When he could, he did! Iha plays “Mayonaise” live in Korea 10:52 am // Saturday, July 28, 2012
Posted by jjb in james iha, live, south korea, video.trackback
Above: On Friday, the Smashing Pumpkins cofounder sent this heart to all his dearies. (YouTube)
UPDATE: Here is a more complete video, shot close to the stage but with overdriven sound.
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
This gives me a bad feeling. Also…flaaaaaaat.
that was just … bad.
Lol. I wonder if anyone will start screaming, “Where’s Billy?!” I do kind of enjoy the nod to his past (even if he is a piece of shit), but man it’s obvious he didn’t write the lyrics or the vocal melody…
I actually thought that was pretty awesome!!
Why not “Believe,” “The Boy,” “Blew Away,” “Go.” Would have much rather heard those, and could have been pulled off more
GJ James.
poor james.
He can play it since he is credited as co-writer on the song. Same with Soma. Although the performance imo is a little bland, its still very interesting that he played it. Has he done this in the past?
Damn it, didn’t realize this was Hipsters United. Like i needed to point that out…
Billy isn’t going to be pleased.
@sir topham hatt, he can play whatever the fuck he wants, co-writer or not. He can cover any SP song live legally.
this just made me melt. really wish i could see him on his latest tour even more now.
I like this. It shows he at least has some appreciation for the past and the Pumpkins.
@The Sauciest
Is it ever illegal for anyone to cover a song?
Nope. Iha can play Oceania front to back if he wants. He can’t sell a recording of the performance, but he can cover whatever he wants. Think SP covering “somewhere over the rainbow”… They didn’t get in trouble, but it had to be muted.
Yeah, why not any of his fabulous SP originals? He’s got a good number already; he really ought to play ‘em.
Also, this is the first thing he’s done for his SP fans since the Metro show, so good for him. He needs to pull his head out of his ass and start being James Iha.
haha I don’t consider Mayonnaise an Iha song, even if he did come up w/ the original chord progression. Those were billy’s lyrics, melodies, and solo. Glad James doesn’t feel weird about playing it. Jeff needs to play Blew Away on this tour.
well i’m fully convinced to go see him in nyc now!
Bleh. His voice has always been terrible. Time hasn’t made it better.
Hopefully this makes Billy say “Fuck it!” and start playing this again. The right way.
Mayonaise is such a good song you could do a xylophone version and it’d still be transcendent
This made me equal parts happy and sad. Oh James.
that was great.. surprised to see so much james hate here.. Jeff is probably getting nervous
Weird. But kinda liked it in a way.
And yes, anyone can play anything they want live. The venue is responsible for paying certain fees for the allowance of live music, whatever it may be, and as long as an artist’s songs are registered they’ll, in theory, be compensated for the show from the venue AND the registry if the show is reported to them.
Hate to say it but this makes me wish the original lineup was back together..lol
lol freaking terrible but it’s cool at least he’s acknowledging his past with SP, though i agree with a comment above mine he should have tried the boy, blew away or even said sadly
Man he really hit the lotto meeting billy.
I liked it a lot! It’s really surprising and awesome he played it. Of course odd and hateful comments are going to pour, Billy’s teenage angst instantiated in his fans ;) . In any case, it was a good version of the song and I always wondered why he didn’t sing more often during the Pumpkin days. While he can’t sing that well his voice is pretty distinctive, the new album is rad!
“I sing it soooooooooooooooooooo flaaaaaaaaaaaaaat
and when I can, ill sing, that”
I quite liked it :) he can’t sing for shit but never could
to who knows where is a nice song – very machina era like
cool outro, billy should just steal that out of funniness.
better yet, bill could just start playing never ever.
Welp. I’m sure billy won’t be playing this song any more. But it I nice to see James acknowledge his past.
While I agree with people who are saying that it is nice to see James finally recognize the place the Pumpkins have played in his musical life, it seems to me there are a number of songs from his Pumpkins work that he could have played instead, and by doing so acknowledged his past in (what I would consider) a much more tasteful fashion. While he is certainly legally allowed to cover whatever he wants live, it seems tacky to choose the work of someone he reportedly wants nothing to do with, especially given the general skepticism that has surrounded the reformation of the Pumpkins as a musical entity.
