The Smashing Pumpkins have never stopped playing in Spain and, in fact, we have Billy Corgan in Madrid in September presenting the orchestral version of ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ (1995) in commemoration of their 30th anniversary. Where Smashing Pumpkins will never play again, it seems that not even thanks to a miracle, is at Primavera Sound. And that, by editorial line, they could not fit more, especially with regard to the beginnings of the festival.
But Gabi Ruiz, president of Primavera Sound, has them crossed. He has already told the story before, and he told it again in his recent interview with Rockdelux.
Without going into too many details, starting at minute 11:50 he says that hiring Billy Corgan’s band in the 2007 Primavera Sound edition was something similar to hell. Remember that Smashing Pumpkins made the festival very dizzy by their participation, and that when they finally accepted, they only caused problems: “They affected morale so much, they caused so many problems and they came with so many little stars” that, since then, “I have completely crossed them out.”
Ruiz adds that, to make matters worse, they didn’t even seem good live: “Also after doing it (the concert) I realized that they were much worse than I expected live,” he says, adding that they seemed more “pretentious” than he remembered.
As Binaural recalls, Smashing Pumpkins have played at several Spanish festivals since then, most recently at Mad Cool and Cruïlla, but they have never returned to Primavera.
As if that were not enough, Corgan has also received criticism these days from Linda Perry. The producer has said that she had to kick Corgan out of the recording studio when he appeared on the recording of Hole’s latest album, while Courtney Love was there. He says that he was a “Debbie Downer” (that is, that he only brought bad vibes) and invited him to leave. In addition, he confronted him by saying: “You go through life as if you were a fucking divine gift to rock’n roll. You have bad energy. I want you to leave my studio.” He says that Billy “was shocked” and left. At least it seems that the Pumpkins’ music continues to influence new generations: there are those who say that Olivia Rodrigo’s new single sounds like them.
