Review: Smashing Pumpkins at Massey Hall (Night 2)

IMG_7776, originally uploaded by Evdawg.

“If I were to notice my nose or ears bleeding at the concert, it wouldn’t have come to me as a surprise as I surely thought my brain had melted a little.” – my description of Night 2 to a colleague.

After another day of work, I headed downtown to an election party at some pub. Dawn (who I curled with a few nights prior) had organized a grand gala for the US elections and so Katie and I decided to show up (as well as take advantage of their cheap chicken wings!). I got to see Sarah, Dawn and Nathan one last time before heading out of Toronto but missed Paul as he was ordering some shoes online (brave sole!). I then trekked down to Massey Hall and got there around 7:50 with no free posters in sight. I headed downstairs to the bar (which was the first time I realized there was a bar in this place) and got a water as I wasn’t feeling too well. I figured some hydration may help out. I then found my trusty old Row R, Seat 42 chair and plopped down around different people. I noticed familiar faces in the hall…some had moved towards the stage, some backwards. Either way, I closed my eyes until the lights dimmed and the same introduction music came over the PA.

I shall go more in depth on the review this time around to capture all my thoughts of the two nights. I thought a neat addition to the stage was a sole lit-up pumpkin on one of the amplifiers. I also liked how the violinist had a spot next to Lisa on keys and that the horn section had a spot in behind Ginger (bass). It was a good setup of the small stage.

I make specific comments to songs below so I’ll sum up overall feelings of the night here. All in all, Night 2 BLEW my expectations away. When I bought tickets to the 20th Anniversary tour, it was in hopes of hearing some rare songs. I didn’t expect any new songs, I didn’t expect any ‘never before played’ songs, I didn’t expect some returns of old jam songs. I got all of this and more. It was quite a surprise and it perked me out of my feeling sick. It was amazing. There was not one moment that I didn’t enjoy. The new songs are rocking! I really can’t wait to hear the bootleg to this night! It’s on order. Who knows when it will show up. Night 2 was by far the better of the two nights but I’m glad I went to both.

Comments on the entire 20th Anniversary Tour – Black Sunshine and White Crosses. 48 different songs played over the span of two nights. 5 hours of Pumpkins music. White Crosses definitely not the ‘acoustic’ session that I thought it would become. I must admit that I almost enjoyed being alone at the concert as I didn’t have to think about anyone else who may not enjoy the Pumpkins as much as I do. I could exist in the moment of the heavy 20 minute jam sessions and love every moment of them. I could marvel in the fact that they are playing new songs for us tonight. I enjoyed Night 2 more than Night 1 and I can’t figure out if it’s because I already had heard Night 1 earlier in the summer via a bootleg. I think by looking at the song content, I would have preferred Night 2 anyhow…with its rarities and new songs being played. But the whole experience was the best Pumpkins experience I’ve had in my life. I’ve seen the Pumpkins in ’96, ’00 and ’07 and this is them at the top of their game. Twenty years in and they aren’t letting up!

Epilogue – In the encore, Billy came out and made reference to President Obama and how proud they were of their country right now. Everyone cheered. When I left Massey Hall I walked up Yonge Street and there were people dancing in the streets. There were bongos being drummed, there were songs being changed in Dundas Square. To confirm that Obama did in fact win, I asked the first person I met. “Who won?” I asked. He smiled and said “Obama.”

I don’t know if it was because Barack Obama seemed to be a popular candidate in Canadian eyes, or if it was because it was finally the end of an…interesting eight years with George W. Either way it felt like this great weight had been lifted off the shoulders of the world that evening.

I couldn’t have asked for a better ending of my stay in Toronto.

Special thanks go out to a few people in making this possible – Bruce, Louise and Maureen for those gift certificates to Ticketmaster from last Christmas. Most of the concerts in Ottawa are through another ticket chain so I was glad to put those gift cards to the ultimate use. Thank you very much! Thanks to my old manager Sue and the crew at the regional headquarters in Toronto for allowing me to work from Toronto for a few days. Last but not least, thanks to Katie for having me over for a few nights. I’m glad I had the opportunity to fix her computer, fix her iPod and make brownies during my way with her!

