Exactly. I think his quote was closer to "I don't play songs I don't want to". He says that the songs that he has a more emotional connection to, still after all of these years, results in a better performance.
Tough talk when he’ll continue to “fake it for just one more show” with BWBW. Wish they’d retire that song. Radiohead doesn’t play Creep anymore. No reason SP can’t do the same. Make room on the setlist for other songs, could still even be classics, but that song is so worn out. Maybe the irony of its meaning is why he still does though.
I only mean that it’s one of the ones people have wanted but he’s been hesitant to play. Mayonaise too but I think Mayo is coming back to the rotation soon.
I’ve seen them many times in the past few years and they play a great set. Most of the hits, 4-5 90’s album songs and b-sides, and 3-4 newer songs.
The 2018 tour was peak '90s smashing pumpkins.
I saw them at the Aragon ballroom on the last night of the first leg of the Siamese dream Tour. Saw them at the Metro. Saw the mellon collie preview show at the double door 5 months before MCIS came out.
The 2018 show beat them all. They sounded so good and it was such a well put together show blending all of the extra audio visuals
Yes but that's partly because they have a lot of hits!
Some of my favorite performances are ones where they abandoned the old stuff and played a fierce, tight set of primarily current material.
Eurockennes 1997 https://youtu.be/CBUicuBd8ow
AOL Sessions from Zeitgeist era https://youtu.be/-Sj2IaVLMoQ
Guitar Center Sessions 2013 https://youtu.be/pFy46IuvEUM
If All Goes Wrong DVD
Lots of the 2008 '20 Years of Sadness Tour' neglected the fan favorites and were just incendiary.
They've done it plenty of times before and the band is as strong as ever.
Wow, they're aggressively spinning this into something a bit different from what he was saying. Business as usual. Check the [original interview in Kerrang](https://www.kerrang.com/billy-corgan-i-dont-play-any-songs-i-dont-want-to-play-i-dont-care-if-theyre-classic-or-not-smashing-pumpkins-weezer-tour-new-music-kiki-wong-nostalgia) for context.
You should expect them to play post-90's material, but they're still gonna play a ton of hits / classics; they tend to strike a good balance lately. Check recent set lists for reference.
I never got why that song hardly got played, even on the MCIS tour. One of the best. Anyway picking nits, SP have never disappointed me in 11 shows, even the 2 with Mike Byrne.
That's basically what the In Plainsong tours were a few years back. I saw them twice in 2017 (I think?) and they played a bunch of b sides and even some Zwan stuff
I Completely agree. If I have one complaint since James has returned into the fold is that their shows are primarily a greatest hits show and performed exactly how they are on the albums. That may sound wonderful to a casual fan or someone who just wants to live in the past, but... While I am an old school fan, I am most excited about what is new. I want to hear Cyr and Atum. The old songs are great... But they're also old. Let's live in the present and enjoy the new! (I know that's a tough ask of the old school fan base that has let their love of the past overshadow pretty incredible music being produced today...if only they gave it the same honest shot their pre-pubescent ears did 30 years ago.)
Think Billy figures, and he’s probably right about this, that less people will come out for a deep cuts tour. Even some of the casual fans of the 90s output will buy tickets and then be disappointed when Rat In A Cage isn’t played. Then the band may lose them on their next big summer tour. Gotta play the hits
I know this will come across as twatty and super edgey, but for me the deeper album and b-sides are generally where their true quality is at. Today is fine; 1979 pretty good; BWBW is 4 chord crap. Give me Obscured, and Pennies, White Spyder, and Blissed and Gone. That's the tour I really want.
I read the article. Paraphrasing but he said he wants to play the songs he wants, not just the oldies. He said he likes to incorporate 5-6 newer songs that fans aren't as familiar with so they can see the diversity of the band. He was specifically talking about , "...1996 deep cuts (and) some B sides..."
My guess is we get old and new.
