I was considering it before all the drama, but now I can't bring myself to it. Not enjoying the back and forth press, the cash-grabbing-speaking-down-on tactics by Billy. Listened to some of their stuff recently and it wasn't doing anything for me like it did years ago. Different strokes for different folks.
Guess the tour isn't a total failure, they just added extra dates in LA and Chicago.
I would think they would have a good turn out in those cities as Chicago is their hometown and LA never has a problem with ticket sales. It also makes complete sense for them to do arenas in those locations too. However, in other places... not so much. I said when I first saw the venues they had picked to play in that I thought they were really overreaching with this tour, and that is proving to be the case. Plus their ticket prices are a little overpriced. That said, if ticket prices drop, I might actually go to one of the Boston area shows.
Were it not for the fact that tickets are crazy expensive, I actually think they would be doing much better even with the arenas - they wouldn't be selling out left and right, but it wouldn't have been at the level where you've got media outlets reporting they're having problems.
Agreed 100%. Like I said earlier, Radiohead is a much bigger band at this point in each of their careers, yet they are selling floor tickets to MSG for $99 on their website. Floor tickets for Pumpkins I think are around $200 and its not even GA. What were they thinking?
Anybody thinking that perhaps Billy WANTS this to fail and be a total disaster? Like, "Hey guys, you bugged me for years to have a reunion tour, and we finally did it, and none of you shitheads showed up, so, hope you're happy, now move the fuck on! It's the Big Willy C show, deal with it!"
MACHINA pt1/The Machines of God 'turns' 18 today (Feb 28/2000). It's nice to see where so many younger fans have found and resonated with this work, which despite being often misunderstood or disregarded has seen a sort of restoration with time. On the question of when a reissue would be made available (reuniting pts 1 + 2 with a copious amount of additional work), the legal squabble with our inherited label continues (meaning they purchased our catalog from Gish to Machina from old masters EMI and take scant possession of the legacy, much less any present or future plans to promote said work). Which is a curious thing...That said, I have made overtures to purchase the catalog by putting together a group of investors; only to be rebuffed, because 'it's too valuable to be sold.'
There's a rumor that Nickelback may be opening some of the shows. Please Billy, for the love of god, please do not do this. That's just cringeworthy and screams of desperation to sell tickets. Just when I thought this tour couldn't get any worse. Honestly, if Nickelback plays on this tour, I will give up on Billy and this band. Lamest thing I've heard.
I doubt it’s true. Nickelback can headline their own arena tour, and sell more tickets. Not sure why they would do that even from a managements perspective- but throw a boat load of money at them so who knows.
WAY different fanbases too. At least Manson fans had similar age in common (both bands blew up in the mid 90’s).
Ownership of the catalogue shifted following the Adore reissue, running theory is EMI has no interest in putting it out.
There's now a change.org petition to release it if you feel like signing that kind of thing or believe it would have any impact. They haven't hit 500 yet.
And the source of the Nickelback rumor is insane speculation on Netphoria based on Billy's praising them as a misunderstood band. He probably feels a kinship.
https://www.altpress.com/news/entry/...tzky_cant_sing
I believe this 100%
"He’s always talking about the fans, doing it for the fans. That’s how he talks publicly, but when he talks within the band and to other people, he hates the fans. He fucking hates the fans, he really does.“He really loves to humiliate people at shows and stuff with the audience. He told me that he actually believed that the audience wanted to be like, the way he always used to scream and bitch at the audience and stuff, he told me he really thought people wanted that."
@Helpmeiaminhell
Me too
There isn’t much to doubt D’arcy, but she’s getting rediculous as well. Time to let it go.
Look for her to book some stupid small theatre tour soon while her name somewhat hot in the headlines.
Here's what I think happened. Billy invited her to be involved. Realized how looney she's become over the years and decided it was probably best for her not to he involved. She definitely seems off. Maybe Billy was trying not to badmouth her. But after everything she's saying, maybe he needs to explain his reasons. Personally, I wouldn't have shot for arenas. They could do theaters and do pretty well with that. This isn t 1995. Hopefully, the reunion does well though.
