The surefire hit today pulls down the most outlandish of comparisons from Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald music critic Jeff Pizek:

“A Song for a Son” started on a “Stairway to Heaven” track before swelling upon to a well-developed crescendo - a signature Pumpkins move also displayed Wednesday during “Soma” and “I of the Mourning.”

How much longer can this go on before the song is tossed into the same memory hole where past pop gems such as “Let Me Give the World to You” (total performances: 22), “Chrysanthemum” (4), and “Glorious” (5) rest in silence? Or have things changed, and in the future our bleeping culture will get the chance to embrace a studio version?

Below: This is an illegal video, and I am one of many who don’t care (YouTube)

Appearing on YouTube today is some very dark fan-shot video from a Q&A session with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan prior to the group’s recent “White Crosses” concert in Boston. (Linking to fan-conducted and -filmed interviews isn’t our #1 choice for most ethical blogging behavior, but sometimes newsworthiness trumps.) If you’re wondering what’s up with the band’s attitude on this tour, here Corgan — speaking while seated next to drummer Jimmy Chamberlin — spells it out:

fan: …integrity as you like strive forward and you know, the need to be creative, how do you, what do draw upon to keep the faith in your own musical output? Your songwriting, your endeavors, how do you keep faith in it, you know, before you get an audience feedback or before you can stamp it out…

Billy Corgan: I would say at this point our faith in our audience has never been lower. We are literally…

fan: I mean your music, not your audience…

BC: No, you have to understand, we’re still making music for people to listen to.

fan: Right.

BC: When we were younger we very much looked to the audience to give us a sense of who we were and what we wanted to do, and then we kind of worked with it and against it. And I think now we’ve become extremely insular. We’re really not listening to anybody anymore. Because, it’s not like we look around and see a tremendous amount of good music and we feel left out of something. We feel like we’re sort of on our own little island, standing for the things that we grew up with: you know, good playing, good singing, good songs. And we feel like somehow that’s working against us in the general culture, which is kind of…to us it’s mind-boggling. That’s like saying, that’s like saying a Major League hitter is better, he’s better if he hits .200 than .300. But that’s the world we live in. It’s a .200-hitting world. You write one weak fucking song that everybody likes, you’re better than a band that’s an excellent band that has a legacy and a history.

fan: So at the end of the day what do you tell yourself to keep going, that you are making good music?

BC: That history shows that cultures have a hard time appreciating certain artists in certain times because they don’t fit the cultural perspective. And you can see it in painting, you can see it in film. We all go to the Best Buy and there’s a film, it’s like, it was totally overlooked and nobody thought it was good at the time and now it’s become like a classic. Well, we think of ourselves as a classic band, and it doesn’t matter if we keep getting overlooked — at some point somebody is going to turn around and realize we’ve just done more better than other people, and we’ll be, we’re willing to be measured on that. But we cannot ride with the culture of this time because this is absolutely the shittiest culture I’ve ever lived in.

[fans laugh, there is a shout of “Amen!” and another of “I agree.”]

BC: The amount of mediocrity is frightening. I lived through disco, I’m old enough to remember disco. [fans laugh] This is worse than disco. This is worse than disco, and that’s nobody’s fault. We’re all sort of in the same boat. So, when you ask a question like that, I mean, you’re looking at the inspiration. We just turn to each other. If he thinks it’s good, and I think it’s good, it really doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. And we’ve reached that point with each other, where we’re secure in our belief in what we do that if, I mean, you know, bad review, bad fan, bad…you know, whatever — it doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, it doesn’t feel good, but it doesn’t really change anything.

(Thanks to HU blogger Andrew for transcribing this!)

At the very end of last night’s first “Black Sunshine” hometown show, the Smashing Pumpkins singer said this:

This doesn’t speak to everyone, but many of you — we don’t know what the fuck you want from us… Last I checked we were an “alternative” band. “Alternative” means different than what everyone else is doing, including those reunion bands that go out and just play the old songs. So, for those of you we disappointed, we’re sorry; we hope you give us another chance. For those of you that love us, we will report to torture [ed. of course] you for twenty more years, at least. God bless.

