Billy Corgan 2022-02-06 (early show)

February 6, 2022 – Highland Park, IL, US
Live performance by Billy Corgan
Wintersongs residency
Date	February 6, 2022
Venue	Madame ZuZu's
Coordinates	42°11′11″N 87°48′2″W
Location	Highland Park, IL, US
Venue type	Teahouse
Capacity	40
Personnel	Billy Corgan
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Setlist[edit | edit source]

"El-A-Noy" (acoustic)
"Burnt Orange Black" (acoustic)
"Black Lung" (acoustic)
"Cyr" (acoustic)
"The Empty Sea" (acoustic)
"Black Forest, Black Hills" (acoustic) (live debut)
"Antietam" (acoustic)
"Widow Wake My Mind" (acoustic)
"Anno Satana" (acoustic) (live debut)
"Winterlong" (acoustic)
"Jesus Won't You Come On By" [traditional] (acoustic) (only performance)
"W.P." (acoustic)
"Waiting for a Train That Never Comes" (acoustic)
"By Starlight" (acoustic)
"Ugly" (acoustic)
"I Know My Time Is Coming Round" (acoustic)

Notes[edit | edit source]

First performance of "W.P." since 2001-12-14 and first Corgan solo performance
First performance of "I Know My Time Is Coming Round" since 2002-04-08 and first Corgan solo performance
First performance of "Widow Wake My Mind" since 2010-08-11
First performance of "By Starlight” since 2012-09-13
First performance of "El-A-Noy" since 2015-06-19
First performance of "Winterlong" since 2017-11-09
First performances of "Burnt Orange Black" and "Antietam" since 2017-11-12

Banter[edit | edit source]