Just a quick hypothetical–imagine Billy were to play Blew Away or Go live. Fans would be furious (probably rightfully so), because it would somehow seem to detract from what “James-the-man” contributed to the Pumpkins during the nineties. Similarly, it seems here as if James is taking something from that band that isn’t really his. That is almost certainly not his intention, but that is simply how it makes me feel.
@Johnny
Has James ever “reportedly” stated that “he wants nothing to do with” SP/BC?
All I’ve ever heard or read in interviews with him, he’s never said anything specific, and has just made vague, general, diplomatic, polite remarks. The closest I’ve ever seen of him addressing it is where he said something along the lines of “It was a great band that made a lot of great music and I’d like to remember that time in a positive way”, etc.
Now BC on the other hand has said countless shit about pretty much everyone from his past.
I don’t see him playing this as finally showing appreciation of SP, it looks more like its done out of desperation b/c no one is interested in hearing his terrible original songs.
This is just James wanting to put on the Pumpkin hat when its convenient and needed to bail out his no-talent, boring self.
Ha, how weird! His sideman did a full quote of Bill’s solo, too. Such an odd pandering move, especially when there *are* pumpkins tunes that are his own primary compositions.
I just watched this and was surprised how much I enjoyed it, since I’ve never really liked James’ singing.
After watching it, I’m surprised at all the comments here about whether or not he wrote the song, how much input he specifically had in originally making the song, whether-or-not-he-should-be-playing-it, etc.
I don’t wanna sound melodramatic, but there is a poignancy when these songs are played and you see that those people from the past are not also there on stage. When SP played Mayonaise in 2008, James’ guitar parts were intentionally replaced with Lisa’s piano (a choice that seemed very respectful, to me, in a way I don’t know how to describe). Similarly, here, you see James playing the song, and it’s so apparent that the guy standing up there on that stage is an actual legitimate segment of SP; there’s a piece of SP there. And then you realize how much time has gone by and how much has changed.
I’m not even a big lyrics person, and this is one of those times that the lyrics just jumped right out at me. It is impossible to ignore James’ singing “No longer will I follow–can anybody hear me–I just want to be me” and not see it as a summary of his attitude about the whole thing in a nutshell. There are so many phrases in this song that easily describe the estranged situation with these 2 former bandmates…”All our time can’t be given back”…”Shut my mouth and strike the demons that cursed you and your reasons”…”Doomed”…”Always old, I’ll always feel this”…
The fact that BC wrote the lyrics makes it all that more symbolic, in my opinion. I’d say James couldn’t have picked a better SP song to cover. I’m detecting a lot of painful irony in him singing these words. A lot of it is turning BC’s words back around on him–not in a hateful way, but as a reminder that they can both feel this way, and with a nice nod to the past.
James sounds like he really means it when he sings “No more promise, no more sorrow–no longer will I follow”…perfect summary of his attitude toward the whole SP mess, and a more subtle way of saying it without spelling it out in an interview.
James is perfectly aware of all the shit-slinging that has been going on. His decision to play this SP song is a pretty bold move. I really don’t think he cares what BC thinks of him, and I don’t know that him playing this song is a F— You to BC, but it’s definitely a statement that he can do whatever he wants & doesn’t care what anyone says.
Also–and this is all purely conjecture–if this performance is in any way some tiny little baby step toward some sort of peace between BC & James, then I’m all for it (it’s doubtful, but fun to speculate).
At any rate, the fact that this is the first time James has made any time of real public acknowledgement of SP (and it’s a bold one–playing a classic SP song in front of an audience) makes this performance pretty significant. Not sure what his intentions are, but there is some sort of statement being made here. Maybe all it is is a simple sign that he is comfortable with the past.
Did any notice James changed the verse from “No longer will I follow” to “no longer will I borrow” Funny :)
@gsmamz I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Wonder if Billy has seen this yet, and what he felt about it. Would have to think he has seen it the way stuff gets ’round… Bet he was surprised.
