The Smashing Pumpkins 2008-11-25

November 25, 2008 – Kansas City, MO, US
Live performance by The Smashing Pumpkins
20th Anniversary tour
Date	November 25, 2008
Venue	Midland Theatre
Coordinates	39°5′56″N 94°35′1″W
Location	Kansas City, MO, US
Venue type	Theater
Capacity	3,573
Personnel	Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, Jeff Schroeder, Ginger Pooley, Lisa Harriton, Kristopher Pooley, Gingger Shankar, Stephen Bradley, Gabrial McNair
Order of bands	The Smashing Pumpkins
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Setlist[edit | edit source]

(Intro) (prerecorded)
"Ava Adore"
"Cupid de Locke"
"1979"
"99 Floors" (acoustic)
"Owata" (acoustic)
"Sunkissed" (acoustic)
"Soma"
"Cherub Rock"
"Zero"
"Bodies"
"Crestfallen"
"I of the Mourning"
"A Song for a Son"
"Like to Get to Know You" [Spanky and Our Gang] (tease)
"Rock On" [David Essex] (tease) (acoustic)
"Only Wanna Be With You" [Hootie & the Blowfish] (tease) (acoustic)
1. (improv: "Good Times")
"Geek U.S.A." (tease) (acoustic)
"I Am One" (tease) (acoustic)
"Thirty-Three" (tease) (acoustic)
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" [Nirvana] (tease) (acoustic)
"Hot for Teacher" [Van Halen] (tease) (acoustic)
"Landslide" [Stevie Nicks] (acoustic)
"Disarm" (acoustic)
"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"
"Galapogos"
"Gossamer" [15:26]
"As Rome Burns"
"The Sounds of Silence" [Simon & Garfunkel]
1. "Li'l Red Riding Hood" [Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs]
2. "Für Elise" [Beethoven] (tease)
"The March Hare" [13:20]
1. "Suffer" (middle section only)
"Age of Innocence"

Encore[edit | edit source]

"That's the Way (My Love Is)" (acoustic)
"I Am One Part II" [15:00]

Notes[edit | edit source]

Billy Corgan is especially loquacious this night, spending approximately 23 minutes bantering during the show, including nearly 17 minutes after "A Song for a Son" alone
"That's the Way (My Love Is)" and "I Am One Part II" from this show were released on Bonus EP

Banter[edit | edit source]

