The melon collie Smashing Pumpkins & their infinite St. Louis fans

The Smashing Pumpkins made a tour stop in St. Louis on a beautiful August evening and showed the packed house that they’ve still got it. This is a band that has been innovating on what rock music can sound like for multiple decades, formed over 35 years ago by frontman Billy Corgan. When a band has been around that long, there is a lot of pressure to continue to sound good in a live setting; this is even more true when the band has such a distinctive sound as The Smashing Pumpkins do. That’s a lot of pressure on Billy’s vocal cords. I am happy to report that not only did they live up to their decades-long reputation, SP vastly exceeded it — as well as my expectations.

Opening the show at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater was Massachusetts pop rock band PVRIS, led by frontwoman Lynn Gunn. They put on a lively show as the seats of the amphitheater steadily filled. The band very successfully blended elements of electronic music with rock, all sewn together by Gunn’s voice, which seemed to effortlessly flex between militant punk and sweet-meets-sour crooner. The combo of electronic and rock both approached from a very punk angle were a perfect preset to The Smashing Pumpkins who, themselves, are known for their genre-bending sounds.

And man, did they sound amazing…

The Smashing Pumpkins took the stage after PVRIS and immediately dove into a hectic set. Flashing lights and the roar of the crowd as they sang along, contributing to the chaos as Billy and company wailed away. Billy’s voice still sounded exactly the way you want it to — nasally and desperate and perfect.

Halfway through the show, the band’s versatility was really put to the test when technical difficulties with the audio equipment led to a few minutes of banter followed by an a capella cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”. The Smashing Pumpkins rose to the occasion and kept the crowd locked in despite the unplanned issues, something I’ve seen other bands absolutely flounder with.

It’s always nice seeing a band that can withstand the test of time. You don’t make it to 37 years in the music industry if you can’t handle adversity with professionalism and still give the fans a show worth the ever-increasing ticket prices today. It’s also great to see a band that still sounds so on point after performing for so long. The Smashing Pumpkins still check both of those boxes. Catch The World Is a Vampire Tour while you can, lest ye become angrier than a rat in a cage.

Photography by Sean Rider

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