The Smashing Pumpkins 2008-11-18

November 18, 2008 – Chicago, IL, US
Live performance by The Smashing Pumpkins
20th Anniversary tour
Date	November 18, 2008
Venue	Chicago Theatre
Coordinates	41°53′7″N 87°37′40″W
Location	Chicago, IL, US
Venue type	Theater
Capacity	3,600
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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Black Sunshine tour date. Everybody buying combination-tickets to both the Black Sunshine and the White Crosses concerts during the Smashing Pumpkins 20th Anniversary tour, received a download for Bonus EP in February 2009. The download contained four live songs recorded during the 20th Anniversary tour.

Setlist

"Roctopus"
"Everybody Come Clap Your Hands" [The Searchers]
"Tarantula"
"G.L.O.W."
"Kill Your Parents"
"Siva"
"Eye"
"Mayonaise"
"Tonight, Tonight"
"Speed Kills"
"Transformer"
"Superchrist"
"United States"
1. "The Star-Spangled Banner" [Francis Scott Key] (tease)
"Once Upon a Time"
"Again, Again, Again (The Crux)"
"The Rose March"
"Today"
"Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
"The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning"
"Heavy Metal Machine"
1. "White Rabbit" [Jefferson Airplane] (tease)
2. "White Horse" [Laid Back] (tease)
"Glass' Theme"
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" [Pink Floyd]

Encore

"We Only Come Out at Night"
"Everything's Beautiful (In Its Own Way)" [Dolly Parton / Willie Nelson]

Notes

Crowd sings the entire first verse of "Today"
"Once Upon a Time", "Again, Again, Again (The Crux)", "The Rose March", "We Only Come Out at Night", and "Everything's Beautiful (In Its Own Way)" performed acoustic
Final performance of "Everything's Beautiful (In Its Own Way)"