2008 Intro
Ava Adore
BC: Yeaaah, that’s right. That’s right.
Cupid de Locke
(BC after lyrics conclude: Good evening, everybody! Welcome to our show. Thank you very much, thank you. Thank you, thank you, welcome to the show. Welcome to the show.)
1979
BC: Thank you very much, thank you.
99 Floors (acoustic)
Owata (acoustic)
Sunkissed (acoustic)
Soma
BC: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Thank you. You recognize that one, that’s a good thing. No. We love you too, whoever’s yelling that...up there, we hear you. That’s right. Heh heh. Thank you for coming tonight. I’m still a little under the weather so we’re trying to just slow it down a little bit...just take it down a second. Gonna get wild later. Heh heh heh heh heh. What is this called anymore, oh, it’s a concert, that’s right. Exactly, town hall meeting. Heh, exactly. Is this a red state or a blue state?, I can’t remember. (crowd yelling "Blue!") A boo state?, a heh heh heh. Isn’t this a red state? Who’s--who’s a red state? Who pretends they’re not a red state but they really are? There you go, heh, I knew you were out there. (laughing/coughing) Ah, you make me laugh. Okay, like to play you one you also know or you should know. It’s a rare moment of familiarity, enjoy it, it won’t last. We're gonna do our jazz set tonight, heh heh heh. Wanna show you who we really are, heh heh heh. (Billy claps on mic and audience follows) That’s right, that’s right. There you go. If you clap, we actually play, yeah.
Cherub Rock
> Zero
> Bodies
Crestfallen
I of the Mourning
A Song for a Son
BC: Thank you, thank you. ... That was a new song. Yeah, you remember new songs, me too. Heh, the old days. How you doin’, you okay? Yeah. That was overwhelming, your response, heh heh heh.
Guy in crowd: How are you doing?!
BC: That’s not cheering me, how are you doing? Ehhh. Economy got you down, what’s the deal? T-shirt prices too high, what’s going on? What’s up with what? The price of the T-shirts? Yeah. It’s not--it’s not uh, it’s, heroin expense, a hair--heroin addiction is expensive. It’s not easy buying all that dope. Adds up. You have to buy the Maserati and then you have to get the dope. Then you have to put in your free Radiohead CD...and um, yeah. Isn’t that funny, you cheered more for Radiohead than you did for your own “How are you doin’?” That’s the state of the world right there...right? That’s the world we live in. Heh heh heh. How you doin’ up there, couple? Yeah. You guys gettin' married? Are you married? They just know how to do this, they don’t know how to say anything, heh heh. That’s love today, Jeff. Just inarticulate kinda “urrr.” So I’m just trying to catch my breath, I’ve been--I’ve had a cold for about 10 days, as I’m sure you can tell. I’m just trying to catch my breath, I’m trying to get to know you more. I wanna get to know you.
Like to Get to Know You (tease)
BC: (singing) I’d like to get to know you, yes I will.
Guy in crowd: It was the gnome!
BC: Exactly, heh heh heh. Yeah, that’s right.
Guy in crowd: I wanna go to the star ship!
BC: You wanna fuck who, what? It’s what it always sounds like when the guy yells (imitating noise he hears on stage). Heh heh.
Guy in crowd: Fuck that shit!
BC: Exactly. Let’s all take a deep breath. (inhales, exhales)
Guy in crowd: Rock on!!!
BC: Rock on, I know.
Rock On (tease - Jeff quietly plays a few notes)
BC: Rock On, see? Rock on: number one, Radiohead: number two, how you doin’: number three.
Jeff: And you don't even know [unintelligible].
BC: We could just jam. Do a little Hootie.
Only Wanna Be With You (tease - instrumental, Billy sings improv lyrics over it)
BC: (singing) Good times...good friends...good lovin’...is all I want. (stops playing guitar and speaks) Yeah, good times. That’s what we’re about, good times. Actually, uh, this man over here who was complaining about the T-shirt prices, he didn’t see the booth with the other T-shirts, where we had the Smashing Pumpkins Good Times T-shirt, those are 100 bucks. You gotta pay to wear that shit.
Guy in crowd: Come on!!
BC: (whiny voice) “Come on, man, I’ve got somewhere to go, dude, come on. Hurry up. This is bogus. I didn’t come here to hear you talk or play the fuckin’ kazoo, come on. Come on. Hurry up, man, I’ve gotta go home and beat my woman, hurry up. The fuckin’ Jayhawks are on a delay, man, come on.” (crowd boos loudly) Whatever. Whatever, does anyone care about college anymore? I didn’t go to college, look at me! An American success story, that's right. Just like Ayn Rand wrote about, a man of his own destiny, destroying everything in his path. Bands, relationships, friends, (makes Godzilla type noise, then explosion noise). Here’s another song: Good times.... (plays Only Wanna Be With You riff again briefly, Jeff joins in and continues) That’s what I do, that’s what I do: cause a lot of pain and then write about the good times. This is my friend over here, Mr. Jeff Schroeder. (Jeff stops playing) When I need some good times, I’m thinkin’ Jeff. (Jeff plays first 3 chords again) Hahahaha! That’s it, good times, you gotta play that. (Jeff plays first two chords) Yeah, you need the good time, eh, heh heh heh.