Funny after all this time of people not liking Billy using the Pumpkins name sans James, that James is getting crap for just playing a song, too. I don’t see a problem with it. Still a bit strange though…
James cannot sing live at all…. As much as I wanted to see and hear this, it just upsets me that he still cannot deliver his vocals sound enough.. Too breathy, spoken, off key, off time. Even after 20+ years of being surrounded by the industry elite, with access to great technology, and the money to hire the best coaches, this is all he has to show us. A little more effort and dedication, Iha… It’s funny how Billy always implied that James was a shit guitarist (not the case at all, or he would have never made the cut for APC) but never says anything about him being a shit singer. I love James’ songs, but out of the studio, he needs work big time on his voice. No re-takes or auto-tune to cover that up. Which reminds me; Look to the Sky vocals are drowned it auto-tuning/pitch correction from start to end. But it’s still a decent album. Good writer, good producer, good fashion sense, terrible live vocalist.
Mayonaise has been demoted to the #2 spot on my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song list. VIVA LA SPEED KILLS!!!!
Awful, Period! Riding Bolly’s coattails a wee bit…
wow this sounds like if I tried to sing this song…
I’ve seen better youtube covers than this cover. James must be a lazy musician if he hasn’t taken the time to learn to sing in 20+ years.
It’s good to see him not cut himself off from his musical past, and of course he has the right to sing it. If he is in the midst of legal battles with Billy over Pumpkins royalties or whatever they’re fighting about, though, it’s hard not to see him playing this particular song, where the issue of who wrote what has been the topic of so much conversation over the years, as some sort of statement, although I’m not particularly sure what the statement was.
@ Eric B – Thank you.
@ Rick Worley – Agreed.
Mayonaise is just as much a part of James’s legacy as it is Billy’s, the pumpkins took up about 13 years of his life, he has earned the right to play those songs
This sounds more like embarrassing karaoke..
lol at “james legacy”
This just goes to prove what I’ve always thought… no one can pull off a faithful cover of any Pumpkins song. Billy’s vocals are just too distinct. If you’re going to cover a SP track, you’re probably better off dramatically rearranging it and doing your own version.
The almost note-for-note BC solo is kind of weird to hear, too, since it’s close, but so far away.
@gsmamz, I was deferring to how Billy has explained the situation between the two, precisely because James has said almost nothing in public. I don’t think Billy has any reason to lie about the condition of their relationship–as I said, he tends to give credit where credit is due.
Poor Singer, great Guitarist – I prefer James Iha to Billy Corgan pound-for-pound. Iha hasn’t let fame go to his head.
Iha doesn’t have fame.
Nice to see some positive insightful feedback from some users rather than the normal community of, “i dislike this, it sucks.”
As few pointed out, I think it is great that Iha revisited his roots a little bit. Since 2000 he left the Pumpkins and never looked back, not once. Though this could easily be seen as a promotional kind of stunt–it is still ballsy for him to do it. Whether it be him having to swallow his pride, omit to the fans request, or just showcase his past, or a plethora of other deeper issues. At a surface level it shouldn’t be a big deal, but looking at the last decades history of Iha, and especially the rollercoster of positive/negative comments Billy has expressed about his persona, I’m sure has had an effect of how he see’s the pumpkins in general (from both looking outside in and looking inside out).
From a fan of both artists and of the Pumpkins. I give kudos to James for a very nice nod to his past work… Especially his fans.
No real complaints about the fact he played the song. just complaints about the fact that he played it….very badly. The singing is borderline unlistenable at parts and the only good thing I can say about it is that its nice to see James achnowledge his Pumpkins history. Other than that, dreadful. I think I like The Acedmy Is… version better.
billy isn’t always bob on with the old singing
there was a version of i think it was Rocket on like MTV where it sounded like an angry cat was having a right old go at his bollox
I actually liked Ihas version… Its rad of him to play it. Since it is one of the total gems he co-wrote.
You guys are so dorky going on about this one live song by a former band member, why don’t you listen some current bands like kings of leon or radiohead?
@sallymay
Factoring out Billy letting fame go to his head, Billy is a better singer and guitarist than James hands down. The only thing Iha has going for him is he works well with others, as long as they’re not Billy.
That is so fucking shit.
ugh horrible singing.
i love it
and i would reeeaallly love to hear both Billy and James’ opinions on this
@Hey hey radiohead is not current at all, just saying.
@Dan Angell Point taken. But James Iha is at best flat and uninteresting or at worst off key and unlistenable *all* the time. Unless he auto-tunes everything.
He’s obviously not a professional singer (and many fantastic “alt rock” artists are NOT), but it’s far from unlistenable in my opinion – in fact I like it and think his voice is quite appropriate and dare I say touching for the arrangement (although those off-key moments are a little jarring).
