{"id":480254,"date":"2026-10-29T10:28:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/480254\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T10:28:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:28:32","slug":"smashing-pumpkins-roar-through-rage-and-sorrow-at-the-moody-center-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/480254\/","title":{"rendered":"Smashing Pumpkins Roar Through Rage and Sorrow at the Moody Center\u00a0 \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Similar to the Beatles\u2019 self-titled white album, there\u2019s an endless debate about which songs from the Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 1995 magnum opus Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness are the best. There\u2019s plenty to choose from among its 28 tracks, so it was fascinating to witness which ones the band itself selected for its Rats in a Cage Tour, which served as the double album\u2019s 30th anniversary celebration and landed at the Moody Center on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interestingly, there was little regard for sequence among the two discs. The overwhelming majority \u2013 12 of 16 \u2013 was pulled from the record\u2019s first half, so it stands to reason that the choices were based less on ranking by quality and more so on what the Pumpkins might think best represent the album\u2019s narrative in this condensed format. Frontman Billy Corgan himself revealed the chief metric, proclaiming that SP is the \u201cbest sad band in the world\u201d and \u201csorrow is the family business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, the sibling of sorrow is anger, which provided balance throughout and rung true as opening track \u201c1979\u201d gave way to the full-throttle aggression of \u201cBullet With Butterfly Wings,\u201d where Corgan\u2019s scream resounded as ragefully (on the nose) as it did when he first unleashed it in his 20s. The down-tempo and meandering pair of \u201cCupid de Locke\u201d and \u201cPorcelina of the Vast Oceans\u201d followed, featuring the singer at his most contemplative as he sashayed across the stage sans guitar during the former.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"James Iha Credit: David Brendan Hall<\/p>\n

Outright fury followed with \u201cJellybelly\u201d and \u201cBodies,\u201d both counterweighted by \u201cGalapagos,\u201d acoustic ballad \u201cThirty-Three,\u201d and the bridge between anguish and aggression, \u201cTonight, Tonight,\u201d a teen angst anthem for the ages that incited one of night\u2019s most passionate singalongs. Crushing riffs from guitarist James Iha continued on \u201cHere Is No Why,\u201d which also showcased the fearsome beatdowns of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and bassist Jack Bates\u2019 relentlessly chugging rhythms, and concluded with one of Corgan\u2019s most searing solos.<\/p>\n

Only two more hits, \u201cZero\u201d and Muzzle,\u201d appeared in the first half, sandwiched between rarities: the starkly contrasting pair of \u201cTo Forgive\u201d and \u201cFuck You (An Ode to No One),\u201d and arresting takes on \u201cBy Starlight\u201d \u2013 a spotlight for touring guitarist Kiki Wong\u2019s resplendent piano skills \u2013 and Mellon Collie\u2019s instrumental title track. For those only in it for the hits, these might\u2019ve marked a disappointing end, but they were undoubtedly exquisite delights for the devout.<\/p>\n

\"\"Guitarist Kiki Wong was selected from 10,000 applicants to join The Smashing Pumpkins in 2024 Credit: David Brendan Hall<\/p>\n

After a 20-minute intermission, the Pumpkins returned with a mixed bag: 14 selections comprised of newer songs (\u201cEdin,\u201d \u201cPentagrams,\u201d and \u201cWar Dreams of Itself,\u201d from 2024\u2019s Aghori Mhori Mei, and the odd choice of \u201cBlack Stars,\u201d off the upcoming soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping), plus rarities and several hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latter group came primarily from 1993 sophomore breakthrough Siamese Dream, with \u201cCherub Rock\u201d serving as the most riveting reminder of the band\u2019s stature as rock royalty. Unsurprisingly, there was a mass exodus after that 28th song, but those fans made a grave mistake. They missed the colossal, mind-blowing drum solo from Chamberlin to round out show-closing instrumental cut \u201cSuperchrist,\u201d perhaps the most compelling cacophony of the evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Across the concert\u2019s nearly three hours, sadness may have been the driving factor, but rock-fueled catharsis proved the epic result. Consistent for nearly 40 years, it\u2019s unlikely that approach will ever let up. Long live the mighty Smashing Pumpkins.<\/p>\n

\"\"Billy Corgan Credit: David Brendan Hall<\/p>\n

A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Similar to the Beatles\u2019 self-titled white album, there\u2019s an endless debate about which songs from the Smashing Pumpkins\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,56487,1551,161942],"class_list":["post-480254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-billy-corgan","tag-feature","tag-the-smashing-pumpkins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}