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THE SMASHING PUMPKINS SETLIST
walk-on into music: Atum The Everlasting Gaze PVRIS SETLIST GOOD ENEMY THE SMASHING PUMPKINS TOUR DATES
August 16 Springfield, IL Illinois State Fair*
August 17 Minneapolis, MN Target Field# August 18 Sioux City, IA Hard Rock Hotel & Casino* August 20 Waukee, IA Vibrant Music Hall^ August 21 Maryland Heights, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre* August 22 Cincinnati, OH Great American Ballpark# August 24 Milwaukee, WI American Family Field# August 27 Simpsonville, SC CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park* August 28 Atlanta, GA Truist Park# August 30 Nashville, TN GEODIS Park# September 1 Pittsburgh, PA PNC Park# September 2 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium# September 4 Detroit, MI Comerica Park# September 7 Denver, CO Coors Field# September 10 Southaven, MS BankPlus Amphitheater* September 11 Arlington, TX Globe Life Field# September 14 Inglewood, CA SoFi Stadium# September 18 Phoenix, AZ Chase Field# September 20 San Francisco, CA Oracle Park# September 21 Reno, NV Grand Theatre^ September 23 Seattle, WA T-Mobile Park# September 24 Airway Heights, WA BECU Live Outdoor Venue^ September 25 Portland, OR Providence Park# September 27 Las Vegas, NV BleauLive Theater* September 28 San Diego, CA Petco Park# November 1 Brasilia, Brazil Mané Garrincha Stadium November 3 São Paulo, Brazil Espaço Unimed November 5 Villa Crespo, Argentina Movistar Arena November 8-9 Huechuraba, Chile Fauna Primavera 2024 November 10 Cercado De Lima, Peru Estadio Nacional November 12 Quito, Ecuador Coliseo General Rumiñahui November 14 Bogotá, Colombia Movistar Arena November 16 Guácima, Costa Rica Parque Viva * = with PVRIS
#-= Green Day "Saviors Tour"
^ = with Glorious Sons
PVRIS TOUR DATES
Aug 16 Illinois State Fairgrounds Springfield, IL*
Aug 18 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City, IA* Aug 21 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis, MO* Aug 27 CCNB Amphitheatre Simpsonville, SC* Sep 10 BankPlus Amphitheater Southaven, MS* Sep 27 Fontainebleau Las Vegas, NV* *= with The Smashing Pumpkins
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“Wanna go for a ride?”--
The World is (still) a Vampire for longtime alternative rock legends, The Smashing Pumpkins, who brought their show to a near-capacity Starlight Theatre in Kansas City MO.
The band is sort-of on two tours at once-- headlining in some markets, while playing with Green Day, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas, mostly in stadiums, on other summer dates. For Kansas City, the acts played the metro within the same week; but at separate shows, which is actually preferred because this allows the fans to get closer up to their favorite band, than they would in a vast echoing ballpark.
The Pumpkins are on a bit of a resurgence, just releasing new album, “Aghori Mhori Mei,” a guitar-based record full of riffs with a bit of a throwback sound, which is the follow up to the spanning Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts.
Live, there are three of the classic four members (Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlain) and a heavy-lifting bassist in Jack Bates, whose father is the legendary Peter Hook from Joy Division/New Order.
They have a solid backing vocalist in Melbourne Australia native (and solo star in her own right), Katie Cole, who shined singing “Springtimes” and the recent addition of Kiki Wong, selected after a public open call garnered over 10,000 hopeful applicants (though she knew Corgan previous) who brings roaring additional guitar muscle.
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But first up were Massachusetts-formed alt-rock band PVRIS, now re-framed as more of a solo project for the lone official member, Lynn Gunn (though longtime member bassist Brian MacDonald still tours with the live version). They’ve been a name for over a decade now, returning with last July’s critically praised release, “Evergreen” (via Hopeless Records) and Lynn still rages with an inner fire (and is a little profane) when performing live.
The band actually hit the stage early, due to a last-minute call by the venue to begin the show early as weather reports indicated possible storms were headed east. After their impeccable timing with similar circumstances at the recent Melissa Etheridge/Jewel show here, we trust their decisions implicitly, but any unaware fans might have missed up to half of this opening set.
The setlist was mostly culled from songs played last year on their co-headlining tour with Poppy (which we caught live In Minneapolis) with a few exceptions like 2017’s “What’s Wrong” and the admittedly hypnotically funky “Nightmare” from 2019. The set would end with the self-empowering anthem from the new record, “Goddess” to deserved applause and cheers.
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The Smashing Pumpkins have been defining their generation’s brand of alternative rock since their Chicago beginnings in 1988, have sold over 30 million albums, and have a pair of GRAMMY® Awards and numerous other accolades to their name, and maybe most importantly, are still releasing quality relevant new music.
Their two-hour headlining set would primarily lean on two albums- the recent Atum and 1995’s breakthrough third and double-length album, 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which yielded multiple hit singles.
But it was 2000’s “The Everlasting Gaze” from Machina which got things started, with Corgan dressed in his Nosferatu-like black cossack one-piece robe with red buttons, and perhaps in resolute contrast, guitarist Iha to his left and wearing all white.
The stage setup left no real room for a backdrop or any set décor, with the space around and above being taken up by their massive light rigs, some that vertically burned bright behind them, just one almost singularly enough to light up the entire venue.
Fans that arrived slightly late might have thought they were at a different concert as the band struck up a voluminous cover of the opening track from U2’s landmark “Achtung, Baby” album, “Zoo Station” which extended into an early Chamberlain drum solo.
While Iha played mostly head down, his face covered by his dark hair, Corgan could be seen smiling often, sometimes in a playful mood- talking sports (mentioning the Chiefs, of course), kidding Iha about escaping the Midwest and its slingshot weather, and loosely strumming “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas (but not remembering the opening lyrics) ZZ Top’s “La Grange”, and Lenny Kravitz’ “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, to the band’s chagrin.
Like the new record (which no songs were played live from, oddly), the set was very guitar-heavy, especially towards the end with an epic live version of “Gossamer/Spaniards” that showcased Corgan’s guitar prowess.
This approach worked well for Iha as well and for new guitarist Wong- tattooed and dressed in take-no-prisoners lace-up leather, often shredding with a flying V and playing across from Corgan like she’d been in the band for years, instead of since her June 7th live debut.
Banter (except the above) was sparse between songs, as can be the case with Corgan / Iha, but also the impending storm clouds made sure the band stayed focused in working in their entire set, which they managed to do.
After Iha introduced the band members like a fight announcer, the double-punch of hits, “Cherub Rock” and “Zero” would end the evening with a final knockout- no encore needed or necessary, and the band strutting off in a mic drop finish. After thirty-six years, The Smashing Pumpkins can still take us all on a ride worth getting on board for.
(Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
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| JohnC ♥ johnc@weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com |
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