Guy in crowd: Freebird!
BC: Freebird? Oh, that’s original. (stoner voice) “No, man, I was the first guy to say it. (normal voice) It is my shit.” Actually, you know, in the ‘90s, we got that a lot, “Freebird,” that was sort of trendy to yell at a concert. I had the ultimate Freebird--when the guy would yell “Freebird,” I had the ultimate joke: “I’ve got your Freebird right here.” It works, every time: “I’ve got your Freebird right here.” That’s the end of the Freebirds.
Guy in crowd: Geek U.S.A.!
Jeff: Right on.
BC: Yeah, Geek U.S.A. on acoustic, Jeff, let’s do it. Let’s give the people what they want for a change.
Geek U.S.A. (tease - Jeff and Billy jam on it for about 15 seconds)
BC: Then you gotta go...(demonstrates two chords). Gotta get the good time in there. Geek U.S.A., there you go. We'll play all your requests, keep 'em coming, what else d'you wanna hear? I Am One?, okay.
I Am One (tease - Billy and Jeff jam for about 20 seconds)
BC: (over guitar) Good times. (singing) I am one, good times, good times. (tease ends) (speaking) I need my fuckin’ goatee and hacky sack and I'm good. Yeah, man. Okay, what else d'you wanna hear?, keep 'em comin’. Thirty-three?, okay.
Thirty-three (tease - Billy doodles with the guitar part for about 8 seconds)
BC: Good times, heh heh. Ahhh, ah, oh yeah, yeah. Hey, I’d rather do this than what I was gonna do. Yeah. Smells Like Teen Spirit, that was a big hit for us.
Smells Like Teen Spirit (tease - Billy and Jeff play the main riff for about 10 seconds)
BC: That was a big hit for me. That’s what really took us to another--to another level. Yeah. Karma Police, that was another one. Then of course, there was our cover of Mrs. Robinson, that just--stratosphere, right to the top. A heh heh. Hey, I’m havin’ a good time, let’s go.
Hot for Teacher (tease - Jeff)
BC: (dumb guy voice) “I can’t believe he just stood there for a fuckin’ hour, man, it was fuckin’ bullshit. Fuckin’ bullshit, I didn’t pay for that fuckin’ bullshit. I’m never going to see them ever again. Unless James and D’arcy come back, but then it'll still suck anyway, bullshit. ... Although it was cool they did tease I Am One, but it was still bullshit.” (normal voice) Yeah. Yeah. I’m with ya, I’m with ya. I’m with ya every second of every day, I’m with ya right here. Heh heh. Doomsday Clock? No, nobody knows that one. Yeah, one--one time we were playing in Germany about, was about nine months ago.... Can I tell a story or you want me to just keep jammin'? Good times, alright, back to the good times. (starts playing the Hootie riff again) (singing) So I was in Germany.... (stops playing and speaks) And I asked the crowd, of course in German, ‘cause I’m fluent, um....
Guy in crowd: Yeah, you could do it!
BC: Exactly, and I asked the crowd, I said, uh, “You know, we have a new album out,” and I think we were playing to about three thousand people, right? (re size of crowd, he's thinking 2008-02-22 but the moment he talks about was on 2008-02-23) And I said, “We have a new album out and I’d like to know how many people actually have the album,” and I think about only...like about a fifth of the crowd raised their hand, raised their hand, which is, that’s understandable. Then I said, “How many of you actually know we have a new album out?” And only a third of the crowd raised their hand.
Jeff: Yeah, that was the--that was the trick.
BC: That was the trick, right. Yeah, we have a new album out, it’s called Zeitgeist. Came out in, uh...’bout July 10th, 2007. And as you know, it was the reason Obama got elected. Hidden fact, hidden fact no one knows. (dumb guy voice) “I didn’t come here to see him fuckin’ talk, man. It was fuckin' bullshit.” (normal voice) Laser124. Straight876 replied...(dumb guy voice) “I saw the Pumpkins in 1992 when they were good, man. Billy didn’t talk back then, it was better.” (normal voice) Heh heh heh. You know what it is? I had to take some medicine for this fuckin' cold and I think I think I’m totally buzzed, heh heh. That’s what it is. Yeah, because, because I’m actually in a happy mood and I’m enjoying having some rapport with you. And this is n--this is unusual because usually I hate the audience and uh...despise everything they represent, so this is really different. I’m seeing the world with different eyes. Laser627 eyes. Here, let’s do a little Storyteller, so anyway... One time we were playing on Saturday Night Live, remember that show? Yeah, we were playing on Saturday Night Live and it was right before Halloween. I think we were playing like October 30th or something.
Jeff: Awesome, awesome.
BC: And so, we’re--we were actually playing I believe Cherub Rock in rehearsal and all of a sudden, these lumbering techs brought out all these pumpkins...
Jeff: Aw.
BC: ...‘cause they were gonna dress the set...with pumpkins.
Jeff: Creative, creative, creative.
BC: And I had to pull the guy over and go, “No pumpkins.” And he was like, “Why?, it’s Halloween.” I’m like...“We don’t do pumpkins, pumpkins, Smashing Pumpkins, we don’t do pumpkins, we don’t--it’s not like a thing with us. Or it is a thing with us, we don’t do pumpkins.” And the guy goes, “Yeah, but it’s Halloween, we’re still gonna--we were gonna put ‘em up there if it was Bruce Springsteen.” And I said, “I don’t give a fuck what The Boss is gonna do."
