So, The Smashing Pumpkins live shows at the United Palace in New York this week don't seem to have gone very well. After the first show, fans were left disappointed when the band played a two and a half hour set made up almost entirely of new material and featuring a 40 minute, formless, atonal guitar drone.
Reacting to the instantly critical world of the internet, the band did insert a few hits into their second set the following night, but not enough to stop members of the crowd shouting abuse. Frontman Billy Corgan chose the strange option of inviting an audience member on stage to discuss his criticisms. Once on stage, the fan shouted at Corgan: "Last night's show sucked!" The frontman replied: "Would you like your money back?" before the pair moved away from the microphone to discuss the matter more privately.
Seemingly placated, the fan left the stage, at which point Corgan returned to the mic and, adopting a mocking tone, said: "By the way, I liked that song you wrote. What was it called? 'Take Your Dick Out of My Ass And Stick It In My Mouth?' That was a big hit in Europe".
As I said, the shows don't seem to have gone very well. And you wonder why I'm always saying that bands shouldn't reform.