The Smashing Pumpkins have always been eager to challenge their audience. As previously mentioned in Thursday's review, the band were keen to showcase an experimental Pink Floyd piece to conclude their main set, a move that few enjoyed and many walked out on. Friday's show was filled with a few folks eager for a bit of retribution, and though the band certainly did not backpedal with their convictions, the audience may very well have gotten what they wished for.

Not to say it wasn't an incredible show in and of itself. In fact, even though Thursday's gig reaffirmed my dormant love for my favorite adolescent act, Friday delivered in every which way, with both a setlist cherry picked with past favorites and a series of new and promising numbers. The energy was better, the setlist was divine, and after a few missteps on Zeitgeist, the new material has me eager to hear a new Pumpkins recording as soon as humanly possible. However, I may not have had as much fun at Friday's show as I did on Thursday's, and this has just about everything to do with the crowd. We were a bit further back this time (beggars can't be choosers), lost in a midst of casual fans, all there to drink beer, feel up their girlfriends (no kidding), and hoping to hear 'Zero' and 'Cherub Rock' ad nauseam. Granted, both of those songs were played, and they were as glorious as to be expected, but it was hard to appreciate the band's newer, yet still captivating material as boos and hisses filled the silence. I was embarrassed, not for liking the music, but for my fellow man.

Ranting aside, the band were in top form on Friday, cocksure and powerful throughout. Though Friday's set was dubbed 'White Crosses,' Billy took to the stage in black, swinging a plastic pumpkin filled with treats for 'Ava Adore,' the band's first number. It took three classic songs for Billy to pick up an acoustic guitar and begin a lighter, more transcendental affair, chock full of the Pumpkins' prettier moments. Just as the band played a few acoustic numbers on their heavier night, Billy and co. did slay us a few times over with some electric mayhem in the form of 'Bodies,' 'Gossamer,' and the aforementioned 'Zero,' keeping the energy intact throughout the set. The first half was chock full of Pumpkins favorites, while the second set began the meandering, which kept my ears interested, but incensed the crowd, though less than the night before. Two tracks in particular, both chock full of powerful dirges and thick atmosphere, stood out among the flock. The first was the yet-to-be-recorded 'Song For a Son,' which was both haunting and warm at once. The second, simply entitled 'I Am One (Part 2)' concluded the evening with a rather explosive edge, droning on yet building to a subdued, powerful climax. Though it bears the same name as the Gish classic, this number was mostly a new creation, spliced with the lyrics of a 1989 acoustic demo, bearing little to no resemblance otherwise. It certainly was a change of pace from the kazoos and light-hearted ending to the previous night's set.

Which reminds me of a bit of classic stage banter, ladies and gentlemen, an occurrence that I can't help but mention. Though I have an inkling that the event was an elaborate hoax, a particularly rude sounding audience member was called to the stage to share his opinions on the previous night's set, tearing Billy Corgan a new arse for his experimental edge. After backing down most humbly when asked if he wanted money back for his time wasted, Billy proceeded to put him in his place. Whether or not this was a misguided joke eager to shed a little light on Thursday's undertaking or simply a simple case of one-upsmanship, it was certainly fun to watch, and drove home a point: those eager for a quick dose of nineties nostalgia may have been extremely disappointed, but these were shows for true fans of the band, for better or for worse.

In the end, I am incredibly pleased with both nights. Though each night was an individual delight, the sum of each part yielded an incredible experience that not only reaffirmed my adoration of the band, but sparked a new sense of love and hope for the future of the Smashing Pumpkins. I am excited to see what comes next...

11.7.08 setlist:
1. Ava Adore
2. Cupid de Locke
3. 1979
4. 99 Floors
5. Owata
6. Sunkissed
7. Soma
8. Cherub Rock
9. Zero
10. Bodies
11. Crestfallen
12. I of the Mourning
13. A Song for a Son
14. Landslide
15. Disarm
16. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
17. Galapogos
18. Gossamer
19. As Rome Burns
20. The Sounds of Silence
21. The March Hare
22. Suffer [tease]
23. Age of Innocence
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24. That's the Way (My Love Is)
25. I Am One Pt 2