Smashing Pumpkins!!

Sunday was a busy day for me...Call-Back in Hollywood, Football all day, and then seeing the Smashing Pumpkins at The Gibson at Universal City Walk!
 

The Opening Act was starting around 7:45 pm so we didn't get to City Walk until around 8:45 pm.  After working our way around Halloween Horror Nights and through the middle of City Walk past all the stores and restaurants we finally got to The Gibson.  The Smashing Pumpkins started almost immediately after we walked into the Theater so we quickly ran down Section 15 and made our way to our seats.
 

Smashing Pumpkins at The Gibson

The first half of the show was all the songs off of The Pumpkins new album 'Oceania' with the second half of the show was some of their classics.  Neil had given me a CD with a bunch of songs, old and new on it, so I could familiarize myself with the music.  Upon listening to it once through, I found myself liking the melodies of the new songs, I did know some of their older hits, but was really unimpressed with Billy Corgan's voice, but I've always felt like that.  To me, it sounds like he's whining.  Hearing him Live was a completely different story!

Billy was absolutely incredible to watch perform!  You could hear the music, the harmonies were perfection, and I loved the new Bassist's voice, which mixed well with his.  I didn't realize how intricate some of the guitar playing was, and the solo's were split between him and a second guitarist, and they were amazing as well.  But the best part was because The Gibson has such great Acoustics, you could hear Billy, you could hear the words he was singing, but the whiny voice was nowhere to be found.  He sounded full and his tone was actually pretty.  I couldn't believe it!

Here's a little run-down of my favorite and note-worthy parts of the first half of the show!

Some of my favorites off the 'Oceania' album and hearing them live were 'The Celestials' and 'Violet Rays.'  'The Celestials' had such a pretty melody and guitar, with catchy lyrics and also had a pop feel to it.  According to The Pumpkins and serenade I heard, 'I'm going to love you 101 percent,' and that was a perfect way to start off the show :)  'Violet Ray's was another easy song to sing along with, it had beautiful lyrics and a haunting feel to it.  I also liked 'My Love is Winter.'  I remembered 'Pinwheels' as soon as it started, and that I didn't like that one because it was too trippy and psychedelic for me, but that was until it actually got 2 minutes into the song, which I had turned off in that time while I was listening to it in my car, it ended up having a really nice melody and mellowed out as well.  'Chimera' and 'Inkless' were similar in their sound, and had a more fun and upbeat vibe to them that I liked.  

Ready for the 2nd half of the show!

Neil and I both found ourselves dancing throughout the whole concert.  We really had a fun time!  When they were finishing up playing songs off the new album we grabbed Strawberry & Pina Colada Margarita's and then went back to our seats to enjoy the second half of the show.  At this point in the show, the giant globe they had above them which was also a movie screen, and was featured on all the TV's continued to show film clips, but the TV's now captured the band.  I like to see close-ups of each member so that made me happy.  It was really dark throughout most of the show but they had really neat colors during each of the songs and I loved that!

My favorites and excitement during the second half of the show!

'Disarm you with a smile...'

After Billy gave a little introduction and joked around with the crowd they started with 'Space Oddity' which was a David Bowie cover that I knew well.  Then they went into 'X.Y.U.' which was a very metal song and I found myself actually jumping around and head-banging to it!  Next up was 'Disarm' which is one of my favorites, and very easy to sing along to.  I loved the music so much more Live and just felt very in the moment while we were at the concert.  I noticed as they played 'Tonight Tonight' that their older music was a little more hard core and rock & roll than their new album which was more alternative and even chill, with a pop edge to it.    When 'Bullet with Butterfly Wings' began I was so excited to hear it and found myself head-banging again but at that point, I needed to stop because jumping around with a Margarita in your tummy, is not a good idea and I wanted to be able to enjoy the rest of the concert as excited as I was as soon as we got there.  Billy then introduced 'Song for a Son' which was one of my personal favorites of the whole night.  I really loved the passion he showed while he played the song and the awesome guitar solo that he just killed!  They closed the set with 'Cherub Rock' which I like to play at Karaoke because it's such a well-known song and it was a great song to end the concert with!

Of course, no concert would be complete without an Encore!  After a few minutes they came back out and performed 2 more songs, 'Ava Adore' and 'Muzzle' which Neil said they don't play very often.  I actually really like 'Ava Adore' because it's got that Fiona Apple feel, hard rock and very edgy with some cutting lyrics.  Even though it's one of their more well-known songs, I hadn't heard it until I listened to it on the CD from Neil, and while I thought it was so-so on the CD, it was incredible Live and I really look forward to listening to the CD Neil made me because I know all the songs now!

By the stage after The Pumpkins Concert!

Overall, it was a really incredible 2 hour show with feeling and emotion behind the songs.  Billy had some jokes for the crowd and seemed very appreciative of a supportive Gibson-filled room!  This was a concert I wasn't so sure about before I got there but would have been so disappointed in myself if I didn't have an open mind to go to it because the Smashing Pumpkins now have a new fan!

*Here's a link to 'Song for a Sun' with Billy's incredible guitar skills and outro (watch from the 17 minute mark)...this was at the San Francisco concert, but is a better video than anything I've found for the LA concert.*
 'Song for a Son' Smashing Pumpkins