I\u2019m sorry to remind you of this, but the year 1995 \u2014 and the release of alt-rock stars The Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 diamond-certified double album, \u201cMellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness\u201d \u2014 was 31 years ago.<\/p>\n
The upside to that \u201cwe\u2019re all getting old\u201d feeling is that the band is celebrating more than three decades of the album that cemented their place in rock history with their The Rats In A Cage Tour, named for a lyric from the album\u2019s hit track \u201cBullet With Butterfly Wings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three intervening decades since the release of \u201cMellon Collie,\u201d their third studio album, have been tumultuous for the band, but they have continued to steadily release music in the past decade and a half. They\u2019ve also visited Pittsburgh plenty, most recently playing with fellow \u201990s alt radio veterans Green Day at PNC Park in 2024.<\/p>\n
At their Tuesday night show at PPG Paints Arena, the band set out on an ambitious double set, first performing about half of the songs from \u201cMellon Collie\u201d and then bringing out another 75 minutes of deep cuts and fan favorites from throughout their discography.<\/p>\n
They kicked off in maybe the most surprising way possible, with their two biggest hits back-to-back. In comparison to many of their heavy songs, \u201c1979\u201d \u2014 their highest-charting tune \u2014 was pretty quiet and poignant, but it also makes sense as the opener for a tour that is essentially celebrating nostalgia.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the second song was \u201cBullet With Butterfly Wings,\u201d a barely restrained rocker that found lead singer Billy Corgan straining his unique voice with rage-filled screams towards its end.<\/p>\n
In total, Tuesday night\u2019s crowd got to hear 16 of the original album\u2019s 28 songs in that first set. They included deep cuts like the dreamy and expansive \u201cPorcelina of the Vast Oceans,\u201d which ebbed and flowed for almost 10 minutes under blue-green lights, and \u201cBy Starlight,\u201d which made Corgan\u2019s occasionally grating voice pretty and lilting while thousands of cell phone flashlights twinkled to life.<\/p>\n
Corgan paused to thank everyone for coming out, and then said, \u201cTime to tell some jokes. Where does a penguin keep his money? In a snow bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
After playing the airy, mid-tempo \u201cGalapogos,\u201d he paused to say, \u201cI forgot when I told that joke that the Penguins play here, so I mean no disrespect. I\u2019ve got more dad jokes if you want them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the midst of the set, they brought out another of their \u201cMellon Collie\u201d hits, \u201cTonight, Tonight.\u201d Everything about the song felt sweeping and epic, from the rolling drums to the urgent guitar and Corgan\u2019s gliding voice. They also played \u201cZero,\u201d a dark and guitar-driven tune that embodies the emotions that Corgan said the record was written to express.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe album dealt with alienation and disassociation and depression and rage,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
They wrapped up the first set with the instrumental title track to the album, then went off as the stage was reconfigured.<\/p>\n
The second set was packed with deep cuts, starting with the plodding and lengthy \u201cSojourner,\u201d which felt spacey and vibey under purple-blue lights. There were 14 songs in total, pulling highlights like \u201cEdin\u201d and \u201cWar Dreams of Itself\u201d from their 2024 release \u201cAghori Mhori Mei.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another highlight was incendiary \u201cAs Rome Burns,\u201d which had the whole band playing at the top of their game but especially showed off the skills of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.<\/p>\n
There were hits in that second half, too. Corgan sounded plaintive through the sincere tune \u201cDisarm,\u201d maybe his best vocal performance of the night. They followed that with the industrial, wonky \u201cAva Adore\u201d with pulsing red lights. Then there was \u201cToday,\u201d the cheerful, bright tune that got the audience singing loud enough to be heard over the deafening guitar, and finally \u201cCherub Rock,\u201d which made the fans even louder as they shouted \u201cLet me out\u201d over and over.<\/p>\n
They finished riding the marathon-long roller coaster of the setlist with quiet, contemplative \u201cJesus is the Sun,\u201d then thrasher \u201cThe Everlasting Gaze\u201d and finally the full-on instrumental jam \u201cSuperchrist,\u201d with all of the band members flaunting their talents in cheer-inducing solos.<\/p>\n
After 31 years, 30 songs and nearly three hours, The Smashing Pumpkins still seemed to be having a great time \u2014 despite the depressing album that sparked this tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m sorry to remind you of this, but the year 1995 \u2014 and the release of alt-rock stars…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-301560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}