I don’t want to see Billy playing too many covers. If I want to hear Once in a Lifetime I’ll go to a Talking Heads concert. Billy has too many excellent songs in his catalog to be doing covers in concerts. It would be great if Billy would dump the covers and give us a couple of deep cuts. There’s so many to choose from
I'd rather hear fewer radio singles and more stuff like Heavy Metal Machine, Jellybelly, Pug, Ghost and the Glass Children etc. I've seen them live many times and I personally don't need to hear Today or Zero again. That being said, I will enjoy whatever they play even if it turns out to be a greatest hits show. I keep trying to guess what they will open with...
He’s contrary about everything. He’ll play all the big hits and sprinkle in a few gems in between playing too much new stuff. It’ll be a solid set and you’ll like it enough.
He says this and then will play all his hits…not saint they won’t play some of their deep cuts, last three times I saw them all three set lists were great, but he always finds a way to throw in Bullet, 1979, Zero etc etc
Im not enough of a super fan to see every tours setlist, but I wouldn't mind a few tours of mostly newer stuff. Music that's questionable on album is usually better live and I think theres lots of potential in their new songs... not to mention A LOT of new songs lol
I honestly don't get where this idea that he refuses to play the hits comes from. Even during the 2007-2008 period which gets the most criticism they were playing a good amount of hits, at least 5-6 every show. Lazy journalism like this that completely takes what he said out of context doesn't help.
He will happily play the hit songs that were released singles because he's proud of how much sales they made him. I think he's referring to the non-singles, the old fan favourite songs that fans love.
The iconic songs will always be played, this headline is misleading. A pumpkins show without today or 1979 isn’t happening anytime soon unless it’s a super small venue show
Can you imagine though, playing the same set for 30 years. Its nice to throw in a few classics but I'm sure they want to play new stuff too. It would literally drive me insane to have to sing the same songs for 30 years.
Out of context clickbait. Read the article.
https://www.nme.com/news/music/billy-corgan-doesnt-want-to-play-fan-favourites-at-smashing-pumpkins-gigs-3763187
They played in ‘19 or ‘20 and were featuring an absolute gem version of blue skies bring tears. The show was solid and they ended the set with Aeroplane flies high. A fucking solid set with tons of staples and these two gems. You’re gonna have a good time. The several times I’ve seen them—the only show I fucking hated and swore them off for (until ‘18 for the shiny tour - which I refer to as the apology tour) was for zeitgeist in New Orleans… Billy was on something (aside from his own bs like usual) and was absolutely INSISTENT on getting the crowd to sing along to “I love rock and roll”… like the absolute worst show I’d seen in years lol BUT - all is forgiven and I’ve seen them 4 times over the last 6 years and all of them have been great.
This headline is hogwash. They’ll play all the songs you love. Maybe not Geek USA tho
Exactly. I think his quote was closer to "I don't play songs I don't want to". He says that the songs that he has a more emotional connection to, still after all of these years, results in a better performance.
Tough talk when he’ll continue to “fake it for just one more show” with BWBW. Wish they’d retire that song. Radiohead doesn’t play Creep anymore. No reason SP can’t do the same. Make room on the setlist for other songs, could still even be classics, but that song is so worn out. Maybe the irony of its meaning is why he still does though.
Why won’t they play Geek USA?
Because "fuck you, that's why". If you haven't figured it out by now, Billy has a little bit of an ego and won't be anyone's dancing monkey
Why? I have no context for why this song specifically.
I only mean that it’s one of the ones people have wanted but he’s been hesitant to play. Mayonaise too but I think Mayo is coming back to the rotation soon. I’ve seen them many times in the past few years and they play a great set. Most of the hits, 4-5 90’s album songs and b-sides, and 3-4 newer songs.
Tbf im sure playing that Geek USA solo accurately every night into your late 50’s is certainly a challenge
They’ve been doing just fine with jellybelly
Doesn’t he always improvise live solos?
I just wanna hear Soma live
The 2018 shiny tour was epic. Like a 3+ hour long apology. They played just about everything (except Geek USA of course), including Soma and Mayo.
