Recently, The Smashing Pumpkins gave live debuts to three songs off of their twelfth studio album, Atum A Rock Opera in Three Acts at UK Show in Birmingham’s Utilita Arena. On Friday, the band kicked off their tour with Weezer, where both bands played their setlists that included a mix of classics, live debuts and covers. For the Smashing Pumpkins, the live debuts of “That Which Animates The Spirit”, “Springtimes” and “Birch Grove”, were also joined by the return performances of “Thru The Eyes of Ruby”, Panopticon” and “Gossamer”, since their last performances in 2013 and 2015 respectively. This was also the first Pumpkins gig that included new guitarist Kiki Wong, who was selected after they put out a call to replace longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder.

In article from Stereogum, it has also been reported the Pumpkins kicked off their tour with a cover of U2’s 1991 song “Zoo Station”. Frontman Billy Corgan has gone on to say that he doesn’t want to play exclusively fan favorites at their shows.

“I Don’t play any song I don’t want to play. I don’t care if they’re classic or not. If I don’t want to play it, I don’t play it. I don’t put that on the audience like, ‘Well, I’ve got to play this one for you,’ I think that’s kind of cheese.”

He goes on to explain that he would rather incorporate some of the lesser-known tracks into their performances, hoping that will both give long time listeners a chance to hear rarely performed tracks and give newcomers a chance to dive deep into their discography.

Corgan continues to explain adding “five, six, seven other songs, and you find yourself going, ‘I don’t know this one,’ so you look up one, and go, ‘Oh, that was a deep cut from 1996 . . . I’m not talking about causing confusion. I’m talking about having the person be curious about that.”

Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried