Whatever you make of him, Billy Corgan can’t be accused of not knowing his audience.
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman was a linchpin of the three-show travelling Good Things Festival, which wrapped up Sunday, December 8th at a baking hot RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane.
In his bag of tricks, Corgan and his backing band, homegrown group The Delta Riggs, dished up a slew of Pumpkins classics, solo numbers, and two songs from the great Australian songbook: INXS’s ‘Don’t Change’ and Bee Gees’ ‘To Love Somebody.’
Corgan and Co. delivered a bluesy version of the Gibb Brothers’ late 1960s standard, giving the assembled hard rock and metal aficionados in the audience a little more than they expected.
The Chicago native has covered the song on numerous occasions, including a live performance on the streets of Milan back in 2005, video for which can be found on YouTube, and with Robert Smith of The Cure for Corgan’s debut solo album TheFutureEmbrace, from the same year.
The Bee Gees has a strong Australian connection. Though born in Britain, the Gibbs relocated to Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, in 1952 where lads started their musical career — initially performing during breaks in the action at speedways. The rest is musical history.
As legend has it, Barry and his mother signed the group’s music contract with speedway promoter Bill Goode and radio announcer Bill Gates – the BGs in the Bee Gees — on the family’s kitchen table in Redcliffe.
The disco kings — Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb — were inducted into the ARIA and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame in 1997.
Performing on Good Things’ stage 3, and overlapping with headliner Korn, Corgan hit a setlist that included Pumpkins favourites “1979,” “Today” and “Tonight, Tonight” and others.
Early in his set on each date of the east coast fest, Corgan dropped INXS’s all-energy number from 1982, ‘Don’t Change.’
Ten years ago, another great American rock artist, Bruce Springsteen, covered the song on a tour of these parts.
Check out Tone Deaf’s exclusive photos from Good Things Festival 2024 at Sydney’s Centennial Park.
