The band delivered an exceptional set showcasing selections from their rock opera ATUM and classics from their iconic catalog.
There is a distinct, enduring quality that characterizes a band like the Smashing Pumpkins. With a catalog that boasts generational anthems, essentials among the soundtrack of alternative culture, it’s easy to get lost in the romantic nostalgia synonymous with those songs.
Yet for as integral as Smashing Pumpkins have been to the last three decades of rock culture, the band is still highly regarded as contemporaries in the modern era.
That was apparent as the band held court at The FIvepoint Amphitheater for the Southern California stop of the North American leg of their World Is A Vampire Tour. Compiling a set that reached as far back as thirty years ago with selections from 1993’s Siamese Dream, paired with offerings from the band’a expansive 2023 rock opera, ATUM, The Smashing Pumpkins asserted their brand is one predicated on timelessness.
The inimitable combination of Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin form the kind of creative core that rarely comes along, if ever, working in lockstep with the kind of performative prowess that clearly underscores their tenure and congruence.
Delivering a comprehensive set that touched on each era of the band’s career, The Pumpkins set bar from the very start with a wholly convincing rendition of “The Everlasting Gaze” and never eased up. Commanding the capacity crowd, literal generations of fans, the Smashing Pumpkins orchestrated a masterful ebb and flow of energy with selections from the modern era in Cyr and Oceania to the staples of Adore and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
Punctuating their set with beloved anthems like “1979”, “Cherub Rock” and the alt rock requisite in “Zero”, the Pumpkins lead an amphitheater of passionate believers singing in exultation of emptiness, loneliness, cleanliness and godliness into the hot August night.
More than three decades in and The Smashing Pumpkins still slap.
See the full gallery of images from The World Is A Vampire Tour from Maurice Nunez below.
SMASHING PUMPKINS
Check the remaining North American dates of The World Is A Vampire Tour below.
Tickets are available – HERE
THE WORLD IS A VAMPIRE – NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
07/28 – The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan – Las Vegas, NV
07/30 – The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan – Las Vegas, NV
08/01 – USANA Amphitheatre – Salt Lake City, UT*
08/03 – Shoreline Amphitheatre – Mountain View, CA*
08/05 – White River Amphitheatre – Auburn, WA*
08/06 – Hayden Homes Amphitheater – Bend, OR*
08/07 – Toyota Amphitheatre – Wheatland, CA*
08/09 – FivePoint Amphitheatre – Irvine, CA*
08/10 – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – Chula Vista, CA*
08/11 – Yaamava’ Resort & Casino – Highland, CA**
08/13 – Isleta Amphitheater – Albuquerque, NM^
08/15 – Dos Equis Pavillion – Dallas, TX^
08/16 – Walmart AMP – Rogers, AR^
08/17 – The Orion Amphitheater – Huntsville, AL^
08/19 – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre – West Palm Beach, FL^
08/20 – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL^
08/22 – PNC Music Pavilion – Charlotte, NC^
08/24 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ^
08/25 – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion – Gilford, NH^
08/30 – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY^
08/31 – Jiffy Lube Live – Bristow, VA^
09/02 – Budweiser Stage – Toronto, ON^
09/03 – Canadian Tire Centre – Ottawa, ON^
09/05 – PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH
09/06 – Pine Knob Music Theatre – Clarkston, MI^^
09/08 – FirstBank Amphitheater – Franklin, TN^
09/09 – Ruoff Music Center – Noblesville, IN^
^ w/ Interpol & Rival Sons
* w/ Stone Temple Pilots & Rival Sons
**w/ Stone Temple Pilots
^^ w/ Interpol