BC: [cuts in] Does everyone have the QR code, I think, yeah? So please use that. Um, we just had our manager quit the other day, heh, so things are a little complicated for us as a business and this is the largest crowd we’ve had in here since we opened over a year ago, so we ask for your patience today, but uh, we’re very happy and I know the staff is very happy to have you in here today, so thank you very much and we’ll get started in about ten minutes.
[10 min break]
BC: Alright.
El-A-Noy
BC: Thank you very much. You’re thinking about leaving Illinois, that’s a great song. But there’s so many reasons to stay, Zuzu’s just being one of them. And not much after that, heh. Heh heh heh heh heh.
Burnt Orange-Black
Black Lung
BC: Thank you. My grandfather on my father’s side was a coal miner and had black lung. I always thought that was like a mythological idea but he actually had black lung. Heh heh, it’s so descriptive when you’re a kid: “he had black lung.” Heh heh heh.
Cyr
BC: How is everybody today? (crowd clapping) Back in the day, I used to joke and say that the Smashing Pumpkins were the perfect band for the apocalypse and little did I know....
Guy in crowd: It’s all just a dream.
BC: Heh heh! Unbelievable. Well, if it is a dream...thanks for being in mine and I appreciate you letting me in yours.
The Empty Sea
BC: That was for all you five Zwan fans out there. (crowd cheers) Okay, seven -– seven Zwan fans.
Guy in crowd: Reissue!
BC: For you Zwan fans, I will say that I’m inking a deal with our label, Sumerian, to put out the Zwan box set finally. And as the guy right now is sliding in my DMs, (dumb guy voice) “What about the Machina box set?” (normal voice) That’s coming too. That box set’s actually been done for six months, but...it’s forces beyond my control. What does Trump always say? (Trump impression) “China. China.” (normal voice) That’s all I ever hear these days, like, “Why can’t we get vinyl?” (Trump impression) “China.” (long hissing noise in background) (normal voice) I see no one got the memo about turning off the cappuccino machine. (noise continues) Heh heh! (noise continues) Yep! That’s why you’re like, “There’s nothing I can do right.”
Black Forest, Black Hills
Antietam
BC: Any Smashing Pumpkins fans are here? (crowd laughs) Heh heh. Anybody? (crowd cheers) Um...so yeah, I’m happy to report that outside of mixing, the Pumpkins album is done. And our good friend Linda Strawberry is certainly a partisan ‘cause she’s part of the family for 20 years.... She got to sing on a couple things, but she didn’t hear the whole record –- she was only where we were temporarily –- last night, she actually got to hear the whole record unmixed. And I think it was a lotta “What the fuck?” Heh. “You guys are insane. This is blowing my mind. This is so wild. Only you guys would pull this shit off.” So, if that strikes your fancy.... I certainly -– also partisan -– in this hyperbolic time, I guess it’s not a bad thing to be a partisan, but as partisan, I can certainly say it’s the best album we’ve made in over 20 years. And I don’t hesitate when I say that. I’m at least proud that we’ve reached back into that crazy space that we used to live in and managed to put together 33 songs that tell a story and continue the crazy legacy of our boy Zero. So, if that strikes your fancy, it won’t be long. It’ll be out before the Machina reissue. Does that sound right? (dumb guy voice) “Yeah, but you said the Machina reissue was gonna come out like two years ago.” (normal voice) It’s probably one guy with like seven accounts, always writing me the same thing. You might remember this one...if you were paying attention...which...if memory serves, a lot of people weren’t. Heh heh. That’s okay. Vengeance is mine and I shall get what I’m looking for.
Widow Wake My Mind
BC: Thank you. I always liked that song even though I thought it was stupid. Heh heh, which is a weird thing to think. I will say one thing in regards to the album –- the Pumpkins album. We left our last management -– not wholly, but partly -– because deep down, they didn’t really believe in the idea of us doing a 33 song album. The sort of vibe being -– and I’m saying this not about them but a lot about a lot of people [sic] –- why should a band in its 34th or 35th year bother? The audience doesn’t care anymore and dah dah dah dah dah and it’s like, those days and I just don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. And I think that the point of it all is if we don’t believe, why should you, right? And so, I’m at least proud that we went back to that place. If we did it, great, you got more music to listen to; if you don’t, well, just more noise, right? There’s plenty of noise.
Anno Satana
Guy in crowd: Thank you!
BC: Thank you. Or as my daughter says, “Rock and roll.” She knows that one. The other day, uh, her teacher said to her after she did something good in an assignment (bumps mic) –- excuse me -– um, he just said, “Oh, you did that good, you’re a rock star.” And my daughter said, “No, I’m not a rock star, my dad is a rock star.”
Lady in crowd: [unintelligible] as you are.
BC: Heh heh heh heh. Unbelievable. Speaking of Machina....
Winterlong
BC: Thank you. (approx. 45 seconds of downtuning guitar) The other day in the studio when I was with Howard, I said to him, “When it’s all said and done, heh, all of it, the thing I will not miss is tuning.” I can’t decide what’s worse: making you listen to tuning or making you listen to an out of tune guitar. Maybe we should do a fan vote, yeah? (laughing) Right? Instagram vote.
Jesus Won’t You Come On By
BC: Heh heh heh. I know in the old days, we used to like to walk people through our particular nightmares on stage, heh heh heh. It brought flashbacks there for a second. ... Now this next song...only adding to the pressure of the moment...is one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever written. I hope you enjoy it too. And I will try not to desecrate it...best I can.
W.P.
BC: Now I could be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve played that song for about 19 years, so...it’s alright. Havin’ a good time? When I called these shows “Wintersongs,” I tried to warn you. Heh. So.... I know I’m known for my happy material and uh...just hate to disappoint anybody at anytime. But sometimes you just gotta go there. So I hope you’re enjoying the show and I appreciate you being here, thank you...very much. It’s amazing we can gather at all...so I’m appreciative of that, despite my...inner rage.
Waiting for a Train That Never Comes
