xoxo

What I found unusual about the show was the interaction of the band with the audience. People who attend a live concert, are there because they want to feel a connection and interact with the artists.
When Billy played the first two songs with his back to the audience, even though sonically it was perfect, it was hard to get engaged with the show. Granted I’m sure there was a good reason why he had to tweak his amp half a dozen times during those songs.
It is difficult to feel connected when the lead singer first criticizes the audience for not clapping/cheering enough, makes a comment about how they are about to play an old favorite ‘so you better sing along’ , and finally toward the end of the show calls out some random guy for having his arms crossed.
Billy said in an interview that what he thought the audience: ” they want to see us enjoying out trip [on stage]“. Yes!
I want to see you and the band enjoying yourselves, interacting with each other and the audience. How about a guitar battle between Billy and Jeff? How about opening with a greatest hit to get the crowd fired up, then saying, “We are going to play some new stuff now, don’t worry we will play something else soon for those of you who only know us though our studio albums or that one overplayed song on the radio”. And if you have a new song you are really proud of, tell us about it… “This next song, kinda takes us back to our roots. When Jimmy and I first started playing together, we would jam for hours and freestyle until we got it right. We like to have a little fun with this next one, hope you enjoy Transformer…”.
Finally, come to grips with playing the old tunes. The band U2 is still making new music and yet not a concert goes by that they don’t play ‘Bloody Sunday’,'Where The Streets Have No Name’, ‘One’ etc. They have been playing ‘Bloody Sunday’ for 25 years! Plus they don’t just play the classics, they milk them and use them to work the crowd. They don’t make an entire concert out of old material – and neither should you. We (the audience) realize you can’t play everything and that some will leave disappointed for not hearing their favorite song.
Think of a concert as a time to bridge the past with the future of the band. Bring the audience up to speed with a few classics/hits then show us where the band is going with new material.
A great highlight of the 11/21/08 Chicago show, was the crowd shouting along with the lyrics ‘city by the lake’, and virtually the entire songs for Mayonnaise and Bullet. That was awesome. Revel in it. The audience connected to the band and vice versa.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for new material. In fact, ‘That’s the Way’, ‘Doomsday Clock’ are some of your best works bar none.

Overall a great crowd that night and performance from the band.

Sorry to hear Billy and other band members have been sick. Get well soon.
-Yancy

“This guy is obviously just looking for some attention, If you don’t appreciate the music MAN, Don’t go see them for 2 nights in a row MAN. I would have killed to see that set and I know other real fans would have as well. How bout getting a fucking attention span and actually listening to the 20 minute songs instead of taking a break to go light up your bowl, MAN!! These kind of New Yorkers think that thier opinions are the only thing that matter in the entire fucking universe, If you wanna hear some 3 minute hit from the 90′s, turn on the radio for an hour, The pumpkins work hard to make their sets new and entertaining, and do the best to show their full musical talent and ability and pricks like this guy, who’s criticism consisted of “Last nights show fucken sucked, MAN,” and other drunken babbles, don’t mean shit to the thousands of real pumpkins fans who will follow Billy to the grave no matter how long he decides to make his songs. I know James and D’arcy aren’t there and that sucks. but if you can’t handle the new band then that’s tough, I’ve seen them twice already and I’m seeing them again in a few weeks, and I can tell you that they are as good as they ever were and if your truly a fan, and appreciate some real, heartfelt music, then it’s a great experience”

I was pretty upset at the time, specifically because of the enormous picture of Billy with the word “Fail” underservingly placed in bold letters in the middle of it, but this kind of criticism and abusive feedback is enough to have me worried that, though I know the band has been through harder times, that it might discourage you from putting on some of the greatest musical performances that fans that eat and breath for you, and love you so much that we feel every pain, every harsh word said, and every criticism thats thrown at you, will ever get the honor of experiencing. So much that a nearly 20 year old dude such as myself is naive enough to think that his cheesy “Almost famous” sounding rant about undying love for a band might actually be seen by anyone involved with the band and give them some encouragement, but I beg of you, Billy, Jimmy, Jeff, Ginger, Lisa, and company, play your hearts out and do what you love and take all this negative energy from critics and compare it to the energy of the thousands of eternaly devoted fans that will follow you in whichever direction you choose to go. For to us “obsession” is a word that doesn’t even begin to describe how deeply we feel about your music.

I don’t get much of a chance to see bands play (due to location) but I was thoroughly impressed when I did catch you earlier in the year and was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the set list on the “if all goes wrong” DVD.

All band members are doing a great job (on that note the band members are usually the main topic of reviews for some lame reason) and I thought the ‘new’ songs were awesome.

It’s easy to say but I reckon you guys have plenty of positive things been said as well (especially from fans).