The Smashing Pumpkins’ Stunning Acoustic-Electric Evening

The Smashing Pumpkins at The Paramount Theatre (Photo: Jason Tang)

Billy Corgan took the stage Wednesday night at The Paramount Theatre armed with only an acoustic guitar and a visually stunning red backdrop. Opening with a relatively new number, “Cardinal Rule”, The Smashing Pumpkins‘ frontman performed a handful of songs solo before bringing out guitarist Jeff Schroeder. The duet then played a few numbers, including a beautiful David Bowie cover of “Space Oddity”. About a quarter of the way through the set, Corgan announced that they had reached the part of the show where they focused on a particular album (Siamese Dream), which he dubbed “The Siamese Suite”. At this point he brought out the rest of the band, which included drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, guitarist/bassist Katie Cole, and keyboardist Sierra Swan.

A continuation of the “In Plainsong Tour” from last year, the band’s 2+ hour acoustic-electric evening explored their deep catalog including crowd favorites (“Today”, “Disarm”, “1979”), covers (“Space Oddity”, Imbruglia‘s “Identify”, Hole‘s “Malibu”, The Stones‘ “Angie”), and just about everything in between. Corgan even managed to get some digs in on Pearl Jam (when he asked “Didn’t they do an unplugged thing once?”) and Hole (speaking about “Malibu” which he largely co-wrote) throughout the night.

Opening the night was another 90’s favorite, singer-songwriter Liz Phair, who hasn’t toured since 2010 but seemed quite at home, performing a mix of old and new songs during her 45 minute solo set.

Setlist:
Cardinal Rule
Stumbleine
Tonight, Tonight
The World’s Fair (Billy Corgan song)
Space Oddity (David Bowie cover)
Thirty-Three
Jesus, I / Mary Star of the Sea (Zwan cover)
Mayonaise
Soma
Rocket
Spaceboy
Today
Whir
Disarm
Sorrows (In Blue) (Billy Corgan song)
Eye
Saturnine
Identify (Natalie Imbruglia cover)
1979
Stand Inside Your Love
Pinwheels
Lily (My One and Only)
Malibu (Hole cover)
Spaniards

Encore:
Angie (The Rolling Stones cover)
Amarinthine