Billy Corgan 2012-09-13

September 13, 2012 – Highland Park, IL, US
Live performance by Billy Corgan
Artist	Billy Corgan
Date	September 13, 2012
Venue	Madame ZuZu's
Coordinates	42°9′55″N 87°47′6″W
Location	Highland Park, IL, US
Venue type	Teahouse
Capacity	40
Personnel	Billy Corgan
Order of bands	Billy Corgan, Tobias Norberg, Billy Corgan, Greg Bates
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September 13, 2012 was the grand opening of Billy Corgan's tea house, Madame ZuZu's. Greg Bates from Corgan's first band, Coat of Eyes, made an appearance and played guitar on "Today". The day saw three acoustic sets (1 P.M., 4 P.M. and 7 P.M., respectively), the second featuring the first performance of "Jupiter's Lament" in over 17 years.

Setlist

Set one

1. "Jesus is the Sun" 
2. "A Song for a Son" 
3. "In the Arms of Sleep" 
4. "With Every Light" 
5. "The Celestials" 
6. "Today" 

Set two

7. "By Starlight" 
8. "Jupiter's Lament" 
9. "Pale Horse" 
10. "The Rite of Spring" (final performance)
11. "Inkless" 
12. "Muzzle" 

Set three

13. "Tonight, Tonight" 
14. "Luna" 
15. "Soot and Stars" 
16. "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" [Hank Williams] (only performance)
17. "Violet Rays" 
18. "Pinwheels" 
19. "Lily (My One and Only)" 
20. "Enter Sandman" [Metallica] (tease) 
21. "Daydream" (first verse) 
22. "Stand Inside Your Love" 

Notes

• Acoustic show
• Set 1 was played at 1:00 PM, Set 2 at 4:00 PM, and Set 3 at 7:00 PM
• First performance of "A Song for a Son" since 2011-12-10
• First performance of "In the Arms of Sleep" since 2010-09-30
• First performance of "With Every Light" since 2010-08-14
• First performance of "By Starlight" since 2010-11-18
• First performance of "Jupiter's Lament" since 1995-02-21
• First performance of "Lily (My One and Only)" since 2008-04-16
• "Today" with Greg Bates on guitar
• "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" with Yvonne Bruner on vocals
• "Lily (My One and Only)" played on piano
• Numerous audience video sources exist for this show in various forms of completeness

