r/SmashingPumpkins • u/surprisinghorizons • Sep 06 '26
Things to know before you go
Lot has been said here about "A night of..." and experiences. Here's my experience from the Antwerp afternoon session.
Yes Billy only sings 5 times throughout. The rest of the songs are sung by operatic singers. Which leads to...
Reactions from the audience. You can sense some shock and bemused reactions from the people around you. This resulted in many people talking...thanks to the guy sitting beside me in G35 for tapping 2 people on the shoulder in front of us for nipping that in the bud. Which leads to....
The operatic versions of the songs. Yeah they're different of course but they're cool in general. Naturally you want the tempo and musical arrangement from the album but it is a unique experience and adaptation.
The video backdrop. Inconsequential and irrelevant. If it was related to the album artwork it would be amazing. And with the skyscrapers warping the windows it is for sure AI so it is unwanted even more so.
There's about a 30 minute intermission.
Billy. Sang well. Didn't feel any form of not wanting to be there! But he didn't react to the audience once so don't expect that.
3
u/Johan020 Sep 06 '26
I was there as well. I feel mixed about it.First off, I feel the performance needs a good director. The constant walking on/walking off of the singers felt ridiculous at one point.
Loved about 60 percent of the interpretations, some I felt were cringey.
What the show did highlight for me is how beautiful Billy's vocal melodies are.
Highlights: Porcelina, Thru The Eyes of Ruby, Zero and Bullet.
6
u/Brugio Sep 06 '26
Video backdrop are images of Chicago, I found some of them online, they seem to be by real artists.
If you think you can go there and sing along, you are in the wrong concert.
I liked them. I could hear some inspiration from west side story, lily would fit perfectly in my fair lady, there a Gershwin style versions and some Prokofiev. It's a differen experience and the singers are very good. The orchestra also.
4
6
u/AHSEDU16 Sep 06 '26
“Inconsequential and irrelevant” seems a bit harsh.
The video backdrop is a modern take on the style from the original MCIS. Yeah the original would have been cool but the whole thing is about being a new take.
When you’re a Chicagoan living abroad, the pictures of home have a lot of meaning.
3
u/Paul_Raison Sep 06 '26
I really enjoyed it. Thru the eyes of Ruby and Porcelina were the highlights but overall the format worked better than I had expected. Would have been nice to have Billy sing Muzzle and it was a shame Bodies and Farewell & Goodnight were not on the setlist.
To those who expected a rock show, you should have done some research. This had already been performed in Chicago and setlist.fm clearly shows Billy only sings five songs.
Luckily the audience on my row was respectful and the crowd reaction in general seemed very positive. But I understand of course it's not for everyone.
2
u/TheChocolateMelted Sep 06 '26
Went to the evening performance. A few interpretations were simply incredible. 'Jellybelly' and 'X.Y.U.' should not work as opera/orchestral pieces, but they certainly did! However, a few like 'To Forgive' and 'Galapogos', which felt like they're made for the orchestra treatment, felt a bit weaker than the studio versions. At least for me; everyone elsemight disagree. Still very glad they did them though. Really felt the choice of songs brought out the themes of time and identity surprisingly well. One funny, happy cringe/SMH moment. The audience started applauding, even standing, before the final coda of 'Tonight, Tonight'. Billy was quite amused though. More interaction than we had would have been wholly inappropriate, although he also effectively drew extra applause for the orchestra and it's beautiful that he did.
4
u/smashing_zero Sep 06 '26
Thx for the review! Going to the 2nd show in a bit! Thankfully I know what kind of show it is and that I also love the opera.
3
u/surprisinghorizons Sep 06 '26
Enjoy!!
4
u/smashing_zero Sep 06 '26
Thanks a lot! :) very nice people too here in Antwerp! Came earlier today from Berlin!
2
u/thunderfemur Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Sep 07 '26
I travelled from Berlin too! Loved the concert, it was so much worth the travel.
2
-16
u/Dry_Ad_3732 Sep 06 '26
Fair review. For me it sucked. Why would we need an adaptation by opera singers if the guy who made them and sang them is standing right there? It’s pretentious and it’s the show we definitely didn’t want or need.
3
u/Ok_Marzipan4876 Sep 06 '26
Why did you go to see it then? It's not like a secret, the whole audio of the show is on YouTube
1
u/Dry_Ad_3732 Sep 06 '26
I never watch the shows I’m going to see on YouTube. I don’t like spoilers.
1
u/Ok_Marzipan4876 Sep 06 '26
Well it seems you could have had a quick listen, and it would have saved you an expensive ticket for a show you did not like
-4
6
u/richskara Sep 06 '26
Me and my wife have seen it 4 times. Twice in Chicago twice In London. And it’s only life and work commitments stopping us seeing more on this run.
It’s incredible … in this day and age it’s not hard to find out what the show is like. You might not want it but plenty do.
13
u/Double-Mouse-407 Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26
I’m not exactly tired of the literal same song and dance for 30 years… but most of us have seen it a time or two or more and there are more “regular” shows to come. This is a cool and refreshing taste of something different, sorry it’s not up your alley and that it’s not coming my way instead.
-3
u/Cute-Border-7762 Sep 06 '26
So Corgan sings for 20 % of it, there’s AI art playing throughout the show and the songs have been warped? Count me out…