It’s 10:49 pm. A stream of people filter out through the gates of Hisense Arena and disperse into the night. Walking towards Richmond Station, I feel a tap on the shoulder.
“Hey mate, do you have a lighter?”
“Yeah, sure. Here you go”
“Cheers dude. So, what did you think of the show tonight?”
“Oh, well I actually missed the start of Wolfmother’s set. They must have started right smack bang on 7:30 pm, and I was sneaking in a cheeky pre-show beer or two at the Corner then. Seemed like an early start but I guess it’s a weeknight. I don’t feel like I missed much anyways, we’ve all seen the ‘Mother a bunch of times anyways, right? They whore themselves out to every festival under the sun. But I gotta say, that extended harmonica solo in the middle of ‘Dimension’ was a nice way to breath life into a set staple. They did lean heavily on their early stuff though, which is like seven years old now, so it’s starting to sound, I dunno, a little stale?”
“Let’s be honest, they’ve been a little stale from the beginning. My old man calls them a Black Sabbath and Zeppelin cover band, and he would know – he saw Sabbath at Festival Hall back in the day! Crazy old fart rants and raves about them rehashing Jimmy Pages’ fuzzed out riffs and spacey keyboard freakouts, repacking it for kids who are too young to know any better. But geez, you couldn’t shake the feeling Andrew Stockdale was out to prove something tonight, ey? You know, demanding the crowd to clap along and sing. I think everyone was still thinking about his little triple j rant. He’s pretty ballsy for telling the station where to go”
“Telling triple j to go fuck themselves? Ballsy or fucking stupid? Someone needs to tell Stockdale not to shit where he eats. He can thank that station for a decent chunk of their fans”
“You’re on the money there! He was probably clever not to have brought up that whole triple j feud tonight - it would have just deepened the hole he’s digging. Though did you believe him when he said Melbourne was so much better than Sydney? It’s like, fuck, we’re not stupid mate. Best keep your mouth closed and lick your wounds offstage”
“Yeah, well at least the Pumpkins killed it tonight – well - if you can still call them the Smashing Pumpkins. It’s pretty much the Billy Corgan show these days, but hey, it’s better than nothing right? You’re never going to see him on the same stage as James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky again - they would be at each other’s throats. Messy past. Anyways, did you see the new drummer? What a machine! Not bad for someone who wasn’t even born when the Pumpkins started”
“Yeah, lucky bastard. Imagine playing drums for your idol? I’d lose my shit! But seriously, Billy has certainly roped in some talented musos to continue the legacy. I mean, they get the job done but they certainly didn’t steal the spotlight from the man himself. You may be able to play an instrument, but you can’t teach charisma and a ‘fuck-you-imma-play-what-and-however-i-like’ attitude like that – you earn it from years on the road, dealing with drug-fucked band members and a music media threatening to tear you a new one. I’ve heard people slag him off lately - you know: “
Billy dated one of the Veronicas and he appeared on daytime TV the other day, what a sell out blah blah blah…” but geez, he can still spit venom like the good old days when he wants to”
“Fuck oath. But he sure tested the crowd’s patience when it came to hearing songs from the good ol’ days, ey? Playing their new album
Oceania in its entirety to begin with was a very polarising thing to do. On the one hand, I admire Billy for not resting on past laurels and for having faith in the new material, because he could easy have chosen to play a greatest hits setlist and left it at that. But he has integrity, and the best artists don’t compromise what they do due to nagging promoters or fans. But on the other hand… a lot of people paid a shitload to see them because they wanted to hear the old stuff. People love nostalgia, so give it to them. If you don’t own the new album, that first hour would’ve been a bit of a tedious trudge. I felt sorry for the fans crying out for ‘Bullet’ only three songs into the set”
“Okay, I admit there was a sense that the whole crowd was waiting during
Oceania. You could see people glancing at their watches every five minutes and fidgeting. But c’mon, the show itself was top-notch for an arena gig. What it lacked in the intimacy you get at club shows it made up for in sheer spectacle. Billy’s nasal-y twang filled the place, his duelling solos with Jeff Schroeder packed a wallop and that giant bubble thing above the stage with the psychedelic visuals was a hypnotising piece of eye candy. It was very Spinal Tap of them”
“Yeah, I almost lost my mind looking at that thing! I want one for my living room. And when they broke off into a cover of Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’, you know, I think that was Billy’s way of saying, “
Okay, you’ve waited long enough guys,
let’s fuck shit up like it’s 1999 now. Remember how to mosh?”
“It was bliss wasn’t it? You just can’t beat classics like ‘Disarm’, ‘Tonight, Tonight’ and ’Today’. I think those songs have really stood the test of time, otherwise why would people have packed out Hisense tonight? Billy has a knack for entwining pop hooks with heavy metal-inspired riffs and angst-riddled lyrics without them imploding in some hellish, convoluted mess. I was up in the nosebleeds and people were standing on their chairs, screaming and singing along. It was pretty rad”
“Agreed. I just wish they hadn’t rushed through songs like ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’. I mean, he’s obviously sick to death of playing it, but the fans love it. That song was almost played in double time”
“I think it was only a minor slip up though. Can you imagine people demanding you to play the same songs every single night? And you think your day job is repetitive. You can’t really complain though with an encore of ‘Zero’, ‘Ava Adore’ and the tsunami of ‘Cherub Rock’. There might have been a few people bummed they didn’t play all the hits – ‘1979’ particularly – but they managed to cram a hell of a lot into a near two-hour set. I think value for money should outweigh fans’ whining about not hearing the whole fucking back catalogue”
“Yeah man, God bless Billy Corgan. He’s older, fatter but he still maintains the rage, and that’s why we love him. Okay, well my train is about to leave so I better scoot. My ears are ringing and I’m ready to hit the sack. Gotta work in the morning. Take it easy bro”
“You too. Catch”
Check out the Smashing Pumpkins gallery from Hisense Arena here.
WORDS: Jack Pilven