Review and Setlists: The Smashing Pumpkins spread Halloween cheer in Tampa
Review and Setlists: The Smashing Pumpkins spread Halloween cheer in Tampa
Mark Katches Mon, October 19, 2026 at 11:01 AM UTC
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Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins performs at Benchmark International Arena during their Rats in a Cage Tour on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026 in Tampa. ©Luis SantanaHalloween may be two weeks away, but The Smashing Pumpkins showed up at the door early, grinning like a bunch of extended members of the Addams Family. Maybe we shouldn’t have already eaten through the Costco candy bag? Never fear.
Halloween may be two weeks away, but The Smashing Pumpkins showed up at the door early, grinning like a bunch of extended members of the Addams Family.
Maybe we shouldn’t have already eaten through the Costco candy bag?
Never fear. The band provided all the necessary treats at Benchmark International Arena, performing two wide-ranging sets spanning three hours.
The Pumpkins’ “Rats in a Cage” tour comes three decades after the release of their landmark album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.” It’s a fully legit reason to mark the moment, with three-fourths of the band’s classic lineup on stage.
Frontman Billy Corgan sported House Harkonnen vibes in a leather vest over a flowing skirt. Hewas joined by original members James Iha on guitar and Jimmy Chamberlin behind the drum kit. Kiki Wong added a third guitar and Jack Bates, son of Joy Division’s Peter Hook, handled bass. All donned black.
They devoted the first set entirely to Mellon Collie, a 28-track double album that spawned anthemic hits like “Tonight, Tonight,” “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” “Thirty-Three,” and “1979.” The band performed close to two thirds of the album before intermission.
The record, so varied in its texture and style, is easily worth this much time and attention. While preparing for the tour, Corgan posted on social media about how he had fallen back in love with tunes from the album that had been largely ignored over the years, like the softer “Galapagos” and “Cupid de Locke.”
When Corgan growled “The world is a vampire ...” at the start of “Bullet,” the second song of the night, a rapt audience of diverse ages sang along.
All these years later, Corgan didn’t seems so angsty. In fact, he took a moment to poke a little tongue-in-cheek fun during his longest interaction with the audience.
“The album deals with alienation, disaffection, dysfunction, dystopia — all the great D’s,” said Corgan after introducing the band. “And since it’s so successful we want to carry on with the sorrow, the malaise, if you will.”
Iha offered this compliment to Florida: “You got gators. it’s a beautiful thing.”
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A dominating force in the nineties, the Pumpkins’ music feels just as relevant today, and there’s no denying that Corgan is one of the most talented figures of that era and beyond. (He’s built connections to Tampa Bay through his ownership of the National Wrestling Alliance, which tapes in the WEDU PBS Studios, a few blocks from the University of Tampa.)
Pearl Jam may have boasted the best overall musicianship. Soundgarden and Alice in Chainshad the premier vocalists. And Nirvana had Kurt Cobain, hands down the most influential musical figure of the decade. But the Pumpkins had great songs and more of them. If you could get past Corgan’s often whiny, tantrummy singing voice, the rewards were plentiful. Albums like “Siamese Dream” and “Mellon Collie” personified his genius and ambition. His songs are biting, seething, powerful and vulnerable. And he’s always been under-appreciated as a guitarist. He’s an exceptional one.
Never was that more obvious than during “Porcelina of the Vast Oceans” which proved to be the highlight of a mesmerizing first set. It’s a rare guitarist who can make you feel as if his instrument is weeping during a solo. Prince could do that. Neil Young, too.
Behind the band, animations of seahorses and mermaids danced across the large screen. Even the fluttering ocean kelp was made to look gorgeous. The synchronized animations in the first set far surpassed the background videos in the set that would follow.
James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins performs at Benchmark International Arena during their Rats in a Cage Tour on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026 in Tampa.
After an 18-minute intermission, the Pumpkins returned in freshly pressed white clothing, delving into their vast catalog — from the early 1990s to more recent times.
Soaring versions of “Today,” “Mayonaise,” “Everlasting Gaze” and “Cherub Rock” stood out. Photos of Corgan as a child flashed on the screen during “Disarm.” It was perhaps the only time in the second set that the background video added something.
Jimmy Chamberlin of the Smashing Pumpkins performs at Benchmark International Arena during their Rats in a Cage Tour on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026 in Tampa.
The potent drumming of Chamberlin is as central to the Pumpkins’ sound as the wailing guitars of Corgan and Iha. And the second set ended with multiple drum solos within the explosive instrumental “Superchrist.” It may have felt like a curious way to conclude, considering songs like “Drown” and “Heavy Metal Machine” hadn’t fought their way onto the set list.
But it was a banger of a finale, capping a brilliant evening of music.
The next time they come to town, I’ll be ready with full-size Snickers.
First Set
“1979”
“Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
“Cupid de Locke”
“Porcelina of the Vast Oceans”
“Jellybelly”
“Bodies”
“Galapogos”
“Thirty-Three”
“Tonight, Tonight”
“Here is No Why”
“To Forgive”
“F–k You (An Ode to No One)”
“Zero”
“Muzzle”
“By Starlight”
“Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”
Second Set
“Machina, Machina”
“Sojourner”
“Edin”
“Pentagrams”
“Disarm”
“Ava Adore”
“War Dreams of Itself”
“Mayonaise”
“Black Stars”
“As Rome Burns”
“Today”
“Cherub Rock”
“Jesus Is the Sun”
“The Everlasting Gaze”
“Superchrist”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
