Smashing Pumpkins

On their previous visit to these shores, on what was apparently the last stand of the Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan and company alienated a lot of fans by delivering a series of shows which were self indulgent in the extreme. It felt, almost, as if business was deliberately left unfinished. The band's notoriously hardcore fan base had hoped for a reunion throughout the seven years since those less than well received performances, and tonight, the band returned to give the devoted exactly what they wanted.

Opening with a new number is always a risky move, but the drawn out, droning take on 'United States' was simply awesome. Reminiscent of the very best of the Pumpkins' work, and with the added edge of Corgan's habit of meandering off into a breathtaking solo, before bringing the whole piece crashing down, this fifteen minute epic opened the show perfectly, and truly showed that The Smashing Pumpkins were back in business.

The rest of the new material sounded just as good as the opening number, with the single, 'Tarantula', coming across with particular vitriol, whilst 'Doomsday Clock' and 'Bleeding The Orchid' seemed set up to deliberately clash, with the crushing brilliance of the former contrasting wonderfully with the pure, distraught beauty of the latter.

Of course, without the old favourites it would not have been a Smashing Pumpkins show in anything but name, and the fan favourites were rolled out in abundance. 'Tonight, Tonight' and 'Disarm' were both enchanting in their power and passion, whilst the new, slightly twisted take on 'Heavy Metal Machine' was simply breathtaking. Given that their 'Machina' album was berated so heavily, it may come as a surprise that 'Stand Inside Your Love' was received so well by the masses, but it truly is an exemplary piece of songwriting which has the power to move in ways that few modern rock songs can even come close to matching. The bona fide stadium rock singalong was, however, saved for 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' - maybe the irony was lost on the less than sober Leeds crowd.

Given that Corgan and Chamberlain are the sole surviving original members of the Smashing Pumpkins, credit must be given to Ginger Reyes and Jeff Schroeder for more than holding their own. Being thrust into the limelight from a place of relative obscurity can never be easy, but these two have managed it without issue, and there is no doubt that it is The Smashing Pumpkins up there, and not just Corgan karaoke, as many had expected. And that's the odd thing about Corgan's various guises. They never, ever sound the same. If he had tried to drop in a solo track, or even a Zwan track tonight, it simply would not have worked, despite the fact that the latter shared as many original members of the Pumpkins as were onstage tonight. Billy Corgan may be The Smashing Pumpkins, but The Smashing Pumpkins are more than Billy Corgan. Lets just hope they don't go away again too soon.

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