Smashing Pumpkins

Smashing Pumpkins, Jane’s Addiction Stage Spirited Show at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Tuesday, October 11, 2022

 

State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta played host Tuesday night to the latest stop on the Smashing Pumpkins‘ Spirit on Fire tour with supporting acts Poppy and Jane’s Addiction. With a posted concert capacity of 21,000, the State Farm Arena also serves as the home venue for the Atlanta Hawks NBA team, is adjacent to the CNN Atlanta headquarters, and was uniquely architected with large angled steel columns along the building’s exterior that spells out the word “ATLANTA.”

Entertaining the early concert attendees was 27-year-old singer/songwriter Poppy, who for those keeping score at home wasn’t even born at the time the Smashing Pumpkins released their second (and arguably best) studio album, Siamese Dream (1993). Disappointingly the Atlanta media was not permitted to cover Poppy’s set. However, it is also worth highlighting that Poppy’s song “BLOODMONEY” from her 2020 album I Disagree received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2021. Hopefully she will come back around at a future date so I can witness her unique vibe live!

 

Poppy
Poppy – Vocals
Ted Gowans – Guitar
Matt McJunkins – Bass
Ralph Alexander – Drums

 

 

Setlist:
1.) Lessen the Damage
2.) Breeders
3.) Flux
4.) BLOODMONEY
5.) Pocket
6.) Her
7.) FYB
8.) I Disagree

 

With the arena quickly filling up with fans, the venue darkened at approximately 7:45pm with the stage lights slowly pulsating for the imminent appearance of Jane’s Addiction. Billed as the first tour in over a decade that would feature all four original members, sadly it was recently reported that guitarist Dave Navarro would have to sit out due to complications suffered from long COVID and would be replaced by the more-than-capable Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age).

Jane’s Addiction wasted no time getting to it, reaching down into their early catalog by kicking off their set with “Up the Beach,” the first track off their 1988 debut studio album, Nothing’s Shocking (video below). Iconic frontman Perry Farrell still oozes rock star coolness at 63-years-old, but at times he was seemingly adjusting his singing style to accommodate certain songs. This was most notable for me during their hit “Jane Says” where Farrell seemed to stay more monotoned in delivery and ballad-y.

Jane’s entire 10-song set generally focused on fan favorites, with the crowd being driven into a jumping frenzy as the recognizable bass chords launched the band into the expected “Mountain Song.” Their set concluded with the ever-popular, chart-topping tune “Stop!” from their 1990 album, Ritual de lo Habitual.

Between their darkened mood lighting, Farrell’s random banter with the crowd, and the three marginally-covered burlesque dancers as background “entertainment”, Jane’s performance could be described as the visualization of a drug trip (not that I would know) – but they sounded good, even if they were missing Navarro’s distinctive sound and stage presence.

 

Jane’s Addiction
Perry Farrell – Lead vocals/guitar/programming/keyboards/piano
Eric Avery – Bass/acoustic guitar
Dave Navarro – Guitar/acoustic guitar/keyboards/piano
Stephen Perkins – Drums/percussion/steel pan

Touring member
Troy Van Leeuwen – Guitar

 

 

Setlist:
1.) Up the Beach
2.) 
3.) 1%
4.) Ain’t No Right
5.) Three Days
6.) Jane Says
7.) Been Caught Stealing
8.) Mountain Song
9.) Ted, Just Admit It…
10.) Stop!

 

Shortly after 9:00pm, the Smashing Pumpkins took the stage to a roaring near-capacity crowd. Out on the road promoting the awareness of their recently announced new album Atum (pronounced “autumn”), founding frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan started the band’s night off with “Empires,” a track off the aforementioned pending April 2023 release. Atum has been billed as a 33-song rock opera broken into three acts, with each act being released every 11 weeks starting on Tuesday, November 15th.

With Corgan backed by fellow founding members James Iha (guitar) and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the Smashing Pumpkins were rounded out by Jeff Schroeder (guitar), Jack Bates (bass), and Katie Cole (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals) as they embarked on a 2-hour, 20-song musical journey (setlist posted below) for their Atlanta fans.

Now I will readily admit that I am more of a casual, “radio hit”-type Pumpkins fan, but there was something for everyone on Tuesday night. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to live performances of songs such as “1979,” “Today,” “Tonight, Tonight,” “Cherub Rock”, and of course “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” which has one of the best lyrical lines that helped to punctuate the feeling many of us recent college graduates had back in 1995 – “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.”

As if to bookend the evening, Corgan and team ended the night performing three new songs within their final five, including “Beguiled,” “Neophyte,” and “Harmageddon.” If these new tracks are any indication of what is to come within the entirety of Atum, that multi-act compilation will only continue to help solidify Grammy-winning Corgan as one of the best songwriters of the past few decades.

The Spirits on Fire tour continues on to Uncasville, CT on Thursday, October 13th, with the tour wrapping up on Saturday, November 19th at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.

 

The Smashing Pumpkins
Billy Corgan – Lead vocals/guitar/keyboards/bass
James Iha – Guitar/bass/vocals
Jimmy Chamberlin – Drums
Jeff Schroeder – Guitar, keyboards

Touring Members
Jack Bates – Bass
Katie Cole – Keyboards/guitar/backing vocals

 

 

 

Setlist:
1.) Empires
2.) Bullet With Butterfly Wings
3.) Today
4.) We Only Come Out at Night
5.) Cyr
6.) Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads cover)
7.) Solara
8.) Eye
9.) Ava Adore
10.) Tonight, Tonight
11.) Stand Inside Your Love
12.) I of the Mourning
13.) Cherub Rock
14.) Zero
15.) 1979
16.) Beguiled
17.) Silverfuck
18.) Neophyte
19.) Disarm
20.) Harmageddon

 

 

 

 

 

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