Love live the Pumpkins.

Setlist:
Ava Adore – Billy in black get up (on White Crosses night. Nice) carrying a jack-o-lantern and dumping the glittery contents on part of the audience during the song.
Cupid de Locke – !!! Hasn’t been played in a decade. Jimmy came out on the marching drum and Billy led him around the stage.
1979 – Fairly standard fare.
99 Floors – A new song which debuted at the Residencies last year. Acoustic/harmonica folk song.
Owata – New song. Pretty cool!
Sunkissed – I really enjoyed the addition of the horns on this one.
Soma – AS IF. SOMA is being played. At this point in the night, I realized that Night 2 would blow Night 1 one away from the sheer choice of songs they played.
Cherub Rock – I laughed after remembering last night’s comments about this tune.
Zero – Ah yes! Hasn’t been played in awhile. One of my faves from Mellon Collie. Jeff was pretty wild on the solo.
Bodies – Honestly, are they kidding me? This has surely not been played in over a decade and is constantly requested. It was visceral. It was amazing. Billy screaming “Love is Suicide!”. Beautiful. At this point, this is where I thought of the brain melting comment above.
Crestfallen – Always a favourite from Adore.
I of the Mourning – A welcome surprise and I love the end.
A Song for a Son – New song, quite rocking. I’m enjoying the direction of the new songs and look forward to their proper introduction.
Landslide – Jeff and Billy, solo on guitar. Beautiful! It was really great to hear him sing Landslide and he even had us sing at one point.
Disarm – Good violin/horn section.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness – Ok, so I really didn’t know what this was for awhile. For the longest time I just thought it was the horn/violin section playing an instrumental jam. Then I tuned into a melody I recognized. It really took me five good minutes to pinpoint it…it was the instrumental introduction to my favourite album! Very different and very amazing. Once I tuned it, it put a smile on my face.
Galapogos – Honestly, a dream come true. “Too late to turn back now, I’m running out of sound!”. At first I thought they were playing Porcelina.
Gossamer – At this point in the show, my brain truly must have been damaged somehow as I started to not be able to pinpoint what they were playing. The rolling bassline and the drums hearkened a memory in me and then I realized they were playing the ‘live-only’ song Gossamer which is one of my all time faves. This is quite the long song (some versions capping at 35 minutes). I believe this one stopped around the 20 minute mark and they had a new outro section which was great. It took the intro section and slowed it down.
As Rome Burns – New song which ROCKED. The haunting feel of the keys, the sense-searing guitar…ahhh, it’s going to be a fave!
The Sounds of Silence – I found out this is a Simon and Garfunkel cover. I didn’t know it until after the show. I think it’s at this point in the night where Billy tripped backwards and fell on his back and he waved off the guitar tech guy and got up himself. Must be hard enough when he’s dressed up in a dress!
The March Hare – New song. Honestly, these songs segueway into one another easily that I couldn’t really tell where one ended and where one began. I believe this one is where he started ranting about Little Red Riding Hood. It had a very calyspo beat and Billy was traipsing around the stage with a tambourine and genuinely having a great time.
Suffer – Segueway into Suffer which I didn’t recognize at first as it was a calypso version. Very cool!
Age of Innocence – Ending the show with a great ending tune from Machina!
Encore
That’s the Way (My Love Is) – Acoustic.
I Am One – Part 2 – For the longest time, this space jam seemed familiar (lyrically only) to me and I really couldn’t put my finger on it. When I searched through some old Gish tunes the next day, I still couldn’t place the lyrics. I then found out that this was a pre-Gish tune that they brought out of the vault! AWESOME! Never played before live! Beautiful! I think this was the ultimate nod to the hardcore fans like myself who may have recognized it from a simple 2 minute version we have in our collection somewhere. Musically, it’s definitely changed though.