Banter

Roctopus
Everybody Come Clap Your Hands [The Searchers]
Corgan: Rock and roll, people. This is rock and roll. Don't forget it.
Tarantula
G.L.O.W.
Kill Your Parents
Siva
Eye
Mayonaise
Corgan: Thank you, thank you.
Tonight, Tonight
Speed Kills
Transformer
Superchrist
United States
*Star Spangled Banner [Key] (tease)
Corgan: Thank you very much, thank you! Thank you. Well, you've survived the first part of the show, thank you very much for that. New York...they weren't sure about the first half of that show. Boston...little confused. You guys seem focused tonight, that's good. Gotta keep your game up. How's everybody doing, you okay? Yes...that sounded like a crowd at the end of the Cubs season, sort of like "Ehhhhh. Uhhhh. Ehhhh. Uhhhhh!" Everybody doing all right?
(cheers)
Corgan: Yeah! Yeah. Blackhawks fans! They're coming back, Jeff. They're coming back strong. After a thirteen year playoff absence, or whatever the fuck it is at this point! Jeff is our resident hockey fan, how many years has it been for the Hawks?...too long buddy, too long, heh.
Audience member: Go Bears!
Corgan: Somebody just yelled 'Let's go Bears'. That's a desperate man. Huh, if you still believe at this point my friend, you're a desperate man. (hocks
Audience member (Inaudible)
Corgan: (coughs) Yeah, exactly. Anyway we'd like to uh, kick it down at this moment. Yes, kick it down. Slow - slow jams for you baby, right there. Some slow jams. That's right. That's right. Every night, slow jams for you. That's right. Heh heh...Chicago style, right here!
(cheers)
Now what is Chicago style, would you like to tell us?...a girl who likes to have fun? Right, okay. Number one. A good - a girl with a good rear end. Number two. That's right. Baby's got some back. We know it. Check it out! Check it out. Number three, standard issue Jennifer Aniston hair. Standard issue, for a Chicago girl...No-no-no-no-no? You're working more the Angelina Jolie...pre-Brad Pitt? What? What-what-what are we talking about here?...yes, God bless. See? We bore you and then we make you laugh. That's our gimmick, right here. I'd like to introduce the band to you. Starting on my far left...Ms. Gingger Shankar. Yes. To my right: Stephen. Stephen of Oakland. That's his design label. All the way from SoCal: Gabriel. Gettin' it done. To Gabe's left, Mr. Christopher Pooley. To his left, his betrothed...is that a word? Yes. Mrs. Ginger Pooley. On the keys, Ms. Lisa Harrington. On the drums, Mr. Jimmy Chamberlin.
(cheers)
Corgan: What'd you ever do for Joliet? Ha ha, ha...anybody from Joliet in the house? Yeah! Rockin' that...what is it, I-88? Rockin' I-88? Listening to Boston? Exactly. Anyway we'd like to kick it down...who am I, my name's Fred. Fred Durst, we're gettin' the Bizkit back together. Hang in there.
(Starts Once Upon A Time, stops)
Corgan:...oh, did I forget you? Ha ha ha! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to. Ladies and gentlemen, an incredible guitar player. I'm gonna heap the praise, now. An unbelievable human being! Jeff "Shredder" Schroeder!
(cheers)
Corgan:...did I forget anybody else? Larry the gnome. Larry the gnome. Larry the gnome. I'd n-*ahem* I'd now like to sing a song about my deceased mother. But it's a song of hope. You'll understand.
Once Upon a Time
Again, Again, Again (The Crux)
Audience member: More cowbell!
Corgan: Yeah. (clears throat) It's all good, it's all good. Get it all out of your system, it's okay. It's all good, get it all out. Let it out. Now that we live in a democracy again, you can say whatever you want, you know? Let it ride, let it ride.
The Rose March
Corgan: Thank you very much, thank you. It's okay, it's okay. Don't be afraid of the dark. It's okay. I like the dark better, go back to the dark...Yes! Yes. Let it all out, it's good. It's good therapy....yes. Twenty years of people yelling at me. Believe me, I'm used to it. Get it all out! That's right, get it all out, my friend. Let it all out. I'm sorry, uh...I'm sorry for you, but...what can I do?...That's right. That's right, it seems so simple.
Audience member: Go big or go home!
Corgan: That was a good one. "Go big or go home." I don't know if you see I'm dressed in a white dress...I don't really rock to the sports analogies when I'm on stage, if you know what I'm saying. Heh heh. Know what I'm saying?
Audience member: Thanks for coming!
Corgan: Thank you, thank you for coming, thank you...no, let's just, let's just enjoy the awkward moment, it's good, come on. Enjoy it. Breathe it in! You don't get many anymore. You don't get any. Actually, you get some, but you don't get many. No, not many. Pre-programmed society to serve you. Awkward moments written out of the script. That's right. That's right. (inhales) Just breathe it in. (inhales) It's good! I love it! I love it...yes.
(Audience members continuing to shout things)
Corgan: Just let me know when you're done, and we'll pick back up the show. Just get it all out, come on! Just get it all out.
(Cheering)
Corgan: How 'bout up there, you got anything to say? C'mon! C'mon! There you go. Yes...yes, there you go! See, it feels good to yell! Feels good! it's okay. I'm just a symbol. I'm not even here. I'm zero. Zero. Nothing. There's nobody. I'm not a human being. I didn't grow up here. I don't exist. I didn't write these songs. I'm not even here. It's amazing. It's a figment of your imagination. Heh heh heh heh...hahaha....people! People! We're alive. Right, we're alive, yes? Are you alive? Yes, you, are you alive? This man's alive. That's what I wanna see. There we go.
Today
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning
Heavy Metal Machine
*White Rabbit [Jefferson Airplane] (tease)
*White Horse [Laid Back] (tease)
Corgan: I'm your PERSONAL...Heavy Metal Machine! I'm your god-given Heavy Metal Machine. I'm your Chicago-born, bred, motherfuckin' MACHINE! Heavy. Metal. Machine. Heavy Metal MACHINE!....people of Earth! We ain't no little kids anymore. You didn't think the SP could crawl BACK! That's just facts, people. FACTS!...(jam continues)...Let me die for rock and roll, let me die and save your soul, let me go, sweet rock and roll...let all the girls kiss the boys at last, let the whole fuckin' world kiss my FUCKIN' ASS, let me go, sweet rock and roll!...We love you!...Gang....gang! Are you ready to die for rock and roll?
Band: Yeah!
