Setlist

1. Black Diamond (KISS cover)
2. Zero
3. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
4. Today
5. The Celestials
6. Oceania
7. Tonite Reprise/Tonight, Tonight
8. Ava Adore
9. Quasar
10. Panopticon
11. Soot and Stars
12. 1979
13. Cherub Rock
14. Muzzle

Encore:
15. Space Oddity (David Bowie cover)
16. X.Y.U.

 
Click for 9 pictures from the Smashing Pumpkins concert at Splendour in the Grass Festival!

Media Reviews

“With the sun well and truly set over Belongil Fields for the final day of ‘Splendour in the Grass 2012′, a mass of music lovers gathered under the Supertop for one last time. Eager to see a band responsible for shaping the modern rock scene, punters waited eagerly to be reminded of their angsty youth with a headline set from The Smashing Pumpkins. True to form, original member Billy Corgan couldn’t care less for the timetable and lead the band on stage ten minutes early. Launching straight into ‘Black Diamond’ by Kiss, it seemed the band were using the cover as a warm up for the crowd. What followed was a massive 17 song festival set that would satisfy any fan, with a perfect blend of old and new material. Corgan, who only taking the opportunity to stop and say “Thank you, thank you very much” between every couple of songs, showed his massive confidence as a front man, ironically by doing nothing much at all. Jumping from guitar driven sing alongs such as ‘Tonight, Tonight’ and ‘Today’ to newer dreamier tracks like 2012′s ‘Oceania’ gave the show good dynamics. New members Jeff Schroeder, Mike Byrne and Nicole Fiorentino meshed well together, making it easy to forget that the current lineup has been together for only a few years. With 15 minutes to go the band stepped off for a breather after playing ‘Muzzle’, and a handful of viewers took this as an opportunity to beat the rush and leave the grounds early. Those that stayed were rewarded as the Pumpkins encored with ‘Disarm’ followed by what could possibly be the heaviest rendition ever played of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ and finally ending strong on ‘X.Y.U.’ from nine time platinum album ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’.” - MTV.com.au

 

 

 

 

“The festival closed with Billy Corgan, who’d spent the previous day cracking jokes with Wil Anderson at his annual ‘Parky’ fest, bringing all those great Smashing Pumpkins gems out of the cellar. Again, there was new material to wade through, but with a voice that clear and stage presence that enaging, everyone surely forgave him. If you ever wonder why festivals like Splendour exist, rewind to thousands of muddy, exhausted punters holding each other and singing the chorus of ‘Tonight Tonight’ and ‘1979’. It was heritage with purpose, and despite everyone’s worries, it was a perfect fit. I think the thing I still get a kick out of with the Pumpkins’ popularity is it’s easy to forget how metal they can be. The new band had no problems sustaining the band’s legacy, and it was hard to think of another Splendour headliner who had ever sounded so vicious in the victory spot. Corgan may have had a little pink smile of tummy poking out under his tee-shirt, but beyond a bigger silhouette he seemed intact from the ’90s, his voice a (great) blood-curdling screech as ever. After a solid ‘Major Tom’ in the encore, the band snuffed out the 2012 Splendour candle with a heroic blitzkrieg of lights and distortion with ‘XYU’. It seemed a fine way to cap this year’s festival, an all-encompassing experience that blasted the mind, body and soul. Which, really, is precisely why the pilgrimage continues. Long may it last.” - TheVine.com.au

 

 

Video Highlights

Space Oddity and X.Y.U.

Tonite Reprise/Tonight, Tonight

Cherub Rock