(Video taken by HU reader Cara!)

Echoing remarks by blogger Matthew Perpetua, here’s Kyle Anderson of Rolling Stone:

New songs like “Song for a Son” and “As Rome Burns” got lost in the theater’s strange acoustics, while even favorites like “Disarm” lacked teeth. Clearly losing the crowd, Corgan invited a fan onto the stage to voice his opinion about Thursday’s show. The fan told him, “Last night’s show sucked,” and for a minute it looked like Corgan was going to take criticism in stride for once. But as the fan was walking back to his seat, Corgan shouted, “By the way, I liked that song you wrote. What was it called? ‘Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It in My Mouth’? That was a big hit in Europe.” For a guy who has made his money airing out his own tales of childhood torment and abuse, it seemed strange and hypocritical for him to resort to playground name-calling and juvenile homophobia.

Corgan then rewarded his devoted audience with the 20-plus minute prog jam “Gossamer” and an utterly ridiculous version of “The March Hare” that devolved into a percussion jam that channeled Stomp.

Thanks to concert taper and HU contributor Zach, you can listen to the exchange between Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and that young man. Somehow it wasn’t “lost in the theater’s strange acoustics”, and thus by listening we learn that the direct quotation Anderson attributes to Corgan is a reasonably accurate paraphrasing:

And no, I don’t know how Zach got such a clear recording of “As Rome Burns”…

…nor why his recording of “Gossamer” clocks in at less than 15 minutes.

Below: Partial video of the exchange. Anyone know who the young man is? (YouTube)

I have been waiting for a good video of the electric version of “A Song for a Son” to emerge, this is as good there is that I’ve seen/heard, and I am unwilling to wait longer.

If you don’t like this song…fine, I guess. But man.

Below: At Massey Hall, Toronto, November 4 (YouTube)

The Smashing Pumpkins have graciously allowed HU to release the tenth and final Internet promotional clip for the documentary. Click the image to view it in QuickTime format.

Download

AOL’s Spinner.com has been given exclusive access to the video.

His commentary during last night’s concert in Toronto is featured among a variety of rock-and-roll reactions posted on the Brooklyn Vegan blog.

UPDATE: Here’s a higher-quality video than that posted…by the Vegan? on “The Vegan”?

We’ve already begun to see some reviews of the show, from both inside and outside the Smashing Pumpkins camp.  Media militia writer Hack wrote a piece today about last night’s show, found here, and promises more tomorrow including the results of a backstage interview with Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan.  Certainly we can expect that review to be glowing.

Thanks to a tip from HU reader Rahab, we found this review from Canadian entertainment site CANOE.CA, which was also published in the Toronto Sun.  Reviewer Jason MacNeil seemed to enjoy the show, but fell on the “WTF” side of the HOTS debate.  Coming in at three-and-a-half stars, the show review is certainly to be expected, but his florid remarks are awfully complimentary:

Although rarely saying anything early on, Corgan, wearing a white sweater with “Zero” in black lettering, then showed the latest little nugget in their catalogue in G.L.O.W., a rather metal-tainted affair that complemented the balls-out rocker Siva quite nicely.

After thanking the crowd briefly, most of whom seemed eager to hear old favourites and rarities from albums such as Siamese Dream and Gish, the band went into the slower Eye that came off decently but was anything but jaw-dropping.

Nonetheless, the first real highlight came during Tonight, Tonight, a rather orchestral affair that builds into a galloping crescendo thanks to Chamberlin’s frantic work, with guitarist Jeff Schroeder holding his own as well.

Check out the “orchestral affair” below, straight off the YouTube presses from user “studiesruinedmylife“:

As rumored in the comments here at HU [via Audrey Kitching’s MySpace blog], it looks like we can confirm that the Smashing Pumpkins did go into the studio to shoot video on Monday.