Corgan: Are you ready to DIE for rock and roll?
Band: Oh yeah!!
Corgan: Are you ready? Are you ready?! Are you ready to die for rock and roll? Put your fists in the air like this!'
Glass' Theme
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun [Pink Floyd]
Encore:
We Only Come Out at Night
Corgan: Ladies and gentlemen, that's the end of the show. Yes, believe it or not, that's the end of the show. It went by so quick, didn't it? Just flew right by. Hahaha! Ohhhh, you make me laugh. So we'd like to dedicate this song to you before we leave. It's from the bottom of our hearts. Everything is beautiful in its own waayyy...Everyone is beautiful - even you - in its own way...you know, after 20 years I know I speak for..Jimmy and I...Jimmy's over there.
Chamberlin: That's me.
Corgan: After twenty years, it's been a bunch of fun, bunch of laughs, hasn't it?
Chamberlin: It feels like...twenty years.
Corgan: Hahahahahahaha! Maybe like nineteen, but...it's just flown by, hasn't it?
Chamberlin: Yep. Like one long summer.
Corgan: Just a path of rainbows.
Chamberlin: Glittering rainbows. Unicorns.
Corgan: And I know that when I look back in twenty more years, I'll think back to this night.
Chamberlin: The next twenty years, when we meet here again.
Corgan: Right.
Chamberlin: When we play all our hit songs.
Corgan: In twenty years.
Chamberlin: Right?
Corgan: In twenty years.
Chamberlin: 'Cause we'll have even more of them.
Corgan: I hope so.
Chamberlin: Oh, yeah.'
Everything's Beautiful (In Its Own Way) [Stevens]
Corgan: Everything is beautiful in its own waayyy...Everyone is beautiful - even you - in its own way.
Chamberlin: Especially you.
Corgan: You know, when I go home tonight...yes, when I go home tonight...and I'm masturbatin'...thinking of Sarah Palin...
Chamberlin: Haha!
Corgan:...bent over that amp right there...hahaha...and I just can't find the power to get off, you know, I just can't get there? Maybe it's the five kids, maybe it's Todd on the...snow cycle?
Chamberlin: Not for lack of trying!
Corgan: And I need that little extra boost...I'm gonna think about you to get me off. (cheers) That's right...Everything is beautiful in its own way...that's right! You know, for twenty years, we've tried to make people happy, and failed again and again. It's so confusing!
Chamberlin: We're so good at it!
Corgan: Is it that we don't play music? Do we not play music, is that what it is? Is it because I don't put a big smile on my face, what is it? Is it the funny voice? What is it? How come people just aren't happy with us, huh? Why? Why Jimmy, why?!
Chamberlin: Ask them!
Corgan: Why aren't you happy with us right now?
(Audience cheering back, yelling unintelligible)
Chamberlin: Now do you know?
Corgan: Let me check one more time. Why are you upset with us?
(Audience yelling No! etc.)
Corgan: Oh, I get it, I get it. It's 'cause we don't do what you want us to do, that's what it is. THAT'S what it is. That's what it is.
Jimmy: Wait...but that's why...that's why I thought they LIKED us.
Corgan: So which is it? Do you like us 'cause we do what we wanna do? (cheering) Or do you not like us 'cause we don't do what you want us to do? That's kinda mixed...kinda mixed. What is it? What is
Audience member: One more song!
Corgan: One more song? No, it's...believe me, if it took one more song, heh, if it took more on-heh...if it took one more song to get you people off, believe me we'd do it. Believe me. We'd do it. But you know...But you know...sometimes crowds remind me of ex-girlfriends. And you - you remind me of this one that took a lot of my money and didn't like me. And she told me she loved me, but she wasn't really there for me, that's what this reminds me of. It's that kind of relationship, isn't it? Have you ever had one of those relationships, Steven? "Hell yeah!" Haha..no? No? You're in one now? Long time ago. Long time ago. Ladies and gentlemen, for twenty years, we haven't earned your...wait...wait, hold on...hold on...hold on...for twenty years we have not yet earned your trust, have we? Show of hands: who does not trust us after twenty years? Come on, be honest. Be honest. This guy right there, he's not trustin' us. He's not trustin' us. Come on, you need the microphone friend, come here. This man needs the microphone.
Fan: I PAID THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR THESE SEATS! YOU'RE THE MAN! WE TRUST YOU! YEAHHHHHH!!! STUBHUB RULES!!! I HAVE FORTY-TWO DOLLARS TO MY NAME!! YOU'RE THE MAN!!! PLAY IT! I need to get down! Twenty years, you're the man! All the way until I was ten. YEAH! YOU GUYS RULE!! DON'T EVER STOP PLAYING! WE LOVE YOU!! YOU GOTTA BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, BABY!! YOU'RE NO ZERO!! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE WEARING A DRESS! GO BIG OR GO HOME WELCOME BACK!! WELCOME BACK TO CHICAGO!! BILLY! BILLY! BILLY! BILLY! BILLY! BILLY! BILLY! Yeah! CHICAGO LOVES YOU!
Corgan: Ohhh...you might wanna check the record sales on that one. We don't see the e- the evidence of that in our demographics, if you know what I'm sayin'. Right? Sometimes you just gotta reach out. That's what we're tryin' to do right here, we're tryin' to reach out to you.
Fan: COME ON CHICAGO, LET'S HEAR YOU!!
Corgan: Twenty-one years ago? I did not know this man. I do not know this man. Twenty-one years later? I think I know you. Right? Hahaha! It doesn't go anywhere from here, you might as well head to your cars. Now is a good time. Get that jump. Get that jump in the parking garage. Ladies and gentlemen what we're trying to say to you...we're trying to say to you is...if you'd like to say it, come on up, 'cause I, I'm just trying to finish this thing up. What we're trying to say to you is...that we're happy to be back, number one. Number two: it's always an honor to play for you, so thank you for coming tonight, we do appreciate it. Number three: This doesn't speak to everyone, but many of you, we don't know what the fuck you want from us, okay, that's number three. Last I checked, we are an alternative band. Alternative means different than what everyone else is doing. Including those reunion bands that go out and just play the old songs. So...for those of you we disappointed, we're sorry, we hope you give us another chance. For those of you that love us, we're gonna torch you for twenty more years, at least. God bless.