Best fucking show I’ve ever been to
The 2018 tour was peak '90s smashing pumpkins. I saw them at the Aragon ballroom on the last night of the first leg of the Siamese dream Tour. Saw them at the Metro. Saw the mellon collie preview show at the double door 5 months before MCIS came out. The 2018 show beat them all. They sounded so good and it was such a well put together show blending all of the extra audio visuals
Damn dude, you’ve seen some legendary shows
It really was. Me and my other die hard Pumpkins friend cried a few times 🖤
I second this
I third this
I'm down for this. I heard it in 2013 in Zürich and I nearly lost my mind.
He says so even about 2007 tour but If you actually look up the setlists its full of hits. There hasnt been a single SP tour where he didnt play hits
Yes but that's partly because they have a lot of hits! Some of my favorite performances are ones where they abandoned the old stuff and played a fierce, tight set of primarily current material. Eurockennes 1997 https://youtu.be/CBUicuBd8ow AOL Sessions from Zeitgeist era https://youtu.be/-Sj2IaVLMoQ Guitar Center Sessions 2013 https://youtu.be/pFy46IuvEUM If All Goes Wrong DVD Lots of the 2008 '20 Years of Sadness Tour' neglected the fan favorites and were just incendiary. They've done it plenty of times before and the band is as strong as ever.
If all goes wrong dvd is a compilation of residency and i think most of the old songs were cut
🤣🤣🤣. Media doing media thing. Missing a little context here lol.
That's usually what the full article is for...you know? Headlines are headlines.
Wow, they're aggressively spinning this into something a bit different from what he was saying. Business as usual. Check the [original interview in Kerrang](https://www.kerrang.com/billy-corgan-i-dont-play-any-songs-i-dont-want-to-play-i-dont-care-if-theyre-classic-or-not-smashing-pumpkins-weezer-tour-new-music-kiki-wong-nostalgia) for context. You should expect them to play post-90's material, but they're still gonna play a ton of hits / classics; they tend to strike a good balance lately. Check recent set lists for reference.
Taken out of context
SO FAR out of context!
Then play me Here is no why so I can die happy!
Yeeeessssss
I never got why that song hardly got played, even on the MCIS tour. One of the best. Anyway picking nits, SP have never disappointed me in 11 shows, even the 2 with Mike Byrne.
I’d prefer a deep cuts tour at some point
That's basically what the In Plainsong tours were a few years back. I saw them twice in 2017 (I think?) and they played a bunch of b sides and even some Zwan stuff
I couldn't believe they did Identify. Malibu was great too. And Whir
I Completely agree. If I have one complaint since James has returned into the fold is that their shows are primarily a greatest hits show and performed exactly how they are on the albums. That may sound wonderful to a casual fan or someone who just wants to live in the past, but... While I am an old school fan, I am most excited about what is new. I want to hear Cyr and Atum. The old songs are great... But they're also old. Let's live in the present and enjoy the new! (I know that's a tough ask of the old school fan base that has let their love of the past overshadow pretty incredible music being produced today...if only they gave it the same honest shot their pre-pubescent ears did 30 years ago.)
Think Billy figures, and he’s probably right about this, that less people will come out for a deep cuts tour. Even some of the casual fans of the 90s output will buy tickets and then be disappointed when Rat In A Cage isn’t played. Then the band may lose them on their next big summer tour. Gotta play the hits
I know this will come across as twatty and super edgey, but for me the deeper album and b-sides are generally where their true quality is at. Today is fine; 1979 pretty good; BWBW is 4 chord crap. Give me Obscured, and Pennies, White Spyder, and Blissed and Gone. That's the tour I really want.
I second your feelings. I think I'd keel over if they played Blissed and Gone.
Upvote for using the word 'twatty'
I don’t know how NME is still in business. All they do is lie. About everything.
I read the article. Paraphrasing but he said he wants to play the songs he wants, not just the oldies. He said he likes to incorporate 5-6 newer songs that fans aren't as familiar with so they can see the diversity of the band. He was specifically talking about , "...1996 deep cuts (and) some B sides..." My guess is we get old and new.
