The Smashing Pumpkins 1997-02-05

February 5, 1997 – New Orleans, LA, US
Live performance by The Smashing Pumpkins
Infinite Sadness tour
Date	February 5, 1997
Venue	Lakefront Arena
Coordinates	30°1′48″N 90°3′2″W
Location	New Orleans, LA, US
Venue type	Arena
Capacity	8,933
Personnel	Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'arcy Wretzky, Matt Walker, Dennis Flemion, Jimmy Flemion, Kerry Brown
Order of bands	Fountains of Wayne, The Smashing Pumpkins
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Setlist

1. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" (prerecorded) 
2. "Tonight, Tonight" 
3. "Cherub Rock" 
4. "Where Boys Fear to Tread" 
5. "Rhinoceros" 
6. "Today" 
7. "Zero" 
8. "Fuck You" 
9. "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" 
10. "Rocket" (acoustic) 
11. "Thirty-Three" (acoustic) 
12. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" 
13. "Muzzle" 
14. "Disarm" 
15. "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" 

Encore one

16. "Lovefool" [The Cardigans] (tease) 
1. "I Am One" (tease) 
17. "1979" 
18. "Smoke on the Water" [Deep Purple] (tease) 
19. "X.Y.U." 

Encore two

20. "Drown" [6:12] 
1. "Hummer" (tease) 
21. (improv)
22. "Siva" [10:46] 
    1. "Spiders" (tease) 
    2. "Geek U.S.A." (tease) 

Encore three

23. "I Only Play 4 Money" [The Frogs] 
24. "Silverfuck" [31:29] 
    1. "X.Y.U." (tease) 
    2. "The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)" (tease) (clips) 
    3. "Space Jam" (final performance)

Notes

• "1979" and "I Only Play 4 Money" with Jimmy Flemion
• "I Only Play 4 Money" with Kerry Brown on drums
• Last performance of "Siva" until 1999-04-15
• Last performance of "Cherub Rock" until 1999-12-20
• Last performance of "Fuck You" until 2000-04-08
• Last performance of "Rhinoceros" until 2000-11-29
• Last performance of "Silverfuck" until 2000-12-02
• Last performance of "I Only Play 4 Money" until 2007-11-13

