The Smashing Pumpkins Forum: werideatdusk - Viewing Profile - The Smashing Pumpkins Forum

Well, look. There is the 1990 version of playing a song somebody doesn’t want to hear, and they put their fingers in their ears, and you think, “Fuck you. Good.” And then there’s the 2008 version, where you’re like, “Oh man, they’re just waiting for me to play … fill in the blank.” That’s a different feeling. I remember opening for the Buzzcocks in Paris. I think it was ’92. Weird room, didn’t sound very good, we didn’t get a sound check. We go out there, and the crowd is pretty old — mid-30s, early-40s. They were not interested in our brand of psychedelia, particularly in Paris. And we played — I’ve got the cassette somewhere — I told the band, “Just jam, fuck it.” Because literally we would stop and would be met by silence or the derisive whistle of European football fans. So we played six songs for 45 minutes, which means we played every song for about nine minutes. Even ones that weren’t supposed to be played that long, we just noodled. But we took great pleasure in being annoying. There’s a certain power in that. When you’re 40 years old, and the person’s standing there going, “Why doesn’t he play ’33′? I love that song. Why has he gotta play this 25-minute Pink Floyd song?” — it’s not the same feeling. On the Zeitgeist tour we’d play “Set The Controls To The Heart Of The Sun,” and we did this bit where we’d break down and we had little birds that we bought — they’re Audubon birds, where they actually have samples of the bird’s call. So we would walk up to the microphone and play our little bird calls, and people would boo the birds. And we’d laugh. We were like, “They’re booing bird calls.” Of course people are shouting, “Play some music!” OK, what are we playing? It’s totally a different experience, because what do you bond around? And then you read the review: “Ugh, Corgan. He wouldn’t play any of his hits.” And then I’d look at the set list and I would have played nine “hit” songs. So then you start thinking, “What’s the magic number?” And then you realize, there isn’t one. Twenty-four hits isn’t enough, because then you didn’t play _____. And then the punk-rock guy kicks in, and then of course I took it deeper and darker, and it got weirder and weirder. I drove Jimmy Chamberlin insane with how dark it all got. And that’s saying something.