It did remind me of the time I had an advance copy of Machina/The Machines of God and was playing it at Kamehachi prior to its release.** I had just gotten it and was eager to hear it for the first time and when I was managing the upstairs there, I'd set up a rule that after 10 p.m. we cold play "heavier" music for the late-night crowd.
I was really getting into the album when one of the servers rushed back to the bar, exclaiming, "One of the customers is complaining about the music!"
I said, "Tell them we play louder music after 10, but I can turn it down a bit if it's really a problem."
"But the customer is D'Arcy!" said the server.
I turned off the album immediately.
D'Arcy was always a terrific customer, and I truly liked her so had no interest in torturing her, and felt incredibly bad I'd caused her any discomfort after her exit from the Pumpkins. But I still maintain that Machina, had it been released in its full double- or triple-album version back in 2000, would have gone a long way to cementing Corgan's latter-era Pumpkins as a continuing force to be reckoned with, instead of a coda that felt like a missed brass ring upon its release.
*That's not a typo, there's no "n" in "Editio" when it's spelled by Billy Corgan, I guess.
**Ah, my days in restaurant management. What a gathering of conflicted feelings and memories...