Banter

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Intro
> Tonight, Tonight
Cherub Rock
> Where Boys Fear to Tread
BC: Hello, good evening.
Iha: Yes, yes.
BC: Glad we could finally make it to your fair and lovely city. Yes, it is the final show of our Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness tour.
Iha: Really?
BC: That’s it, no more. So, I don’t know if that’s good for you or bad for you, probably bad for you, but anyway it is the last show, we’d like to thank you for waiting so long for us to come. Heh, we certainly hope you enjoy your future in rock and roll ‘cause we certainly won’t have much to do with it. But we’d like to take you back now, heh heh heh heh heh, back to the era where we liked rock and roll, this is called Rhinoceros.
Rhinoceros
Today
> Zero
Fuck You
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Iha: Thank you.
BC: Thank you all very much.
Iha: Gracias. And now we present to you, a light a--a lighter side of the rock.
BC: Wait, ask how everybody’s doing.
Iha: Oh, so, how’s everyone doing? Feelin’ groovy?
BC: I’m not so sure--I’m not so sure about those people in the back there. They don’t look too excited.
Iha: How are you people in the back?
BC: Those people in the back don’t look too excited to me.
Iha: I don’t know.
BC: How you doin’ over there, you alright?
Iha: The people to the right!...a force to be reckoned with. And keepin’ it real over here to the left, keepin’ it real. Word, word. And of course, we care nothing of the people in the front.
Rocket (acoustic)
Iha: Alright, so....
BC: Yeah, that was uh, that was from our fourth album, Siamese Squid, case you never heard of it. That was called Rocket, came out in about 1984.
Iha: There were--there were no drums on that song, if you...didn’t hear. It’s kind of a new thing, we’re glad you liked it.
BC: We'd like to play you our latest single, this is called Thirty-three.
Thirty-three (acoustic)
Circus tape
> Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Iha: Oh my god. You’ve woken back up, we’re glad you’re back with us. We’re glad you enjoyed that number. That was our big first single from this album. Which was recorded in 1862, we recorded that one. This next song was recorded in 1911. And this one’s gonna excite you, I can tell you that much. Not as much as Mardi Gras, not as much as Fat Tuesday, but it’s gonna get you going. That’s my prediction. Has anybody made any New Year’s resolutions? Just scream them out at me now, I will--I need one. It’s a little late but I still need one. What, what do I nee--read books, lose weight and I’ve got ‘em right at the top of my list. And now...heh, and now, we will rock you. Kind of.
BC: I'm not so sure these people want to be rocked, James. I’m not really convinced of that fact.
Iha: Come on, come on New Orleans, show me some mad flava, come on. Keep it real, come on, I got a feelin’, I gotta know it.
Muzzle
Disarm
> Planet of the Apes clip
> Thru the Eyes of Ruby
[encore break]
Iha: Merci, thank you very much. As this is our last show, we would like to go out with a bang and uh, we’ve brought along a very special special guest. Actually, this special guest has been with us every night. Well, let’s make this a special night. Would you please welcome to the stage, of the band The Frogs, Scratchie recording artist, Jimmy Frog, put your hands together! Jimmy is also the author of several self help books and uh, he’s a hell of a guy, hell of a guy. Now on this next song, Jimmy will lead us down the path of oblivion, so it’s all--
BC: I know but you have to ask yourself, do you wanna go there?
Iha: Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you, do we wanna go there?
BC: No no.
Iha: Do you know what “there” is? It’s a scary place. Alright, Jimmy....
BC: I’d like to ask a question. Who here considers themself a real fan of our band? (large cheer) That’s not bad.
Iha: Alright. Who here...?
BC: Okay, if you did not raise your hand, you’re disqualified from this part of the show. Jimmy will now--Jimmy will now go in the audience and pick some people to come on stage to dance.
Iha: Matt, could you give us a beat? (Matt starts playing) Oh yeah, Train in Vain. Come on people. Come on, I Am One. Dance with me.
Lovefool / I Am One (tease)
(Billy and Iha sing different songs at same time but sort of meet up near the end)
BC: (singing) Love me, love me, say that you love me / need me, need me, say that you need me / love me, love me, say that you love me / I am [unintelligible] anyone but you.
Iha: I am one, you are three, I am one as you are three. Come on! Say that you love me. I can’t think of anyone but you.
(Matt stops playing and there’s an explosion sound effect on his last hit)
Iha: Come on, you motherfuckers, let’s go!
(Matt starts a different beat)
Iha: Ugh, not the slow jam. Pump up the BPMs, Matt. Unh. Unbreak my heart. I’m asking you, unbreak my heart! And now Jimmy has chosen some dancers, let’s all join along in the fun. (Dennis joins in on keyboards) Are you a Smashing Pumpkin dancer? Come on, oh yeah, that guy is out of control. Yeah. Yeah. (beat slows down) Yeah, doin’ a little Aphex Twin there.
BC: The green angel. The green angel has chosen. (Matt and Dennis stop playing) The green angel has spoken.
Iha: There is nothing less--less to speak of. He has spoken. He has spoketh the speaketh the word of the otherness of the other one. Well, you’ve got a psychopath on stage and that’s okay.
BC: Come on, Porzano, get your ass up here.
Iha: Green angel.
BC: I like to see Peter Mensch up here, that’s how I’d like to get Cliff, heh heh.
Iha: Let’s bring the--let’s bring the management of Q Prime on stage, come on, kick it with us.
D’arcy: Where are you? Get out here.
Iha: They just like to hide in the back.
BC: Alright, let’s take a moment to get to know tonight’s dancers.