And this auto-tune claim is an exaggeration. LTTS doesn’t really have enough crooning on his part to really notice it like you can on a gwen stafani album or something. There is a shit ton of compression though, I liked his voice on LICD much better.
Neglected to mention how the ‘When he could, he did!’ title is chuckle-inducing. Good job.
So James plays a song from the band he played in for 12 years and he gets all this shit? Come on guys, that’s just sad. You can argue about his contributions to the band in the past, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play any of the songs. Although I must say that he could put a little more emotion into the delivery of this song…
His fans are most likely Pumpkins fans, they most likely like the song, why not play it? No big deal.
@jameson – true. and come to think of it neither are kings of Leon. formerly a bunch of very hairy looking 12-year olds who cut said hair and got a bit lucky in 2010
This is the first comment I’ve ever left, but I feel compelled. I met and talked to Billy at the airport the next morning after their concert in Seoul in 2000. He was kind and pleasant to me for at least ten minutes; James could not have cared less; even when Billy reminded him of the flight and gate, he just didn’t seem to care. Jimmy was pleasant; Melissa cheerful, but James was even mocking the really excited crowd the night before (when he yelled back at them) as they screamed when they recognized some of the songs. I know Billy has suggested James was fairly complacent when it came to “contributing.” And after seeing this lackluster not-ready-for-high-school-talent-show-night vocal to a song he supposedly co-wrote (I remember the short chord progression Billy played on the “If All Goes Wrong” DVD attributed to Iha), it seems somewhat ironic that he is even in Korea trying to support an album first released in the Iha-friendly environment of Japan. I wish the Koreans now had seen the Iha I saw a few years ago; there might not have been a cell phone there to record it. Which now that I’ve seen the thing … .
PS: Billy told me he would return to Korea someday; I guess he does try to follow through.
@jack, go listen again to LttS. There is pitch correction everywhere, amongst all that very heavy and yes, noticable compression. It has more compression on the vocal track than any other album I’ve ever listened to. Auto-tune/pitch correction is not always used as a stand-out vocal FX, but you can feel its presence, especially on a wavering breathy vocal like Iha’s. It’s there to tidy up… But his vocals are too big a mess. And I agree that the vocals were much better on LiCD. I think he was at his best sounding for the MCIS sessions (my personal favourite being “The Bells”). He was actively writing a lot of music, and had a much more dynamic range in his vocal. Unfortunately, I’m yet to hear a good live vocal of Iha’s. I’ve heard a couple OK efforts, and a lot of bad, but nothing worth applauding, ever.
All this discussion about whether or not James has the right to play this song doesn’t concern me at all…in a live setting, you can play whatever song you want. What I can’t figure out (he seems to be a man of few words & often that is the best decision) is what his intention was in choosing to play Mayo. Because of his distance and estrangement with SP, the fact that he’d suddenly bust out this song is confusing–it could easily mean so many things, up and down the entire spectrum of motive.
* Is the intent neutral? Did he, in fact, just think it would be fun to bring this song out, and that’s as far as the thought process went? Not at all being a conspiracy theorist but it just seems there has to be more than this.
* Is the intent positive? Is this him finally saying, OK, fine, SP was a big part of his life and enough time has gone by that he’s comfortable with that & willing to do a cover every so often?
* Is it even so positive that this could be a humble way of opening the door to mending some bad blood? Is it naive to wonder this? If there’s even a slight chance that this is his way of saying, “Hey, you know what, we made some great music in that old band, and I actually don’t disown it, after all”…and it’s some sort of peace-making/mending attempt, then that would be incredible.
* Is this a negative thing? Corgan has gone out of his way in interviews to point out that, even though James wrote portions of this song, that if was Billy who brought it to complete fruition. In the age of the internet/YouTube/Twitter/blogs, James has to know Billy is gonna hear about this. So did he play this song just to get under Billy’s skin? At best, to annoy him, and at worst, to send him on some Twittering frenzy?
* Is it a negative thing as far as just very simply, “Hey, I wrote the riff to this song, I’ll f___ing play it if I want, period”, and that’s it?
