Billy Corgan Doesn't Play With Pumpkins

The Carlu

Toronto, ON

on Jul 2 2005

Jason Hailman (CHARTattack)

07/04/2005 4:00pm

The sight of so many goths, punks and assorted alternative types milling around The Carlu was an odd one to be sure — it's a safe bet that few in the audience had ever been to such a posh venue and the venue had likely never seen such a crowd.

"Where are the fucking hors d'oeuvres?" I overheard one particularly sarcastic girl mutter to her friends. Despite the odd venue choice, Billy Corgan and his openers still rocked out.

Starting things off, The Crimea played anxious, jittery rock music with a dark and melodramatic edge. The singer had a vulnerable croak reminiscent of a more rocking Danny Michel. The band acquitted themselves well and even though the audience obviously wasn't there for them, they received applause a few shades stronger than polite. Near the end of their set, their music mellowed considerably, going for more of a folky troubadour vibe.

Kansas City's Doris Henson occupied the night's middle spot with some straight rock that was fine enough, though none to special. I was worried at the beginning of their set, because they had a goofy bald guy bouncing around onstage, the kind of guy who automatically subtracts 37 cool points from your band. Fortunately, he picked up a trombone and the ensuing instrumental redeemed him. The group could have used a synth instead of lugging the trombone around, but playing a live instrument is a lot more interesting.

While Doris Henson avoided the synth, the one major fault in Billy Cogan's performance was that he used the keys too much. Billy's guitar was the only "real" instrument played, with two keyboards, electronic drums and a prerecorded backing track filling out the sound.

It's easy to forget what a gifted guitarist Corgan is and his trademark whine instantly brings back memories of a mid-'90s adolescence. He seemed to have trouble connecting with the audience at first — his first words to the crowd didn't come until seven songs in, but they were worth the wait as he joked about rapping with DMC and the Barenaked Ladies at Live 8.

Anyone expecting Corgan to play any of his classic Pumpkins material left disappointed. Aside from the opening bars of "Today," slipped into a frenetic number in the encore, it was as if Corgan had never recorded a note before his recent solo album. While the new material is nowhere near as good as his previous output, it sounded pretty decent live, and in the eyes of his audience, he could do no wrong.

Near the end of the set, during a performance of "All Things Change," most of the audience spontaneously started singing along: "We can change the world." Too much of that kind of stuff and you end up with a Dashboard Confessional live album, but at this show it was magical.

Corgan ended his performance with a blistering cover of AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock And Roll)," complete with computer generated flames on the screens behind him. It would have been the perfect end to the show, but when the lights came up Corgan stuck around to shake hands and collect notes from the crowd. He eventually grabbed the microphone again to wish us a belated Canada Day and to thank us all for coming.

"I really appreciate your warm response," he said as he waved his final goodbye.