Billy Corgan is a man of extreme dichotomy. It's this gleefully dynamic binary that has made him one of the most interesting artists of the last three decades. And really, you don't have to go back that far into the throws of The Smashing Pumpkins history to get there. Take just the last couple years for example, where Corgan has continued to crank out songs for the ongoing Teargarden by Kaleidoscope project (now in its seventh year). 2012's Oceania was a bit of a "back to form" type record, with the sound and scope heralding back to the Siamese Dream styles as much as 20 years of songwriting evolution would allow. Then, in 2014, Corgan released possibly his most pop-forward album ever, with Monuments to an Elegy (complete with Tommy Lee on drums!). With Teargarden's last chapter, Day For Night, looming in the distance, Billy took to make good use of original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin returning to the group. After touring a hard rock-heavy set last year alongside Marilyn Manson, Billy apparently saw it fair time to show off the opposite. So, the trajectory of the last five years has been: psychedelic back to form, pop majesty, heavy metal, and now, "acoustic-electro". Go ahead, admit it - Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair touring together is not a bill you expected to see in 2016. And you know what? It's an absolute dream. Truly, most of the fun of being a Smashing Pumpkins is seeing just what Billy comes up with next, and this latest chapter, the In Plainsong tour, is a fan experience for all walks of life that those in attendance will never forget.
Halfway through the Smashing Pumpkins set, Billy Corgan put it plainly. "I'm proud to share the stage with Liz Phair tonight", he said. There wasn't an ounce of checklist pandering in his tone - Corgan was absolutely sincere, and it's easy to understand why. Both in their third decade as songwriters, Corgan and Phair are both masters at their craft. But at this stage, and especially on this tour, Corgan knows he can learn a thing or two from how exactly Liz does what she does. In Plainsong has been booked as a pseudo-acoustic, stripped down affair, the expectation of which is that fans will get a chance to see and hear the songs in a more raw, less buffered form. While Corgan has showed us his fair share of impossibly large symphonic arrangements, Phair has always put the story first. Thus, In Plainsong is a landscape in which Corgan can now meditate on the honesty and clarity that Phair shows us without a thought. The two combined on this tour make a brilliant combination.
While all too short, Phair began the evening with a splendid selection of her absolute best. Front, center, and solitary on the daunting Paramount stage, bringing with her guitar and herself, Phair needed no accompaniment or supplement to her songs. Pulling plenty of classics from Guyville, as well as the best of Whip-Smart, Whitechocolatespaceegg, and her self-titled record. New material wasn't absent either, with a Chicago tribute tune called "Our Dog Days Behind Us" fitting in neatly with the rest. Phair's sense of storytelling and ownership of her perspective haven't lost an ounce of their spark. She remains one of the most refreshing singer-songwriters of our time, and it's a downright pleasure to see her here with Billy Corgan, putting the both of their best material in plain form for all to see.
Liz Phair:
In Plainsong isn't a tour for fans - it's a tour for obsessives. On Oceania, the Pumpkins played the new album in its entirety and then the hits. Co-headlining with Marilyn, they played the best of Monuments, and then an array of hits. Here on In Plainsong, the hits were quite sparing, making them exactly what they should be: an extra sweet sprinkling of flavor between otherwise delicious and less ubiquitous courses. Somewhere in planning this tour, Billy came to a confounding realization: several dozens of hours worth of published material floating around in the stratosphere, the man has only very rarely written a bad song. Thus, there's no need for restriction. If he breaks out "Whir" from Pisces Iscariot and people lose their freaking minds, then they'll do just as much when he wants to play "Sorrow" from his one-off 2004 electronic solo record The Future Embrace. Co-written tunes aren't off the table either - both Hole's "Malibu" and Natalie Imbruglia's "Identify" showed up in lovely form. In Plainsong's progression felt playful - like a deep cuts mixtape you got from a friend with no track listing to see if you could find them all on your own. It was an absolute joy to find Corgan crate digging through his own vast cabinet of curiosities, only to find the treasures buried there all the more beautiful with time.
The energy of the evening was shaped as dynamically as its ringleader, showcasing the mass diversity in arrangement styles that the Smashing Pumpkins have put down in their time. Corgan began the night alone, kicking things off acoustic with upcoming Day For Night track "Cardinal Rule" before launching into Mellon Collie classic "Stumbleine". This was, strategically, the only period of the evening in which photos were allowed, as to keep the surprises to come safely tucked away for future audiences. Long standing guitarist Jeff Schroeder jumped in for a cover of "Space Oddity" and stuck around through the beginning of a focused section of cuts from Siamese Dream. After a lovely interpolation of "Mayonaise", Chamberlin and the rest of the band jumped in for "Soma", "Rocket", "Spaceboy", and more, before Corgan bid them goodbye with a solo-organ variation on "Disarm". Then, the night took a darker, electronic turn with "Sorrow", "Eye" (from Lost Highway), and "Saturnine" (from freaking Machina II!!!!!!!). I feel like 90% of the time, talking about setlists is incredibly boring, but the sheer effort and focus Corgan put into making this In Plainsong set a fluid and diverse monster deserves due credit.
Corgan kept true to his "acoustic-electro" word on this tour, and managed to avoid shredding until the very last song of the main set - Day For Night cut "Spaniards". Otherwise, Corgan stuck to acoustic guitar, organ, or for the electronic numbers, revived his slinky "Ava Adore" pop chops and paced the stage with only a mic. Jeff Shroeder gets the shredder of the night award, whose guitar solo on "Rocket" made the whole night. Meanwhile, Chamberlin kept his head cool for the most part, playing along with the nature of the sit down set, but that doesn't mean his signature details weren't just as apparent in the classics. Corgan's arrangements for this tour were sublime, with each track fitting just outside the realm of normal reason in terms of both sound and delivery. Of particular wonder were the numbers like Siamese cut "Soma", where Corgan on guitar and Shroeder keeping the wolves at bay felt like an intricate rework rather than a forced reform.
As the night progressed through day and night and everything in between, Corgan ended the set almost as softly as it had begun. After a stripped down rendition of Rolling Stones classic "Angie", Corgan broke out "Amarinthine", a yet unpinned new Pumpkins track (played first only one night before in Portland) in a similar vein of inspiration. In and out of fan service, Corgan continues to traverse the stars in search of new melodies, plucking his favorites down from the sky and sharing them when he feels like it. On In Plainsong, the mixture of presentation is part reflection and part pioneer, a mixture that seems to define so many chapters of Smashing Pumpkins work. On this very special tour, it is a delight to find the night's champion proudly holding the reigns, as eager to celebrate in past victories as he is eager to show us what's next.
The Smashing Pumpkins:
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