don’t think you could point to another organization…some guy in L.A.’s gonna say, “No, I root…” I’m sorry. It ain’t like that in L.A.; it ain’t like that for the Yankees.
The Smashing Pumpkins, one of rock’s defining and most acclaimed bands who’ve sold over 30 million albums, is coming to Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero(R) World Tour in a ground- breaking way as the band will debut their new single “G.L.O.W.” exclusively in the game. This marks the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for the franchise which will be released afterwards, giving Guitar Hero(R) fans exclusive access to Smashing Pumpkins music before anyone else. The new track, bundled with two other rocking Smashing Pumpkins hits, “1979″ and “The Everlasting Gaze,” will be available post-launch of the game as a three-song downloaded content pack.
Additionally, on-disc with the release of Guitar Hero World Tour this fall, The Smashing Pumpkins’ singer, songwriter and lead guitarist Billy Corgan will appear as an in-game character and will bring with him “Today,” the band’s smash hit from their pivotal and four-times platinum 1993 album Siamese Dream.
Activision’s site lists the game as planned for release between October and December. The Wikipedia entry for the game mentions an “expected” release date of October 26. Assuming the new rocking Smashing Pumpkins hit track does arrive “post-launch of the game”, it could be November before we hear it.
Lots of great visuals here — and do not stop watching until the very end.
There’s an interview with Billy that is hacked into tiny pieces, of which these are the most notable I think (hopefully the energy-drink-slammin’ quick-cut editing didn’t remove relevant context!):
Coming here to Neversoft, it really reminds me of the old days with the label. There’s a lot of energy in the building, people are really excited, they love the images of rock and roll, they love the music, they’re looking for songs that will challenge the people playing the game… “Guitar Hero”, right now, represents music that people actually listen to. I’m just totally overjoyed that they want our music in the game, that they asked me to be a part of the game…
Those of you who bought Guitar Hero World Tour in anticipation of being the first to hear the 
If you’re a Cub, it doesn’t matter where you came from — it doesn’t even matter if you’re not even a Cub anymore. You’re always a Cub. Even if you came through and played one year, you’re still a Cub. It’s a weird thing. So you’d say…okay, so, to the guy in Oklahoma, what’s so special about that? What’s special is there’s a real sense of…”appreciation” is not the right word, but you really honor the player. It’s like, this is hallowed ground, and you’re playing for a great organization — even if it’s messed up. Don’t you understand? It’s not about the Tribune Company or Sam Zell or whoever owns the team now, it’s about that fanbase that will take that journey with you every pitch along the way, and that is unique. I don’t think you could point to another organization…some guy in L.A.’s gonna say, “No, I root…” I’m sorry. It ain’t like that in L.A.; it ain’t like that for the Yankees.
The Smashing Pumpkins, one of rock’s defining and most acclaimed bands who’ve sold over 30 million albums, is coming to Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero(R) World Tour in a ground- breaking way as the band will debut their new single “G.L.O.W.” exclusively in the game. This marks the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for the franchise which will be released afterwards, giving Guitar Hero(R) fans exclusive access to Smashing Pumpkins music before anyone else. The new track, bundled with two other rocking Smashing Pumpkins hits, “1979″ and “The Everlasting Gaze,” will be available post-launch of the game as a three-song downloaded content pack.
