Smashing Pumpkins + Jane's Addiction Kickoff Tour w/ Live Debuts

The Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction kicked off their Spirits On Fire tour yesterday (10/2/22) in Texas with some surprises, new material, and a stand-in guitarist.

Jane's Addiction found itself on this tour with an unusual lineup. Just days ago, founding Jane's guitarist Dave Navarro announced he would miss the North American tour due to struggles with long COVID.

The tattooed axe wielder first contracted coronavirus in December of last year and has been battling it ever since. The band has temporarily replaced him with Queens of the Stone Age / A Perfect Circle guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen.

"I am personally gutted as our original bass player has returned, Eric Avery," Navarro announced IG. "We wanted to bring you the original line up but that will have to wait until I am recovered."

The LA legends fronted by Perry Farrell delivered a tight set of just 11 songs from their first three studio albums. Noticeably missing was "Just Because" and "Superhero" from their fourth album Strays. Perhaps one or both of those tunes will enter the mix as the tour rolls on.

The Pumpkins performed twice as many songs and included a Talking Heads cover that's been a staple to their set. They also gave a lot of love to their newest project, the forthcoming ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (which we discussed last month).

"Neophyte" receiving its live debut in Texas.

The American Airlines Center show featured two live debuts off ATUM (pronounced autumn): "Harmageddon" and "Neophyte."

SP's set began with one of the first singles from ATUM, "Empires," establishing the band's commitment of using this tour as a way to support the 33-song triple album it will release next year.

But not everything was new music from Billy Corgan's troupe. Long time fans were treated to six tracks from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, including the hard-rocking "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Zero" as well as singalong favorites "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight," the latter of which Billy and guitarist James Iha performed acoustically. 


The top of The Pumpkins' set was noteworthy. Opening with a new song is a great way to set the tone, and to follow it with a smash hit, as they did with "...Butterfly Wings" is a solid one-two punch.

But then they doled out one of their most popular tunes of all, "Today," which lesser bands would have saved for the encore. Not these Chicagoans. 

To add a cherry on top, "Today" was followed by "We Only Come Out At Night," a Mellon Collie track the band only played 18 times in 1996, when the album dropped, and another 18 times in 2008 for their 20th Anniversary Tour. Hopefully that will stay in the epic set, time permitting.

Another tune that hadn't been heard live much recently was "I of the Mourning" from MACHINA/The Machines of God, a song the group hasn't rocked since 2013. It fits the current theme as ATUM is the final piece of the trilogy of sorts of Mellon Collie and MACHINA.

Jane's and the Pumpkins will be spending October and November touring together around the US and Canada, ending up at the Hollywood Bowl on 11/19/22. Tickets are available here.

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Last updated: 29 Mar 2024, 12:53 Etc/UTC