Billy Corgan: “Here’s another song from an album of mine that you didn’t buy” [PHOTOs+REVIEW]

Billy Corgan - Smashing Pumpkins ~ Acoustic-Electro In Plainsong
Hoyt Sherman Place - Des Moines, IA - 2hours 22min [ PHOTOS + REVIEW ]

The Headline, just one of the more memorable quotes from an artist who was intro'ed at the start of the show by a local radio hack (like me) as a potential 1st-ballot inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. A couple more quotes? OK!   (it was comical, but he was a bit steamed at the time, too!)

With  reference to the shouts and calls from the audience for songs he most assuredly was NOT going to be playing on this evening, Billy chirped;

• Billy Corgan: "This is the first time on this tour where the crowd has called out like this. Go ahead, get it out of your system".

• Billy Corgan: "I don't have a single tattoo, but if I did decide to get one it would say something like; I'm not your fucking trained monkey".

After fielding shouts from an antsy crowd who had just sat thru about 2 hours of acoustic offerings from albums that were NOT highly touted by radio, the mainstream, or in this case, most of those in attendance. Personally, I've never seen more bathroom breaks by a disruptive audience, ever! The cheap drink prices at the Hoyt Sherman Place fueled many in the crowd.

Three-quarters of the way into the performance '1979' got a good portion of the sold-out crowd to it's feet, but that's about it. I did appreciate the "are there any VETS in-the-house" call-out prior to his new track, 'Drum & Fife', from his most recent album, 'Monuments To An Elegy'. (just a few VETS hands among the crowd, including mine)

A cover of the Fleetwood Mac mainstay  ' Landslide' inspired an impromptu sing-along session near the end of the main set.  After he called-out the alcohol-induced audience shouters, I sensed a subdued vibe from performer & audience, and thought perhaps that he would NOT return for an encore. He did, reluctantly it seemed, and finished with 'Spaceboy' .

Overall, the performance was a pretty decent display of Billy's guitar and piano skills. The sound & audio dynamics in the Hoyt Sherman sounded pretty amazing. My seat was on the main floor, right side, in row 8. In two previous visits to this venue I was in center section - row 2.
Again, the sound was excellent a little farther into this theatrical venue. I did compliment the sound technicians at the rear soundboard as I was heading.to the exits.

Acoustic opener Katie Cole also made an appearance during the stripped-down Pumpkin's set on a duet w/ Billy on 'Stand Inside Your Love' from 'Machina/the machines of God'. She also held down bass guitar chores on a couple other offerings. Pumpkins' regular guitarist Jeff Schroeder get's the 'Train Wreck' 'squeal-of-approval'......pure sonic bliss! \m/\m/

This performance seemed more like a 2 1/2 hour warm-up session for what is yet to come this summer, as The Smashing Pumpkins will be hitting the road soon with Marilyn Manson for a co-headlining tour. Billy, and this Acoustic-Electro experiment will be making a stop on Thursday June 25th to the beautiful Pantages Theater on Hennepin Ave in downtown Minneapolis. Looks like there might be a few seats left.[CHECK HERE]

-'Train Wreck' @trainwreckradio

The Smashing Pumpkins - Drum + Fife