Banter

BC: Alright. Couple things.... Thank you very much for coming. That’s my friend Greg is here, Greg and I used to write songs back in my dad’s house in nineteen eighty...five?
Greg: (off mic) Maybe ‘84.
BC: ‘84, ‘85?
Greg: (off mic) ‘84, ‘85.
BC: It’s good to see you, you should - do you wanna play a song?
Greg: (off mic) Yeah!
BC: Alright. Oh, we’ll get you up here. So a few things. One, we decided not to have PAs and all that stuff so um, ‘cause we wanna encourage kind of, um, the kind of music everybody can hear and make it a social space, so somebody who was in here that was 60 years old didn’t feel like they had to run out of here ‘cause somebody cranked up. I was talkin’ to a kid the other day and he was like, “Oh, we’ll play quiet.” And I said, “That didn’t work for me,” so everybody who comes here will have to figure out how to do it like - just like this, so we thank you for coming today, it’s an exciting day, it’s been a lot of labor of love. We put a lot of time and energy into getting this right, so we hope you’ll come back and it’s not just a one time thing. So I’d like to play a song I’m pretty sure I wrote about 1990...over in Wrigleyville.
Jesus is the Sun
Guy in crowd: Acoustics sound great.
BC: Oh okay, good. Does the sound carry over there well? I thought when I came in the way this - it’s actually a very gloomy place - a lot of music probably would sound bad, so I think it works good.
A Song for a Son
(BC after 13 seconds of intro: This is actually a song I wrote in Highland Park.)
Guy in crowd: Are you taking requests, Billy?
BC: Depends on the song.
Same guy in crowd: Obscured.
BC: Eh.
Multiple people in crowd: What about Meladori Magpie? To Sheila. What about Stand Inside Your Love? Try, Try, Try.
BC: How ‘bout a song after 2000? Thank you.
Guy in crowd: Gossamer.
BC: Yeah, Gossamer, actually Gossamer sounds good acoustic.
In the Arms of Sleep (abandoned after 5 seconds when Billy screws up first chord change)
BC: Ah, I’ll start again.
> In the Arms of Sleep
Guy in crowd: A good one!
BC: Not bad, right? (1:30 of silence for tuning) This is kinda my dressing room song every night, I sing this every night before we go on stage. It’s a song I kinda use to make sure my voice is gonna be alright for the night, so I like singing this song. It’s from the Machina album.
With Every Light
BC: Heh heh heh heh. You assume I remember how to play all those songs. ... It had my name on it. ... No, I think we got it. I’ll just do it in this key. Alright.
The Celestials
BC: Together? Like in a play.
Greg: It’s your call.
BC: Heh heh heh.
Greg: Today?
BC: Uh, sure. But they’re bolted. You play this, I’ll sing. Well, that’s - they’re, both guitars are in different keys.
Greg: Right now I can see that.
(Billy and Greg laugh)
BC: Just gotta play them. You wanna try it?
Greg: Yeah.
BC: Let’s go. You sing it though?
Greg: You sing it.
BC: Alright. What key are you playin’ in? Are you playing the - in...?
Today (with Greg Bates on guitar)
(song pauses shortly after starting)
BC: Well, that’s where the band kicks in!
Greg: Oh, that’s right, I’m sorry, my bad.
(song continues to end)
BC: Okay, couple things.... Gonna break for lunch, Happy Sushi across the street right here is a great restaurant, highly recommended.
Guy in crowd: Are you going there?
BC: I’m going there, don’t bother me when I’m there. You can bother me here, don’t bother me there. Oh, Mr. Art Shea is here, everybody. My friend Arthur, 90 years young. Take a little break for lunch, I’ll play in a little bit again, probably around 4. I ask those of you who’ve been here for a while, uh, leave. Let some other people come in, don’t squat. We got a lot of people standing outside that wanna come in and we of course wanna encourage the local neighborhood who aren’t Smashing Pumpkins fans to come and experience the place. So it’s always gonna be here a while, thanks for coming, please make room for everybody else and we’ll see you again.
[set break]
BC: Thanks very much for coming everybody, thanks for being here on our opening day, I hope you come back again. For those of you who are interested as artists, pretty soon we’re gonna - we’ll have on the Twitter, my Twitter, whatever information to submit if you wanna have photo shows here, we want alt mixed media. We’ll be more specific about it, but if you’re an artist and you wanna contribute to the community here, we want you to be a part of it so know that and tell your friends.
By Starlight
BC: Alright. I’d actually like to play another song from that era, I don’t think I’ve played it probably for about...17, 16 years so uh.... It’s one of the b-sides of Mellon Collie, a song called Jupiter’s Lament. We’ll see if I can remember how it goes so.... Um....
Jupiter’s Lament
Pale Horse
BC: Everybody having a good time? Alright. ... You think I can read that? Heh heh heh! Alright.
The Rite of Spring
Guy in crowd: What’s that one called?
BC: Ah, The Rite of Spring. Where’s Haley Baron? Haley Baron of Resistance Pro. Next to her is John Skyler, also of Resistance Pro. John will be in action tomorrow at Excalibur, I know you’ll all be there. [unintelligible sentence.] Haley, what’s your favorite song?
