The Smashing Pumpkins 1993-07-04
| July 4, 1993 – London, UK | |
|---|---|
| Live performance by The Smashing Pumpkins | |
| Artist | The Smashing Pumpkins |
| Date | July 4, 1993 |
| Venue | Raymond Revue Bar |
| Coordinates | 51°30′45″N 0°8′3″W |
| Location | London, UK |
| Venue type | Club |
| Capacity | 183 |
| Personnel | Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'arcy Wretzky, Jimmy Chamberlin |
| Order of bands | The Smashing Pumpkins |
Setlist[edit | edit source]
- "Rocket" (acoustic)
- "Cherub Rock" (acoustic)
- "Rhinoceros" (acoustic)
- "Today" (acoustic)
- "Spaceboy" (acoustic)
- "Siva" (acoustic) [5:51]
- "The Spirit of Radio" [Rush] (tease) (acoustic)
- "Dancing in the Moonlight" [Thin Lizzy] (acoustic)
- "Disarm" (acoustic)
- "Starla" (acoustic) [6:10]
- "Outshined" [Soundgarden] (tease) (acoustic)
- "Suffer" (acoustic)
- "Hummer" (acoustic)
- "Drown" (acoustic) [4:20]
- "Kooks" [David Bowie] (acoustic) (final performance)
- "Smiley" (acoustic)
- "Bye June" (acoustic)
- "I Am One" (tease) (acoustic)
- "Bury Me" (tease) (acoustic)
- "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" [Rod Stewart] (tease)
- "Snail" (tease) (acoustic)
- "French Movie Theme" (tease) (acoustic)
- "Crush" (acoustic)
Notes[edit | edit source]
- James Iha waltzes with an audience member during "Bye June"
Banter[edit | edit source]
BC: Good evening.
D’arcy: Hi. This is a very special occasion, we've made a record--pulled a record monetary loss. Out of every show we've ever played, I think we lost the most money on this one, so this is a very special show tonight.
BC: I didn't know that. So um, welcome to Smashing Pumpkin hell...or something close to that. And um, thank you for coming. Hope you have fun.
Iha: Heh heh, heh, and stop taking pictures, heh heh.
BC: See, they like to take the pictures when we look good, as opposed to later when we look bad. So um, we're going to play you new songs and old songs and if you want to hear anything, go ahead and feel free to yell them out, it's very casual.
D’arcy: But that doesn't mean we'll play them.
BC: If it sounds--(laughing) yeah–-(normal) and if it sounds bad, let us know, I'd rather have everyone enjoy it and, you know, if the vocals are too low or loud or all that stupid shit, but anyway...so, um, hi, bye, and here we are.
Rocket
BC: Dank je wel.
Iha: Why, thank you very much, London.
BC: See, if this was a normal show, this is where James would say something witty and then I would piss off the crowd with something smug.
Iha: But things are so stressful, how can we? Haha.
Cherub Rock
Iha: Thank you very much again.
BC: So we're really happy to be the next Duran Duran. It's uh, really cool, um...our stylist tells us we need to get better clothes, but I think once we do that, everything's gonna work out fine.
Iha: I, of course, have opted for Limahl's haircut from Kajagoogoo.
D’arcy: He also has his guitar microphone.
Iha: Heh heh, a haha.
D’arcy: No, it's true!
Iha: Let's, uh, let's play another song and, uh, see what happens.
BC: That's a good idea, Jimmy--James.
Iha: Heh, okay, Bill, heh heh heh. (sarcastically) A haha.
Rhinoceros
Iha: Wait a minute, I want to pose for the cameras, I dropped my pick. This barrage of flash lights must stop after a while.
BC: He's um...you ever see The Man with the X-ray Eyes? That's what he's got. He can see all of you naked right now but the bright light really hurts him after a while.
Iha: Hey, hey....
BC: (laughing) Now there's a frightening thought. (normal) If god wanted us to be naked, he wouldn't have born us with clothes, but never mind, that's this dumb joke. This is um, on that new album, the one everyone's murmuring about. It's no Nevermind, but uh, it's pretty good.
Iha: (fake laughing) Ha ha ha ha.
Today
BC: Thanks. This is a song I wrote about my little brother and it's called Spaceboy.
Spaceboy
Siva / The Spirit of Radio
(BC following jamming post-guitar solo: Heh, sorry.
Iha: Heh heh, we just thought we'd kick out the jams for you there.
BC: It's been so long. (doodling back and forth between Billy and Iha) Can you play that Spirit of the Radio riff? (Iha plays it before song goes back into pre-chorus))
Iha: Thank you.
BC: Um, we'd like to, um, do a song by Thin Lizzy, please.
D’arcy: Please.
Guy #1 in crowd: Sure.
Guy #2 in crowd: Yup.
BC: Heh, thanks. Is everyone having a good time? It's not too hot? It's too hot? Oh, I'm sorry, alright, we won't play as long, but um...but um, we wouldn't want anyone to be uncomfortable.