Iha: Let’s--let’s do that.
BC: Tonight’s final dan--do you understand? Did anyone understand me? This is the final night of our tour, okay? We have played a hundred.... We have played a hundred and about eighty concerts since our album came out, okay? And the only reason we’re here, we weren’t even supposed to come to New Orleans, but we made sure we had an extra date so that we could come here, so you better be fuckin’ nice to us. (large cheer) Damn right. Now! Now wait, now that I got that little bit off my chest, let’s get, heh, let’s get to know tonight’s dancers. What’s your name and where are you from?
Girl #1: My name is Victoria and I’m from Slidell.
Iha: What?
BC: Mixed--mixed emotions.
Iha: What’s that?
Girl #2: I’m Katie and I’m from New Orleans.
Guy #1: My name is Tommy Franklin, I’m from Biloxi, Mississippi.
Iha: Word, word. Peace out, brother. Now look who we have here: a member of our management.
Girl #3: Susan!
Iha: Where are you from, Susan?
Girl #3: New York City.
Iha: New York City! The Big Apple.
BC: Modern day Babylon.
Girl #4: My name is Dara and I’m from...here.
Iha: Wait, where is here?
BC: Do you speak Cajun?
Girl #4: Um...no.
Iha: Alright.
BC: We only know about New Orleans from that one guy on the cooking show.
Iha: Wait, there’s--there’s one more dancer at the end.
BC: Ho ho ho ho heh.
Iha: Wait, where are you from?
BC: Come here, young lady. Where are you from?
Girl #5: Nowhere.
Iha: Oh. I feel....
BC: Yes.
Iha: I feel the cold icy wind blowing this way.
BC: And you?
Guy #2: Uh, Floyd from Compton.
Iha: From Compton, word. Keepin’ it real.
BC: That’s, believe it or not, that’s Dr. Dre’s cousin.
Iha: By the time I got to Compton.
BC: Oh, we got--well, you won’t get no introduction but you are a dancer. James, for the last time, please inform our dancers of the rules.
Iha: Alright, dancers on stage, please listen up. The two rules for our dancers...please do not touch us and do not touch our shit. Alright, now that we have the ground rules pretty well set, I encourage you, those of you who could not join us on stage to dance to join us on stage and dance but do it in your mind. The power of the mind is a bright one so let’s all dance.
1979 (with Jimmy Flemion)
(BC over big ending: Ladies and gentlemen, Jimmy Frog.)
Iha: Ladies and gentlemen, that was quite shocking, I must admit. Alright. We had a little bit of Mardi Gras on stage there for a moment. Looks a little bit like the East Village up here on stage. And now, now we will, uh, oh, rock, we’ll rock some more. Ladies and gentlemen, a hand for Jimmy Frog, fine guy. Jimmy, uh, when he shows his emotion, it just all comes out like a dam bursting with emotions.
Smoke on the Water (tease - Billy starts the riff, Matt joins in and Iha talks over it)
Iha: (high pitched) Nooow! (normal) Unh. Yeah. Here we are in New Orleans, rockin’ for one more time tonight. We’re smokin’, smokin’ in the water if you know what I’m sayin’. Word to the people up there in the front for doin’ this good job for me. Yeah. Yeah. Woo! Ow! We all went down, we got crazy. Come on! Let’s go to the doctor one more time. (tease ends) Alright, we’ve degenerated into some haplike band. We're gonna try to get back to something new here for a second.
X.Y.U.
[encore break]
Iha: Thank you very much, thank you very much.
BC: Yes, thanks a lot, thanks for sticking around. I’m glad to see some of the posers have now left, now we can continue to have a good time.
Iha: Woo-ooh!
BC: They had to go run home and see what was on MTV.
Drown
> Hummer (tease)
Improv Jam
> Siva / Spiders / Geek U.S.A.
[encore break]
Iha: Ladies and gentlemen, the Frogs are back. They’ve been with us this whole tour and uh, they’re gonna do some Frogs...songs.
BC: So we have reached the end, for those the weak of heart, you may want to go home now, it gets really ugly after this point. (Irish accent) Are you tough enough? ... (normal) So thanks again to everybody. Um, thanks for a good year and so and uh....
Iha: We’d uh, we’d like to thank everybody, thank our crew and thank our management, everyone else who’s been helping us.
BC: We can’t thank you enough for supporting our band. For those of you who traveled to the Biloxi show and the other show, we thank you. We really didn’t want you to have to go there but you did anyway. So um, thanks again. ... The Frogs would now like to do a song for you, thank you.
I Only Play 4 Money (with Jimmy Flemion & Kerry Brown)
BC: Okay, that’s enough. ... On the drums, Mr. Kerry Brown. ... Whoa. Well, that uh--if that doesn't make rock's hundred greatest moments, that's 101, 101.
Iha: Ladies and gentlemen, the Frogs, the Frogs. Look for that song on their Scratchie Records release come this spring.
BC: We'd now like to play one more song and that's the end. Thank you again, there will be no more talking, so thanks anyway.
unknown man: This is the end.
BC: It's about to get very psychedelic, please watch your ears.
Iha: Put on your space helmets.
BC: This one's for all you burnouts out there.
Silverfuck / The Aeroplane Flies High (clips) / X.Y.U. / Space Jam
Iha: Thanks a lot. Goodnight, heh, if any of you are still here. I’ve been in show business for nine years, I’d like to thank everyone who was with us tonight. The crew, the management, the band, everyone here, goodnight.
BC: Yes, and one final thanks to our crazy, wacky road crew. Thank you for putting up with our shit every day. And one more thing to you, ‘kay? You see all these empty seats, okay? Those are not the reason we play what we do, we play that kind of music for you. And I want you to always remember that we never forget who you are, so please don’t forget who we are, thank you. God bless you.

Photos and memorabilia

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