Photog “blackheart amoreena” uploaded 43 photos to this Flickr set yesterday; looks like she’s a friend of director Justin Coloma according to her MySpace page.

Check out the slideshow here.

Important Note: Those with sensitivity to neon colors, black lights, or sparks flying out of violins should take any necessary precautions prior to viewing the slideshow.

Again courtesy HU reader Evelyn, here is the full performance by the Smashing Pumpkins of Pink Floyd’s “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” at Best Buy in West Hollywood on Saturday night.

Download

The above video is a bit blurry and you can’t see Stephen Bradley or Gabrial McNair at all, but you sure can hear them and Gingger Shankar backing Billy Corgan and Josh Groban on the Siamese Dream chestnut.

(Sorry, I love putting “Best Buy” in these titles…)

HU reader Evelyn found Billy Corgan and subsequently found her way into the “Guitar Hero” launch event. As she tells the tale:

It was all luck and perfect timing. If I hadn’t turned the corner the exact moment Billy Corgan was walking in my direction I wouldn’t have been able to ask if it was at all possible to catch the show that was to go on in less then an hour. To my surprise he was more then willing to let me and my friend join in on the exclusive Guitar Hero Party that was being held on the Lot behind the Best Buy on La Brea and Santa Monica.

For us, it gets much better:

As crew clean up the stage and Mark Mcgrath (lead singer of Sugar Ray, if anyone cares) takes the stage and plugs the new Guitar Hero game, I pick out a spot and take out my lil Sony Digi Camera.

Ohhh yeah. Without further ado, I give you “As Rome Burns”:

And, a second set of quotation marks is probably warranted when it comes to “”The Sounds of Silence”":

Find the rest of the recordings on Evelyn’s YouTube page.

The first word has come in from HU correspondent Seb, on the scene tonight at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Hollywood for the taping of ABC-TV’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” program.

8:24pm: “They’re soundchecking ‘G.L.O.W.’ for the second time.”

8:25pm: “Hollywood High School’s football team is getting a treat.” I presume that means those young men are In The House. [ed. I presumed incorrectly - see comments.]

8:31pm: “And a third time for ‘G.L.O.W.’ So now I’ve heard it precisely three times.”

8:33pm: “I’m in line with all the other weirdos. It’s actually a surprisingly young crowd.” Hm, who else goes to tapings of late-night TV shows?

8:48pm: “Soundchecking ‘Tarantula’.”

8:51pm: “United States.” It’s the Zeitgeist first anniversary tour!

9:05pm: Seb may try to send a picture, but he’ll have to use a different phone. Sigh! I guess we are in a recession…

9:21pm: “I’m in. Kimmel show being projected on screen.”

9:22pm: “And this now marks the longest I’ve ever watched the Jimmy Kimmel show.”

9:42pm: Is Tom Arnold on yet, Seb?! “Yep. He’s talking about his new movie, in which he plays a child molester.”

9:59pm: “They have taken the stage dressed all in black.”

10:01pm: “G.L.O.W.”

10:02pm: “This song sounds like ‘Spilled Milk’. Not that I’m complainin’.”

10:04pm: “Great performance.” HU, including correspondents: in the tank for Corgan.

10:09pm: “Tarantula.”

10:12pm: “No idea what this song is.” [ed. Hmm…how much does Seb know his stuff?] “They are in good spirits. Billy with rad spider shirt.”

10:17pm: “Speed Kills!!!!” [ed. This was the unknown song.]

10:20pm: “Superchrist”.

10:26pm: “Into ‘United States’ without a hiccup.”

10:29pm: “And there’s the hiccup. Billy made Jimmy stop and slow down, I think.” Haha…

10:39pm: “It’s over. They brought the goods.” And so is this, and so did you, Seb - thanks!

LiveJournalist pollytrance reports from Oakland:

YOU SEE I TOLD YOU.

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.

All times Central: 11:32pm and 1:32am tonight, 1:32am next Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, and 2:32am next Thursday night/Friday morning. Do not tune in early.

UPDATE: Or, you know, catch it below (YouTube)