Jeff: Exactly.
BC: "We don’t do pumpkins.” And I had to get in a fight to get the pumpkins removed.
Jeff: Oh, that’s why you had the black eye that night.
BC: Huh?
Jeff: That's why you had a black eye that night.
BC: No.
Jeff: No, you didn't?
BC: Go with it. (Jeff laughs) Yeah, black eye. So if you watch the YouTube footage of us playing, you won’t see any pumpkins. This is a big moment for me to actually stand on stage with a pumpkin. 20 years it took me to give in. And as you see, it’s done a lot for the business. Okay, back to the show. Thank you, we hope you’re havin' a good time. Now that I’ve caught my breath, we could get back to the hit cavalcade. Many, many hits to go. Let me count. One, two...three, heh heh heh. Cavalcade. Damn. This next song, which uh, apparently the way this show is going will be our last song, um.... If I told you it was about the Jayhawks, would it be the last song? Exactly. I'm just trying to trick you to get me off the stage. I gotta get to my dope. Uh, heh heh heh heh heh. There you go, oops, sorry about that. Uh, heh heh heh. Anyway, people of Earth, I didn’t write this next song, it was written by Ms. Stevie Nicks, I think you know her. And these uh...it was ruined by those horrible, ugly Dixie Chicks. It’s like they came up out of Middle Earth and recorded this song, the Dixie Chicks. Put some sort of troll wizard spell on the song. So it’s hard to let go of the Dixie Chicks, but let’s just go back, go back to a simpler time. You remember 1994? Yeah. Let’s check the list: you liked music...you bought CDs...yeah, the bands were good...good times. (Jeff plays the first chord again, he and Billy laugh as Billy starts Landslide)
Landslide (Billy/Jeff acoustic)
Disarm (acoustic)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
> Galapogos
Gossamer
As Rome Burns
The Sounds of Silence
> Li’l Red Riding Hood / Für Elise
The March Hare
> Suffer (partial)
> The March Hare
(BC during quiet part before final part of outro: (whispering) Take it down, take it down, take it down, take it down, Lower, lower, lower, shhh. Shhhhhh. The Chicago Sound Machine.)
Age of Innocence
(BC before bridge: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, that is the end of the show! Thank you very much for comin' tonight! On behalf of the mighty SP, we say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Now all of us up here ask for one last favor, one last thing, one small thing, just want you to put your hands together like this. There you go, beautiful. (singing) Before the rites of spring...)
(BC immediately after lyrics finish: Thank you very much, thank you!)
[encore break]
BC: (off mic to Jeff) They want more good times.
That’s the Way (acoustic)
BC: Thank you very much, thank you. Thanks a lot. Before we go, before we go, like to say K.C. for hosting one of our two night extravaganzas [sic]. For those of you that came both nights, thanks a lot, thanks a lot, we hope you enjoyed it. It was a journey. We don’t know when we’re gonna see you again, hopefully not too--not too long in the future. And uh...like to just say one thing. To those of you who get what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, keep helping us, keep supporting us. To those of you out there who don’t understand, who don’t get it, who probably won’t ever get it, and certainly to those of you out there in...world land.... Heh heh heh, world land, you know, the world out there, the world land. Heh heh. You know, sometimes I talk to fans and...they’re all over me ‘cause I didn’t play this song or that song and I got my first blowjob to this song and you know, why didn’t you play it? All I gotta say is...they’re my fuckin’ songs, heh, I’ll play ‘em if I wanna fuckin’ play 'em. Sometimes people forget I wrote these fuckin’ songs, you know, I love these songs. They act like somebody else wrote these fuckin’ songs, you know what I mean? Who the fuck wrote ‘em?, I wrote ‘em. Most of 'em, heh heh heh. 98 point seven percent. But my point is is not to be crass or rude, my point is is that, we love our songs, we love our band. We’re not a fuckin’ jukebox though, you know. It’s a great honor, it’s a great honor to play for you, we take it really seriously, we really do, we really do. So Mr. Blogger, (laughing) Mr., Mr. uh, what’s uh, Lord of the Rings 27, heh heh heh.... My point is is, you know, don’t disconnect us from who we are, you know, don’t try to separate us out and say “Well, they were once this and they were once that then and now they’re something different.” We’re the fuckin’ same. The same. We’ve never changed, we's all--we’ve always been the same. We’ve always been a pain in your ass and we always will be a pain in your fuckin’ ass. You’ve been a great crowd, thank you, thank you. (faux offended voice) And now we’re gonna play one of my songs, okay? (normal voice) Heh heh heh. This song is, uh, it’s an adapted song from 1990, it’s called I Am One Part 2.
I Am One Pt. 2