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February 15, 2008 - MEN Arena - Manchester, UK Concert review by Dylan Pemberton Following the 'review' by Neal, thought I would post my response, also posted on the official site: How Fickle Some Fans Are! Well, having been a fan for 20 years now, I thought they were absolutely fabulous last night and was delighted at the set list. I'm a bit suprised at some of the comments, Neals said "Is there some unwritten rule that bands cannot play the classic songs that their fans (the paying audience) want to hear". I'm sorry but 1979, Everlasting Gaze, Tonight, Ava Adore, Drown, Today, Tarantula, Bullet, Wound, Perfect etc.; even the newest of fans should have been happy with those. Do they have to play Zero etc. at every gig, has Billy Corgan ever been the type of artist to let other people make his mind up? Do we want him to be? Did anyone just want to go and see them plough through the Greatest Hits album instead of bless us with the following set list that included Porcelina of the cast oceans, the amazing Cash Car Star (couldn't understand why half the audience didn't know that when you can even download it for free on here), Mayonaise etc. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans Behold! The Night Mare Bring the Light Tonight, Tonight Mayonaise Try, Try, Try Superchrist Come On (Let's Go) Stellar Perfect Lily (My One and Only) The Rose March Today Tarantula Stand Inside Your Love Ava Adore Drown Bullet with Butterfly Wings 1979 That's the Way (My Love Is) My Blue Heaven [George Whiting and Roger Donaldson] The Everlasting Gaze Cash Car Star Daydream Wound United States Another comment by Neal said "the song they played off the new EP met with a muted reaction". Well, its only been out a few days, I had only heard it a few times myself and there wouldn't have been many fans who had learnt every word so how did you think the audience would react? It would have been very odd if having released an EP this week that they did not play a track off it don't you think - and play it well I may add. Personally, I thought the stretched version of United States that some people have complained about was just awesome, guitar insanity, I have never heard such a musically exceptional performance anywhere before - it isn't one of my favourites off the new album but my god, to see that last night was just spectacular, we all witnessed the power of musical genius and I'm stunned that people didn't appreciate it, being able to see Billy and Jimmy show you all their powers was actually a special treat, a point sadly missed by some people. I think it's common knowledge anyway that they are stretching many of their songs, reinventing and pushing bounderies so what do you expect? A beautiful, beautiful musical experience. So many good things about last night, the acoustic versions, the set list itself, Billy's sardonic wit, seeing them become so polished and tight since Paris but the one bad thing was the audience - 65% under the age of 20 (most of whom seemed to be wearing Linkin Park t-shirts or t-shirts of other bands) - who didn't give great feedback during the show or even give the Pumpkins a genuine reason to come back for an encore after what was already a long set. No chanting for them to come back on, no clapping, just standing there like cattle with the odd whistle, as soon as they finished 20% of people left immediately without even waiting to see whether there would be an encore. The sound engineer had sat back at his console ready to go so I'm sure it was on but they must have been disappointed at the audience reaction and thought screw it, if they can't appreciate what we've just done over the last 2 and a half hours then a couple songs more wont make a difference. Either that or it was a rule of the MEN that shows cant go on after 11pm and they thus wouldn't let them play further. In summary, unbeleivable performance, massively disappointing audience. I'm thankful of what they said to Zane Low yesterday about future concerts - that they may segment it into periods / eras of the band - this may go a long way to eliminating some of the renta-fans from last nights show (and allow genuine but new fans who prefer the new to the old or whatever) and allow me to hear songs I would never otherwise hear live - I heard several last night which I will remember forever. I would love to see a show where they play a full set list of songs I have never heard live before, my dream is to hear Billy play Soot and Stars one day!
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