Dancing in the Moonlight
Disarm
BC: Thank you. So does anyone want to hear anything? Should we just keep with the setlist?
Iha: Plodding along.
Audience members: Drown! Everything! Bury Me! Starla! Starla.
BC: Starla, oooh, heh, that's a toughie. I don't know if we could play Starla.
D’arcy: (off mic) I don't think so.
Iha: No, heh heh heh heh heh.
BC: I'll--you wanna--we'll try it even though we don't know it, how's that? Heh heh! D'arcy's gonna hate me for this, but um....
D’arcy: Yeah, she would. You wanted the notes.
BC: (laughing) It's, uh, A to D and then...yeah, that's how it goes, A to D and then there's that one part, I don’t know. Heh heh! I don't remember. It's the advantage of writing it....
Jimmy: (off mic) No it's four five five four.
D’arcy: (off mic) Seven two ten one.
BC: We'll try it and if it sucks, we're sorry, and if it's great, it'll be cool.
Starla (abandoned after 3 notes)
BC: Whoop. Actually, can I have that other guitar? (Iha strums a little) You don't sound too in tune there, Mr. Iha. He's got the blues, man. If you only knew how many blues he had. (guitars tuning) All right. Heh.
Starla
(Iha over intro: Yeah.)
(BC: So I can't remember the next line, I honestly can't.
Jimmy: (off mic) Disappear.
BC: Huh?
Jimmy: (off mic) Disappear.
BC (singing) To disappear...(laughing) takes so much time. (speaking) Oh yeah. (singing) Starla dear...)
(BC later, before guitar solo would begin: Alright, time off for the wank off bit.)
D’arcy: That never happens, (laughing) let me tell you.
BC: What, that you remember?
D’arcy: That you forget and I remember, heh. Never, never happens.
BC: Thanks for embarrassing me. We'd like to play an oldie and a psychedelic-y. Heh! (tuning guitar) This is the grunge downtune, by the way.
Outshined (tease - 5 notes from chorus melody)
BC: Play that...[1-2 unintelligible words].
Outshined (tease - Billy plays the riff, Jimmy and Iha join in)
BC: (singing) Show me the power drive, I’d like to say that I’m down on my knees again. (high pitched) Outshined!
D’arcy: Anton--Anton or Darren, Anton or Darren, can--can you get me a beer? A beer from Anton or Darren.
BC: Wow, that's the best applause we've gotten.
D’arcy: Please.
Iha: (stoner voice) Yeah, play some more Soundgarden, man, heh.
BC: Um...oh yeah!
Suffer
> Hummer
BC: Thanks. That's it, bye. (crowd groans in disappointment) Aww, you make me feel so bad. Go ahead, downtune, play Drown. You want to hear Drown? Okay. All right, no, okay, we--we'll get past the encore, pretend, okay, we'll just play and then yell when you want us to stop.
People in crowd: Do Daydream. No, Smiley. [unintelligible].
BC: Right, but first on the hit list is Drown.
Iha: Oh friends, let's not start that yet.
BC: Um...so is everyone okay, I mean, I feel weird like, I don't want you to sit here and burn and die and.... So um, this is Drown, I guess.
Drown
BC: Heh, synchronicity. Whatever happened to that Police album, Synchronicity? Whatever happened to a lot of things? And then they wonder why we're such a fucked up generation.
Iha: There's nothing wrong with Sting, heh heh heh.
BC: We have a no-Sting rule with the Pumpkins, um, if he comes on the radio or anything, we have to change it, so that includes Police and...solo.
Iha: And if you've ever seen Sting on a trampoline playing bass, it's enough to ruin it for life.
BC: So um, we'd like to do a David Bowie song. Kinda obvious, but, um....
Iha: Matches my shirt.
BC: Heh heh heh! James used to be in the Spiders from Mars, a lot of people don't know that.
Iha: Barry Ronson, they called me.
BC: You have the--you have the--the Woody--the Woody/Mick/Keith Ronson haircut going.
Iha: Oookay, let’s....
BC: Oh, right, heh heh. So this is called Kooks.
Kooks (abandoned after 3 seconds)
BC: Heh, no, wait, you didn't applaud for any of our songs like that.
Kooks
Iha: Heh! The applause is overwhelming, we must do more David Bowie songs, I guess.
BC: Well, is everyone okay, should we keep playing? You sure, no dissenters? No one's gonna throw a beer at my head?
Iha: (British accent) What? It's too hot, mate.
D’arcy: Did you say beer? What happened to my beer? I asked for a beer.
BC: (Southern accent) Can't play without that beer.
D’arcy: Good.
BC: (normal voice) Heh. Do you want a beer?
D’arcy: No, I was lying.
Iha: Oh ho ho, everything's light and easy, we’re all joking around...
D’arcy: Where the hell is Anton?!
Iha: ...the set's almost over with and...heh.
BC: Oh okay, now I know what we'll play.
Smiley
BC: This is Anton. Here, I promised--
D’arcy: Thank you, Anton.
