The Smashing Pumpkins - 2024 - Jason Renaud

Credit: Far Out / Jason Renaud

Watch The Smashing Pumpkins play with 60-piece orchestra in Chicago

Sat 22 November 2025 17:56, UK

The Smashing Pumpkins celebrated their 30th anniversary of their iconic album in style at the first of their ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ shows at the Lyric Opera.

In March, the band announced that they would take over the venue in their hometown for seven nights. On each night, they will be joined by the venue’s coveted 60-piece house orchestra and chorus.

The first show took place on November 21st. During the show, they played 17 of the album’s 28 tracks.

James Lowe conducted the band and the orchestra throughout the event. The event fell on the night of the 30th anniversary deluxe reissue of Mellon Collie.

They began the set with the titular track, ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’, before launching into ‘Tonight, Tonight’ and ‘Jellybelly’.

They rounded out the end of the set with tunes ‘Cupid De Locke’, ‘Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans’, and returning to ‘Tonight, Tonight’.

Their last show was at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, closing out their 2025 Rock Invasion tour. At that show, they played 21 tracks, and closed out with ‘The Everlasting Gaze’.

Far Out gave the 2023 album, Mellon Collie, four stars, writing, “Broadly, Mellon Collie serves to reveal that Smashing Pumpkins are still evolving and progressing. The realm of rock music is undergoing another monumental era; its emerging characteristics are reimagining the legends and redefining the landscapes.”

Recently, frontman Billy Corgan condemned the murder of Charlie Kirk and said that “political violence needs to be off the table”. Kirk had been a former guest on his podcast.