—Another thing I can’t figure out–it’s hard to tell without having seen the rest of the set at this festival… Does it look like James has some kind of intense scowl or frown on his face during much of his singing of this song? It’s hard to say, because he has sunglasses in his pocket, so it could easily just be the sun in his eyes. But he has a facial expression that seem like it could either be that he’s feeling intense emotion/meaning, or that he’s defiantly singing it, or that he’s actually disgusted to be singing it. Or that it’s no big deal and it’s just really bright outside.
There’s such a dual possibility in performing this song, that it could easily either be swallowing one’s pride, or being completely defiant. Wide spectrum there.
You can argue all day long about how much involvement James had in writing this song. But ultimately, I think the fact that, out of the whole SP catalog, he picked one of the tunes that, to whatever degree, James Iha *AND* Billy Corgan had a hand in, is indicative of something. And it seems like it could either be extremely positive, or completely negative.
@gsmamz
You forgot the possibility that he was just playing it because most of the crowd would be relatively unfamiliar with him or his catalog, so mayo might be his way of letting them know who he is :p
I was there. @gsmamz , James’ ‘intense scowl’ is due to the heat. it was FUCKING HOT. In fact, the only words he said besides thank you, were ‘its so hot…and bright…why..?’ in the usual deadpan iha manner. You could tell he was uncomfortable.
i like this version of mayonaise. The outro is pretty cool. The setlist was mainly from LttS. He opened with Be Strong Now. I’m pretty sure he played 1 or 2 covers of something..they didnt sound like Iha songs..if anyone has the setlist id love to know what those covers were..
I was a bit disappointed he didnt play any of his SP songs like blew away and take me down.
anyway, i wonder how the fuji set went…
Also, i dont get all this iha hate. The guys done nothing wrong as far as we know since the breakup. He’s said nothing derogatory to the press, where as Billy has called him a piece of shit. So the guy doesn’t want to be part of SP any more, so what. It’s his choice. For all we know there could be many reasons why he doesn’t want to be part of SP anymore, and perhaps he is trying to take the high road by not ratting on past band members to explain why.
I have a feeling billy’s ill feelings towards him now are probably due to iha wanting a slice of the reissue profits. If so, he is entitled to it. To what %, that’s a different story.
@gsmamz, and to any of the potential “I’m embracing my past” motives, why not choose a song from the Pumpkins that better represented his past? I think a lot of people are hovering around that sort of comment. It just seems peculiar.
I was there and it was quite a touching moment for me. I’m sure James just wanted to play good old songs…He also covered Patty Smith and David Bowie. SP will play in Korea on August 14 and I will ask Billy to play and sing Blew Away! Fair enough?
Seems like James is trying to take credit for mayonaise. I think this has long been part of the fued between Billy and James. Mayonaise is one of the most beloved songs in the Pumpkins catalogue, and many think James played a big part in writing it, but Billy claims he wrote most of the song. By choosing to play that particular song, James is possibly trying to claim it as his own. Possibly even motivated by the Rolling Stone poll that ranked it the #1 Pumpkins album ever, or maybe from that scene in the “if all goes wrong” documentary when Billy complained that too many people think James wrote Mayonaise. In any case, choosing that song is a controversy-attracting move by James. But he is listed as co-writer of the song, and likely did write part of it, so he has the right to claim it if he wants to.
I don’t mind him doing it if he’s making peace with his Pumpkins past. Or maybe he’s trying to piss off Billy. Who knows?
@Robert Koh / boranm / etc.
Can anyone who was at the Korea show verify if the setlist was the same as Fuji Rock’s?
http://www.spfc.org/tours/date.html?tour_id=1578
Also, as a side note, I think it’s possible- even likely- that James hasn’t even seen “If All Goes Wrong.” Just a thought.
yeh pretty much the same i think
I think this proves once and for all who did most of the writing of Mayo. James can’t even sing it in key.
@gsmazs= what a love :)…we have all been guilty of talking bad about others….but most important is that we learn from our mistakes….and we should keep learning until the day we die.
Nothing but beautiful blessings, xoxoxoxoxoxox
If you listen to James song “Appetite” which is pretty obviously about BC, that might give you an idea about why he performed this song.
[...] Somewhat lost amid all the news and media appearances surrounding the Oceania release and tour was the reissue of Pisces Iscariot. We still don’t quite do justice to the criminally underappreciated b-sides collection, but we do talk a little about the bonus material, the joys of Topspin Media, and even James Iha’s surprising cover. [...]
Wow. That was…difficult to listen to……to say the least.