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The Smashing Pumpkins are on a 20th anniversary tour and are playing two night shows in selected cities with each show having different setlists. Toronto happens to be one of those cities and last night was the first of two shows that they were playing at Massey Hall. This two-and-half hour show was filled with surprises, loud rocking tunes, classic hits, new hits, jamming sessions, covers and an acoustic set.

The night started off with drummer and original member Jimmy Chamberlin playing his drums alone on stage for a couple of minutes. He was then joined by new bassist Ginger Reyes and new guitarist Jeff Schroeder. They were then followed by lead singer Billy Corgan, who was wearing this weird ensemble consisting of a giant shiny head piece. Following their opening act of a cover of the Searchers’ Everybody Come Clap, Billy Corgan then lifted his arms in the air and two people dressed in black with a white mask came and undressed Billy, exposing a white long-sleeve t-shirt with the classic Zero & star logo on it. He wore that with the bottom half (which was a long skirt/dress) for the entire show.

During their opening song they had an amazing lighting effect that only got better as the show went along. I’ve always believed that the lighting during a show is equally important to the show as it adds to the experience and last night’s was amazing.

Following their great opening they launched into a trio of songs that kind of represents them in the past 20 years, the new meeting the old. The three songs were last year’s comeback single Tarantula, newly released single G.L.O.W. and their first ever single Siva off their debut album Gish. They then stepped it up a notch and busted out classic hits like Mayonaise and Tonight, Tonight which had the assistance from the sold out crowd at Massey Hall.

They then threw some a curve ball by playing a couple of B-Sides, Speed Kills & Transformer, which was then followed up by Superchrist and United States. Billy teased the crowd by playing some of the Star Spangled Banner, which he normally does during United States. That concluded the first act of the show and the crew set the stage up for a mini acoustic set.

Before they started the acoustic set Billy Corgan took the time to introduce everyone on stage which included the new members of the band, the guys playing the trumpet, the violinist, the keyboardist and getting the loudest reception was drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. During the second act the crowd sat back and enjoyed an incredible set of acoustic tunes that included Once Upon A Time, Again, Again, Again (The Crux) and The Rose March.

While the stage crew cleaned up the stage and got it prepared for the third and final act, Billy Corgan told the crowd to sit back and relive the memories. That was a perfect way to start the third act because he then roared into the 1993 hit Today, which was then followed up with the 1995 hit Bullet With Butterfly Wings off the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

During the Heavy Metal Machine the band teased the crowd by playing bits of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit and Rush’s hits Tom Sawyer & YYZ which made the crowd go insane! They ended their set with a lengthy and jamming rendition of Pink Floyd’s Set The Controls which was truly amazing. Seeing Billy Corgan play the guitar with his teeth, the speaker and the mic stand was great and was an awesome way to end their set.

I was a bit worried when the band walked off stage and the stage crew came on, thinking ‘oh no the show can’t be over.’ And thankfully it wasn’t. The band emerged from the side of the stage and all nine of them lined up and starting singing We Only Come Out At Night. It was great because there were no instruments and them just singing. And finally they sang their own version of Ray Stevens’ Everyone Is Beautiful by telling the crowd that they’ve been the best, most beautiful crowd they ever played.

This was my second time seeing the Pumpkins and it was an amazing show. This might have even been the best concert I’ve ever been to. If you were there let me know what you thought of the show.

Setlist:
Roctopus
Everybody Come Clap
Tarantula
G.L.O.W.
Siva
Mayonaise
Tonight, Tonight
Speed Kills
Transformer
Superchrist
United States
Once Upon A Time
Again, Again, Again (The Crux)
The Rose March
Today
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
The Beginning Is The End
Heavy Metal Machine
Glass
Set The Controls

Encore:
We Only Come Out At Night
Everything Is Beautiful

Links:
Official Site: Smashing Pumpkins
MySpace: Smashing Pumpkins

Posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 4:43 pm by Alberto and is filed under Concerts & Events.

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