BC: I promised Anton that I'd sing him this homosexual paean of my love to him. So if I fuck up, don't notice 'cause it's the emotion of Anton.
Bye June
(BC alt lyrics at end: I hope you make it to...Anton’s house later for a party.)
BC: Yeah, heh, another gay moment.
Iha: Aaaand goodnight, heh.
BC: Alright, let's end this on a high, exciting note, so what should it be?
Audience member: I Am One!
BC: But see, you don't know any of the music–-yeah...
I Am One (tease)
BC: ...yeah, yeah, right, we got it right here for you. Unh-uh. No fuckin' way.
Bury Me (tease)
BC: See you don't know any of the new songs, so it's kinda like....
Audience member: Geek U.S.A.!
D’arcy: Hahahaha!
Iha: Alright, we'll have to play that Amboy Dukes song I know, heh heh, you've been waitin' for.
BC: Alright, I know how we'll end on a--
Audience member: Tonight's the Night!
BC: Huh?
Iha: (amused) Tonight's the Night....
Audience member: Stripped!
D’arcy: Heh, stripped....
Iha: Hey man, heh heh...
Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright) (tease)
BC: (singing) Tonight's the night, it’s gonna be alright.
Iha: ...back off on Neil, all right?
Audience members: Born in the U.S.A.! Terrapin! Smells Like Teen Spirit. Stairway to Heaven. Terrapin!
BC: Can't play Terrapin anymore, we don't remember how it goes, sorry.
Iha: We've forgotten it.
BC: Seriously, I know--I know it's embarrassing and all, but it's true.
Audience member: Take your clothes off!
Iha: Hahahaha!
BC: I've tried that, it doesn't get me any better press or sell any more records.
D’arcy: You would be sorry.
Guy in crowd: Mayonaise!
Iha: (scoffs) Let's just simply pick a song and...
D’arcy: Crush? Luna?
Iha: ...move on with...
BC: Alright, there you go.
Guy in crowd: La Dolly Vita!
BC: Don't know how to play that either.
Iha: It's such a downer though, heh.
BC: What, Crush? No, it's a spiritual way to end the gig.
Guy in crowd: Snail!
BC: No, Snail doesn't translate too well acoustically, I must be honest. I'd love to play it but it sounds kind of limp and impotent.
Snail (tease - first couple chords)
Guy in crowd: Gary Numan song!
BC: Huh?
Iha: (laughing) "Gary Numan song."
Same guy in crowd: Gary Numan song.
BC: What-–say that one more time.
Guy in crowd: Gary Numan, Are “Friends” Electric?
Iha: Gary Numan.
BC: Oh, you want to hear the Gary Numan song, oh.
Iha: I--
D’arcy: (off mic) Who said that?
BC: I don't know all the words though.
D’arcy: (on mic) Who said that? I'm gonna kill 'em.
BC: We do do a Gary Numan song but it's--it's not Cars either and it would be genius right at the moment, but....
Iha: Alright, this is getting a bit dodgy, (laughing) let's play a song.
BC: I-–we'll see how long we can torture out this moment and watch James--watch James turn different shades of red. How--who would like to see him tap dance? It's been a while! (audience applauds wildly) Come on, you gotta tap dance.
Iha: Of course, I must have appropriate snare and uh, guitar accompaniment.
BC: I'll tell you what, if you do the tap dance, I'll do the snake dance.
Iha: Alright, alright. Jimmy, give us some wild fills here.
(Jimmy plays fills)
(Iha presumably tap dances, which is mic'd, audience applauds)
BC: And here's the um...
Iha: [unintelligible].
BC: ...I learned this in Berlin at a techno bar, no I gotta, okay, you gotta give me the beat though.
(Jimmy plays very random drums)
Iha: Don't screw me, don't screw me, don't screw me, keep it goin' man, keep goin', don't fuck up, don't fuck up, keep goin'. (Jimmy stops and audience applauds) All right, we have no shame, there is nothing left except one song to bring us all home in the heart and minds.
Audience member: French Movie Theme!
Iha: And you're completely wrong. Let's....
French Movie Theme (tease)
BC: I've told you already I didn't like punk rock, okay, I will make no more apologies for it. I didn't like punk rock, I still don't like punk rock, I'm sorry! Keep this up, we're going to do some Nitzer Ebb songs, okay? So this is Crush and--and then we will (blows kiss) bid you adieu but we'll be hanging around, so... it...never--never mind, I can't think straight.
Crush
BC: Thanks, thank you.
D’arcy: Thank you.
Iha: Thanks, thanks everyone. And if you’ll play that Pumpkins song....
BC: Heh heh. And uh--and of course I have to get in my last word, um.... A lot of people thought this was a really bad idea but you've made this a really great idea and--and I hope we can do more of this because I'm sick of just being a rock band all the time, just to keep, you know, stupid people happy all the time and I appreciate being able to play my music differently and we all as a unit appreciate your attention very much, so thank you and goodnight.