BC: And now there’s a sense of momentum as we hurl into the last chasm of the set. Heh heh heh heh heh. When I was a kid, I used to talk like that to freak people out, growing up in the suburbs. “Why are you so weird, man? Why are you so dark?” But you see it’s a genetic thing. And I swear this is true. Come from a long line of freaks. It seems I’m making two of my own here. For example...we play this game, um...where are we? We play this game at home. I don’t know what you’d call it. I don’t know if it has a name but it’s the kind of game where you go, you’re talking to somebody and you go like, “Oh hey, somebody’s over there, wants to talk to you” and the person, when they look, and when my kids look, they’re kinda “Gotcha.” So about three days after my father passed away, we were here right there in the corner playing the game. Me, my son and my daughter. And I’d gotten my son pretty good a couple times and he goes, “Dad, look up.” And I –- I know not to look up, right? He goes, “Dad, look up. It’s the ghost of your dead father.” (crowd laughing) Yep. We laugh and we cry. I dedicate this song to all the lovers in the crowd, are there any lovers in the crowd? (mild applause) Aren’t you the ghost of Christmas past or...? Heh, heh. Ladies and gentlemen, the ghost of Christmas past. My dear friend, Richard Shay. Or as we call him, Dickie Shay. This one goes for you. To all the lives...to all the loves you’ve lost or to all the -– what is it?
Richard Shay: (singing) For all the girls we’ve loved....
BC: Oh jesus. I wasn’t thinking of you when I wrote this song, but I might have been, if that makes any sense. It’s like a...like a comic book, you know, not a comic book, a coloring book where it’s just a line and you color it in. I didn’t realize until I met you that you were the color of the...the line in my mind for this song. (strums once) It’s christ’s guitar. I had my whole setup goin’, right?
By Starlight
Guy in crowd: (quietly) Play it again.
BC: (under his breath) Oh my god.
Another guy in crowd: Can you play that again?!
BC: Maybe at your funeral. (crowd laughs loudly) Too dark, too dark? Too dark? Not for him.
Guy in crowd: We played it at my mother’s funeral, it’s a beautiful thing!
BC: (laughing) I was at your mother’s funeral and your father’s. Hopefully you’ll outlive me though. May god grant you a long life, my friend. What time is it?
Lady in crowd: 5:47.
Somebody else in crowd: 4:40. (crowd laughs)
BC: Well played. ... Before I came over here, I got a hankering to play another old song. Now I’m looking at it, I’m like...it’s gonna go bad. Play you -– I’ll play you one I know, heh heh, start there.
Ugly
Guy in crowd: Thank you!
BC: Haha! Young me thanks teen you.
Lady in crowd: [unintelligible but possibly “He’s a kid.”]
BC: Hahahahaha! That was a good one, hahahaha. Alright. We’ve reached the end of the show. (tuning guitar) It’ll just be me tuning for like five minutes, so.... Though while I tune, please partake of the business. You might’ve heard there was a pandemic going on, so we appreciate your business here. And for those of you who haven’t been here lately -- I know there’s a few of you -- the prints on the wall are for sale. I was able to secure some photos from some of the photographers we’ve shot with through the years. Some really beautiful photos that I was happy to get, so if you’re interested in those, please ask. Our millennial staff, disaffected and disconnected as they are, will help you. I made the mistake of going to Target the other day. And um...my son wanted this camera...that does green screen or something, pretty simple kids thing. Nobody to help you, wandering aimlessly through electronic aisles, endless Beats headphones, and uh...and uh, saw this guy over there, obviously an employee. Head down. Being raised courteous, I say to him, “Excuse me, young man, can you help me?” He goes, (sarcastic) “Yeah!” (10 second pause) And then he finally looks up and I go, “Can I help you?” And he goes, “No, man, I don’t need any help.” (tuning guitar) Did I already say the thing about tuning? Heh heh, wish my early guess so I never have to tune again? Thank you, hope you enjoyed the show. In between my moments of sheer terror, hopefully you found some moments of illumination. Or if not...in my out of tuneness, you entered some sort of fugue raga state and came closer to god.
I Know My Time Is Coming Round (abandoned after 15 seconds)
BC: Goddamn this fucking guitar. (feigns smashing guitar) It’s been a while since I smashed a guitar. As Pete Townshend once told me, he goes, “It’s a shame my guitars are worth more smashed than intact.” True. (tuning guitar) Oh my god. Anybody got a good joke? Richard?
Shay: Well, when Billy’s warming up his voice before a big show, he says “Do re mi fa so la ti do, do re mi fa so la...” and he goes up and up and down and he says, “I hate this more than anything, just like them -– just like the tuning!”
BC: Is that funny or...?
Shay: I’m endlessly amused. And then I knocked on the door and he says, “Just come in if you knock, it’s two times interruption!”
BC: It’s true. You’re giving away the secrets of backstage, you see.
Shay: Whoops.
BC: One is no one wants to be in a room with me ‘cause they have to hear me warm up. And two is we have a no knocking rule, which apparently is very unusual for bands, ‘cause god knows what they’re doing behind closed doors. But for us, it’s just “Come on in.”
Shay: Well, in Masto(?), there was no tower for two hours into the show. And nobody complained!
BC: ‘Cause they were speaking Russian and you didn’t know what the fuck they were saying.
Shay: But the main guys said they were so glad they have a [unintelligible word, possibly "pastor"] they’re not gonna complain and you said maybe you should go out with an acoustic and entertain people, I was halfway out on the stage before I realized you were kidding!
I Know My Time Is Coming Round (abandoned after 4 seconds)
BC: It’s still outta tune, it’s like, why? It’s so painful, I’m so sorry. And no, this is not performance art, this is bad showbiz right here.
Shay: As Billy says, there’s certain places on the stage you can go during the performance while you –- it’s called black boxes, I don’t know what he mean! –- I was here, I was there, I was everywhere!
BC: Oh jesus. What he’s referring to...(pause for crowd laughter)...is from our MTV days, if you remember those...we would play, you know, whatever, the MTV awards, and there’d always be the guy up under James’s nose, shooting that shot. And invariably somebody would fuck up what they were playing. So we started this thing called the box, like you’re not allowed to get in the box. The box does not have a color, it’s just a box.
I Know My Time Is Coming Round (abandoned immediately as Richard yells)
Shay: I couldn’t find the box, the memory was!
(pause for crowd laughter)
BC: Well, this guitar’s never gonna be in tune, so I’m just gonna go bye.
I Know My Time Is Coming Round
BC: Thank you very much.

Photos and memorabilia[edit | edit source]