Does anybody regret seeing them live?

[psalmblackdecember]

Okay,

So one of the reasons I returned here is to ask a question that has been bugging me for quite some time.

Do any of you regret seeing the Pumpkins live?

I do...



I knew that seeing them live would never live up the the lofty godlike expectation I had in my head after listening to so many amazing boots.

And when I saw them at Festival Hall in melbourne that night, cut down to 2 original members, billy noodling away for what felt lke 20 minutes on the end of united states.

Something clicked inside me, They were not my favourite band anymore.

They were.

It is an odd feeling, and up to Machina they were my obsession - just now it feels so cold and almost ruined the past a little for me.

Does anybody else have similar feelings?

Does anybody want those 'I wish I could ave gone to the 'final' metro show' feelings back?

Hrmmm...

[Insanity's Horse]

I do know what you are getting at here...the first time i saw them i had built them up so much that i expected nothing short of the most amazing experience of my life. When this didn't occur i was left feeling a little bit let down. Luckily i got to see them another 6 times that tour, and i was able to focus more on the music than on my expectations, and all i can say is the whole ozphoria tour was one of the best experiences of my life

[sunky]

2 years ago I would have inserted a full blasting "OMG HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!" post right here.

For me now, I think I've mentioned this a few times already, the Pumpkins aren't what they used to be to me. They are still up there, I just think as I've gotten older I just dont have a favourite band list in my head/heart anymore. It wasn't seeing them live that did that to me, I think it was mainly some of the decisions made in the last year.

Seeing them live actually made me love them a little more. I got to hear Mayonaise live, I got to hear Hummer, I heard Zero etc ... I realized this was as good as it was going to be for me. It was enough and it was, what it was. It wasn't the Pumpkins circa 1996 or 2000 ... because the Pumpkins 2000 wasn't the Pumpkins circa 1994 ... follow? It was that era of the Pumpkins and now with how things played out, I'm glad I got to see Jimmy play live on SP tracks. I know Billy will be back in some way or another, solo or SP.

I wish sometimes I could go back to "just being a fan" and not the super obsessed, working for the band type fan ... but then I would have missed out on so much too. That tour was still a really happy time for me, seeing old/new faces and just seeing the band for what they are ... a band that play some songs I like.

[bonno]

I have similar sentiments as you sunky..

I feel incredibly lucky to have seen them live at the hordern and vfest. i was too young for mellon collie and adore tours.. I feel lucky to have seen them at all, granted it wasnt like the good old days of the original lineup. Before seeing them i used to feel like i missed out on something ever since the machina tour to aus got canceled and then they broke up.
so for me it was special to finally experience the songs finally from the uncomfortable vantage of the mosh pit. It was obvious that the band had changed - i felt like the songs were not played with all that emotion that used to come with the original lineup, it was more a polished performance. i still had a blast.
but yeah, seeing any band that you really like for the first time i think is always going to shift your perception of them cause whether you like it or not, you have heaped on them expectations, anticipation etc. so yeah i do understand where your coming from psalmblack.

[Steve]

It's funny this has come up. Today someone asked me to name my top 10 gigs ever, i rattled of about 5 before they pulled me up - "Hang on, what about the pumpkins?". It felt odd but yeah, i was comfortable with my other choices. I remember a semi drunken conversation along these lines with sunks in January also.

The whole tour experience was fantastic though, catching up with people i hadn't seen since 05, meeting a lot of you for the first time. And of course the Fed square episode with Billy for those lucky few was fantastic.

But, put it this way - I'd regret not seeing them live more than the other way round. Some of the songs we got to hear.....i couldn't pass that up.

Perhaps some people saw it as some kind of closure? I'm not sure..

[siamese]

I think if I had only seen them live on the last tour I would probably feel pretty empty about it all.

Fortunately I saw them in 1996 on the MCIS tour before Jimmy got kicked out and I still rate that as my #1 concert experience ever.

I have seen pretty much every major band I have ever liked so thats not a "well I've only seen 5 bands so its easy" type of decision either.

I saw them 3 times on the last tour, once in NZ then twice in Sydney. NZ was great but not as good as 96 of course and the sydney shows were fine, just more of the same really - almost identical setlists which was a shame.

[sunky]

The setlist point is a good one. The thing that always drew me to SP was listening to bootlegs and how different sets were from night to night. It was dissapointing for them to pretty much stick the same structure most nights, although it did make the rare moments a little better.

[foxy]

No way, not for a second...

I really agree with what was said in the rolling stone article 'music isn't as big deal anymore... people don't just sit around and listen to records' - or words to that effect. It's completely true to me... I listen to music at work, at the gym, in the car, everywhere but I don't just listen to music for something to do like I did as a teenager.

To me good music is good if it can evoke memories and emotions. I still remember the first time I heard so many pumpkins songs and there's so many happy memories attached.... To that end, there's so many happy memories attached to seeing them live because A i enjoyed the music and B had some great time hanging out with some dear friends that I don't get to see very often... To me I look back so fondly on that time. The memories attached to the shows play just as important role.

Then again, the pumpkins have never got me through anything - they were definitely there, but I don't feel like they were the soul reason for me still being alive or anything like that. Yes I listened to them while in some shitty situations, but looking back, I say that friends and family have always played a more important role...

I've always loved the pumpkins because the music is great... because it's what I like in music... their music is a journey, there's dynamic changes etc.

I can understand people having deeper connections to the music because they feel it's got them through something etc... To that end I can understand why you'd feel a bit disappointed.

[boelsen]

i agree with what most people have said. i really enjoyed the concerts, but maybe enjoyed the social side more, hanging out with everyone around the shows, travelling around the country, the appartment in radelaide etc, leaves me with no regrets at all about seeing the band live

and like most people again, it wasnt seeing them live that my love has wained a bit, its just whats happened in the past year musically, and billy, and the changes in the band.

[AlmostOz]

"I really agree with what was said in the rolling stone article 'music isn't as big deal anymore... people don't just sit around and listen to records' - or words to that effect. It's completely true to me... I listen to music at work, at the gym, in the car, everywhere but I don't just listen to music for something to do like I did as a teenager."

I'm actually done with music at the moment. My ipod is getting Dust. I'm enjoying listening to my engine than the radio or my ipod. Music is like candy these days, it's so accessable that you can get over it a lot faster.

I don't regret seeing the pumpkins. You can say you wish it was this or that, but like someone else said, it is what it is. You saw your fav band play at least one of your fav songs. Be happy And you most likely saw the ozphoria crew which is always good to have other people to share memories with.

[neverchange]

nope... LIVE all the way thanks.

nothing like feeling the music with the creator

[scotopic lux]

I don't think I could regret seeing them live, ever. Its strange because so often people complain about bands that DON'T change, but with a band that has been around as long as SP there has to be change.

I have been lucky in seeing them in 96, 98 and then last tour. And i am also lucky in that the whole experience last tour just made the gigs the icing on the cake. I had so much fun with all of the people from here, and it seemed like SP were just the excuse we needed to get together - then you would head out to the gig and I would just be reminded how talented BC is, and Jimmy is, and hearing those songs - and being able to share that with people around me who had just as big attachment to the music as I did. That was a pretty special experience for me.

When Simon mentioned earlier, just in passing, hearing songs like ZERO.... i was instantly transported back to HEARING ZERO!!! with all of you, remember when BC pulled out that first riff and it blew our minds! Remember the feeling of euphoria at the end of that gig.

SP will never just be a band for me. Too many memories etc. It will always be about so many more things, and that in itself is special and will make seeing them live, unlike nearly any other band I will see.