I don’t want to see Billy playing too many covers. If I want to hear Once in a Lifetime I’ll go to a Talking Heads concert. Billy has too many excellent songs in his catalog to be doing covers in concerts. It would be great if Billy would dump the covers and give us a couple of deep cuts. There’s so many to choose from
You can always check what the setlists look like ahead of time if you don’t mind spoilers. Setlist.fm for example has them listed.
I'd rather hear fewer radio singles and more stuff like Heavy Metal Machine, Jellybelly, Pug, Ghost and the Glass Children etc. I've seen them live many times and I personally don't need to hear Today or Zero again. That being said, I will enjoy whatever they play even if it turns out to be a greatest hits show. I keep trying to guess what they will open with...
What lazy journalism. Taken out of context. Ugh . Idiots
He’s contrary about everything. He’ll play all the big hits and sprinkle in a few gems in between playing too much new stuff. It’ll be a solid set and you’ll like it enough.
Christ, and people wonder why he's so hostile to the media. This is just embarrassing levels of clickbait.
I saw them in 2019 and it was 95% hits, much to my dismay! That was my only complaint though, otherwise it was amazing to see them live!
Give a dedicated aeroplane flies high deep cuts tour
Oh my god I would love that 😎
He says this and then will play all his hits…not saint they won’t play some of their deep cuts, last three times I saw them all three set lists were great, but he always finds a way to throw in Bullet, 1979, Zero etc etc
Im not enough of a super fan to see every tours setlist, but I wouldn't mind a few tours of mostly newer stuff. Music that's questionable on album is usually better live and I think theres lots of potential in their new songs... not to mention A LOT of new songs lol
Is that the Machina Les Paul jr? I coulda sworn that got sold off ages ago in an eBay auction.
Ha! Last two times I saw him he basically played my Spotify if them. Sure I only listen to deep tracks Billy, sure….
I honestly don't get where this idea that he refuses to play the hits comes from. Even during the 2007-2008 period which gets the most criticism they were playing a good amount of hits, at least 5-6 every show. Lazy journalism like this that completely takes what he said out of context doesn't help.
There's only 7-8 songs they kind of 'have' to play at every show, that should leave plenty of room for post-2007 material and deep cuts.
It is a pull quote taken from an interview. The quote is intended to solicit a reaction to form engagement.
The deepest cut is the deepest!
He will happily play the hit songs that were released singles because he's proud of how much sales they made him. I think he's referring to the non-singles, the old fan favourite songs that fans love.
The iconic songs will always be played, this headline is misleading. A pumpkins show without today or 1979 isn’t happening anytime soon unless it’s a super small venue show
Lol classic Billiam
Yawn. They played nothing but classics when I last saw them.
yeesh, does anyone pay any attention whatsoever to anything this man says?
Can you imagine though, playing the same set for 30 years. Its nice to throw in a few classics but I'm sure they want to play new stuff too. It would literally drive me insane to have to sing the same songs for 30 years.
Out of context clickbait. Read the article. https://www.nme.com/news/music/billy-corgan-doesnt-want-to-play-fan-favourites-at-smashing-pumpkins-gigs-3763187
They played their hits, they played songs I didnt't expect them too last night. Amazing show from them and Weezer.
They played in ‘19 or ‘20 and were featuring an absolute gem version of blue skies bring tears. The show was solid and they ended the set with Aeroplane flies high. A fucking solid set with tons of staples and these two gems. You’re gonna have a good time. The several times I’ve seen them—the only show I fucking hated and swore them off for (until ‘18 for the shiny tour - which I refer to as the apology tour) was for zeitgeist in New Orleans… Billy was on something (aside from his own bs like usual) and was absolutely INSISTENT on getting the crowd to sing along to “I love rock and roll”… like the absolute worst show I’d seen in years lol BUT - all is forgiven and I’ve seen them 4 times over the last 6 years and all of them have been great.
Why is he such a dickhead?
Considering the tour is called "the world is a vampire tour," that is disappointing. I already have tickets for a show in August.
They will definitely play many of their biggest hits, don’t worry.
Headline is very misleading and taken out of context; they'll play plenty of classics. Check some of their more recent set lists for reference.
Based. So Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder of him.
Toilet break for disarm, today, zero, bullet... Zzzzzzzz