I was kind of hoping to see the LMG designed, projection mapped space orb with the art and graphics created by Sean Evans (Roger Waters’ The Wall), but the Smashing Pumpkins scrapped that along with playing Oceania in its entirety for this leg of the world tour. The new set up isn’t quite as magnificent, but the pyramid-like projection wall behind the band did its job to support the music.
The Pumpkins came out swinging with a gut-punching metal fest. “Zero,” a heavy, riffed-out version of “Starz,” and “Rhinoceros,” followed the opener, “Where Boys Fear to Tread.” “WBFTT” was very similar to the Mellon Collie tour version with a searing heavy metal intro:
A huge surprise as Billy dusted of “Rocket” for the Melbourne appearance:
The heaviness continued with fan favorite, “XYU”
Mainstream classics like “Tonight, Tonight” and “Disarm” were even given the heavy treatment. An Oceania suite or chunk of songs replaced playing the full album beginning with the title track:
One of the better new songs in concert proved to be “The Chimera” with an uptempo and dueling buzzsaw guitars:
Another fan favorite and Mellon Collie deep track, “Porcelina of the Vast Oceans” closed out the night. It’s also a fan favorite for the Pumpkins to end on a soaring epic rather than a shorter, more popular song like “Today.” “Porcelina” is a newer setlist addition to this incarnation of the Pumpkins. If I’m not mistaken it didn’t appear until their SXSW appearance.
The mighty SP was super tight, fiercely loud, and heavy. Despite the ferociousness of the music, the band was lighthearted and giddy. Billy seems happy and unlike the past, the band is actually happy to be there too. The positivity is apparent in the music. When once shows were fueled by quarrels or Billy taking over the show himself, it now seems more like a band working together toward the same goal.
Private VIP Pre-Concert
They are doing these killer, uber-intimate pre-shows for those who can spare the change. I cannot. They busted out this sweet baby from Machina II (God I hope there is a reissue for that).
“Dross”