Well Billy is pretty looney too. Shapeshifters, Alex Jones, Trump, etc. I don't find D'arcy any more nuts than him. The guy never even went to meet her in person. Honestly, he is Mr. Wrestling Owner/Owner Of Pumpkins name, he could have easily flown out to her to sit down and chill in person. The fact that he couldn't be bothered to give her the simple courtesy of a face to face speaks volumes that this tour had nothing to do with being friends again. It was, hey tolerate my bullshit long enough to cash in on the press promoting the four us together and the Pumpkins name. I doubt even James and Billy are that close right now, especially since James is only popping in the studio here and there. It's like, hey James do some Jamesy guitar bits over this so I can say that you were involved so people will give it a chance.
I also think Billy is afraid to release new music too soon. There's two outcomes... A) the music is so good that Billy is redeemed, the Pumpkins are back, and it will help sell tickets or more likely B) it will be the usual post-original line up/Billy solo affair that people will get wind that this isn't some awesome second coming, thus hurting ticket sales. Billy is probably scared shitless to release anything new at this point. He knows he needs THE song to get people's attention again. But can he deliver? He will probably wait right up to the tour dates to put something out or wait until after to try to make up any money. I think if he had something he truly believed rocked, we would have heard something by now.
He's talked to her on the phone. You don't know how that went. She could've been looney for him to be skeptical and maybe not. His Alex Jones theories mean nothing. If he believes that stuff, so what? How does that effect a tour? People are so quick to jump on her defense when they have zero facts. No one but Billy and co. know what went down and why. She left before machina. Did people freak out and refuse to go then? Nope.
I believe this is still part of that 4-hour interview that was done by Alternative Nation right around the time the tour announcement happened. They've just been doling out the stuff that wasn't relevant to the main conversation about her exclusion from the reunion in small doses so they can keep milking it and make it seem like the drama is continually unfolding over the course of an entire month. I hate that shit. It makes it look like D'arcy keeps calling them up to complain about Billy and keep the public feud going, when in reality it was all one conversation that happened weeks ago. Still, her airing of the band's dirty laundry through the press certainly doesn't make her look good, either. And Yes, Billy has said some mean shit about her in the press in the past too, but the last time he publicly spoke ill of her was over 10 years ago. The last time he mentioned her in public, he had only good/nice things to say about her and their relationship. When he was recently asked about the current situation, he declined to comment on it altogether (which was a wise decision).
Last edited by sonic_discord; 03-05-2018 at 11:32 PM.
You have plenty of good points, but I am sincerely hoping for outcome A. The Pumpkins were my favorite band for years (until NIN claimed that title) and I really want this tour to succeed so that this lineup can continue to make new music, and for that new music to be great. Yes; it's extremely disappointing that it can't be all four original members, but this is still the closest it's been since the '90s and I'll take what I can get because in their heyday (regardless of your opinion of Billy), this band was AMAZING. Plus, I never got to see the original lineup and I've always regretted that fact. No, this isn't the complete original lineup, but it's 3/4 of the way there and I've only seen 1/4 (Billy + hired hands) thus far. ANYWAY, My hope is that he's pulling a Trent and making sure that the new songs are perfect before unleashing them upon the world. The band's most recent track record suggests the latter is the more probable outcome (although I loved Oceania), but I have high hopes that Jimmy and James' involvement was the catalyst for a newfound spark of creativity and burst of inspiration that's allowed them to recapture some of the magic that's abundantly present in their classic material. I mean, wouldn't it be great if these 8 new songs were somehow a return-to-form that recalled the quality of their mid-90s output? One can dream. Anyway, back to the pessimism and negativity...
Last edited by sonic_discord; 03-06-2018 at 10:05 AM.
"If you haven't had the occasion, please look up my last solo album 'Ogilala' on streaming. In April, I'll return to Nashville to continue work on the follow-up (as yet untitled). When I was last home in Chicago, I listened to the work done so far and wasn't totally happy with it so in going back to Nashville I'll either keep what I like and take another stab at what needs improvement, or I'll scrap it all and start over. Sometimes finding the center of a body of work takes time. Luckily, with the new SP music, that hasn't been the case. "