Haley: Inkless.
BC: You told me it was 99 Floors!
Haley: Today.
BC: That was the other day?
Haley: I’ll take any...thing: Inkless, 99 Floors....
BC: You want Inkless?
Haley: Yes please.
BC: Alright. I was gonna play 99 Floors for you but....
Haley: Can’t I have both?
BC: I just happen to have Inkless right here. Now I’ve never played it acoustic, so....
Haley: I know.
Inkless
BC: Would anyone like to sing along? Anyone know the song Muzzle?
Guy in crowd: Let me lead.
BC: No, heh heh. Alright.
Muzzle
BC: Play a little bit more at 7 if you’re still around, so have fun, thank you so much for coming out today.
[set break]
BC: Get your tea leaves? Thank you very much for coming, everybody I see out there. I see lots of fresh faces, so thank you so much for making today a great, special day for us. Please come back, we are a community business, we need your love and support. Don’t forget Resistance Pro wrestling tomorrow at Excalibur. Alright, so uh, play a few more songs and get you out of here for the Bears game. Go Bears.
Tonight, Tonight
Luna
Guy in crowd: That was our wedding song, thank you, Billy.
BC: And you’re still married?
Guy: 13 years later.
BC: What were the other songs that you contemplated?
Guy’s wife: Well, our first date was Lollapalooza that you were the headliner, so....
BC: Oh wow. Did you fall in love during The Breeders or...?
Wife: Taj Mahal.
BC: Alright.
Guy: Mine was Soundgarden, that was cool.
BC: You fell in love during Soundgarden? Yeah, me too.
Soot and Stars
BC: Huh? Is it...? This is my good friend, Yvonne Bruner. Some of you might recognize her from her days in Big Hat. We’re gonna do a Hank Williams song that we used to play back in the ‘80s.
Yvonne: Nooo.
BC: Yeah?
Yvonne: No, [unintelligible] in the ‘80s.
BC: ‘90s?
Yvonne: Yeah.
BC: I think it was the ‘80s, not that....
Girl in crowd: She’s not that old.
Yvonne: I was 10.
BC: Um...
Yvonne: It’s called Long Gone Lonesome Blues. It’s very sad.
BC: (starts playing) Is that right?
Yvonne: It’s lower.
BC: Lower?
Yvonne: Yeah.
Long Gone Lonesome Blues (with Yvonne Bruner on vocals)
Yvonne: Thank you, ‘night.
Violet Rays (abandoned after first 3 notes)
BC: Like to play a song off of Oceania, it’s called Violet Rays.
Violet Rays
BC: Alright, this song called Pinwheels from Oceania.
Pinwheels
BC: Did any copies come this way? These people need to sing.
Lady in crowd: I don’t even know the lyrics.
BC: Alright bud, you don’t need a lyric sheet. This girl over here’s name is Lily, so.... I take care of you. Since you’re - since you’re actually a Lily.
Lily: It’s right there on my shoulder.
BC: Oh. You got the lyrics?
Lily: [unintelligible], it’s on the other shoulder.
BC: What lyrics are those?
Lily: It’s just the flower.
BC: Then what’s that?
Lily: Oh, this is the carpe diem flower.
BC: Oh. Alright everybody, you ready? Alright, so two go-rounds before we sing, you ready?
Lily (piano) (stopped after first “Lily”)
BC: Are you gonna sing or what? I’m just gonna close this place down. Are you ready to sing or...? You said you know the lyrics.
Lily: Yeah, most of them.
BC: Alright, you start us off, okay?
Lily (piano) (resumes with first lyrics to end)
(BC after first verse: You guys need to sing.)
BC: Anyone have the time? It’s seven o’clock? Alright. For our last couple exercises in artistic humility, we are now going to play “Stump Billy.” Now you have to try to stump me with one of my own songs. (many audience requests) I can’t play all those songs at once. We’re going around the table first. Pick a song.
Lady: Bullet with Butterfly Wings.
BC: Ah, I don’t remember that one. (many more audience requests) This is going poorly. (more requests) Alright, [2 unintelligible words]. Paprika?
Guy in crowd: Enter Sandman?
Enter Sandman (tease - first 5 notes)
BC: Alright, well that didn’t work. Alright, I’ll let you vote. I could play 99 Floors...or...let’s see...Owata or Stand Inside Your Love.
Guy in crowd: So does this mean we stumped you?
BC: Nah.
Guy in crowd: Anything from Gish.
BC: Anything from Gish? Uhhhh...yeah, I don’t know. I could probably play one.
Daydream (abandoned after 11 seconds)
BC: Okay, who said Daydream? Or Gish, who’s the Gish man? You’re a Gish man. Alright, ready? Daydream, ready?
Daydream (abandoned at end of first verse)
BC: Take it! Okay, I’ll play Stand Inside Your Love and then go outside. Thank you so much again. Please visit our local businesses, Happy Sushi’s open across the street, it’s my favorite sushi restaurant, please go over to Happy Sushi. Thank you. Our mayor’s over there, Nancy. Thank you, Nancy, for being the coolest mayor. I don’t - I don’t vote, but if I did.... And then Abergale’s, I think it’s pretty busy, but that’s a great restaurant down the street. And uh, everyone on the block has been so supportive of us so far, so thank you to everyone that’s here from the block. Alright, let’s try this.
Stand Inside Your Love
BC: Thank you so much.

Photos and memorabilia

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