Hi everyone,
Here's a little report of yesterday's concert.
The first part was assured by 'Ringo Death Starr', a band from Austin (Texas). They arrived at 8:15 PM I think.They were three: a guitarist, a drummer, and a bassist woman who sang also sometimes. It was sounding like shoegazing music, recalling My bloody valentine, Jesus and Mary Chains, and even Slowdive sometimes. The music itself was not so bad, but the noise of the guitar effects was too high to be able to enjoy the music. Their set lasted 45 minutes, but it gave the impression it was a 2h set (pretty boring).
The Smashing Pumpkins arrived at 9:15 PM. Billy and all the others member together, not Billy coming in last position, to be acclaimed more than the others, as it happen sometimes. The setlist was the same than in Brussels and Amsterdam, with Zero and BWBW composing the encore.
The first great moment of the evening, to me, was Starla. What a pleasure it was to hear it live!! I really loved the soft part in the middle before the ending solo. Then Geek USA, very nice. I had goomps on Muzzle, and I nearly cried when he sang 'and the world that you can live withoooout..." (I really love this line).
The Oceania/TBK songs were logically less well received than the older ones, because people didn't know already these songs. However, people seemed to like Pinwheels and Pale Horse. 'Frail and bedazzled' was a highlight to me, with Billy singing a capella at the end of the song, just before playing again. The enchainement of Frail and Bedazzled with Silverfuck was a bit too fast in my opinion. Silverfuck was for sure a highlight of the show, with everybody singing 'Baby you're dead... hole in your head'... People must have felt embarrassed at the end of the song, when Billy told Mike to stop immediately, with a angry face, when Mike had started something. I've never seen Billy like this but it was really frightening... Thru the eyes of Ruby was my favorite moment yesterday, it was so good hearing it live and to sing along with Billy 'The night has come to hold us young'...
Cherub Rock was good. I'm not fond of Owata and My love is winter. Neither of Oceania. These songs were the lowest points of the show, in my opinion. 'For Martha' was great, Mike played the intro with a soft sound of keyboard. I think it would have sound better with a piano sound, but however it was great.
But for many people, the best moment of the show was the encore (Zero/Bullet). When the band returned, Billy thanked the audience, who was really enthousiastic yesterday. He told that Paris was one of the most beautiful city of the world, and asked each member of the group, what do they prefer, between Paris and Los Angeles. They all answered Paris. Then Billy told a guy or a girl in the front row, that he/she can come suck his deck after the show (!!!)./ A joke I guess, I was a bit stunned by this actually... He announced then that the Oceania album would be releasedd in March 2012, and they will come back in Europe then. Then they launched Zero, which was very welle received buy the audience. But obviously, 'Bullet' was the song the most well received. It was funny when the intro of BWBW was stopped... then silence... then 'the world is a vampire' and the song to be continued, with the audience very receptive. At the end of the song, Billy asked the crowd to sing, and everybody was singing 'Despite all my rage...'. A very good moment, and to me, it was the hightlight of the show.
Sorry Sophie, I didn't find you yesterday. Nex time I hope we'll meet.
The Zenith was nearly full, even if it was not sold out.
In conclusion, it was a very good concert, a 2h show, and the inclusion of Zero instead of Pissant
was a good idea, for those who wanted hits.
This post has been edited by galapogos: 10 November 2011 - 01:35 AM