The Big Picture
The Smashing Pumpkins played the Moody Center on Sunday as part of their Rats in a Cage Tour, a 30th-anniversary run focused on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The band stacked the set with 28 songs across nearly three hours, blending selections from the double album with rarities, hits from Siamese Dream, and newer material.
Billy Corgan framed the night by calling the group the “best sad band in the world,” and the program traded repeatedly between sorrowful balladry and outright fury—shifts that defined the concert’s narrative and energy.
What Changed
Rather than perform Mellon Collie in original sequence, the Pumpkins prioritized songs they felt fit a condensed narrative: 12 of 16 selections from the album’s first half were used, disrupting the record’s original order. The setlist also mixed eras: after an intermission the band returned with newer tracks from 2024’s Aghori Mhori Mei and a recent soundtrack cut, plus key Siamese Dream staples.
Lineup highlights included touring guitarist Kiki Wong—credited as a standout on piano—and a show-closing drum solo from Jimmy Chamberlin that capped the evening’s instrumental finale on “Superchrist.”
What's Next
The review does not list additional Austin dates; the Moody Center stop occurred Sunday as part of the ongoing Rats in a Cage Tour celebrating Mellon Collie’s 30th anniversary. For tickets, dates, and venue information consult the Moody Center or the band’s official tour pages.
Yes, the set left hits and sequence behind in favor of narrative choices—so if you plan to chase this tour, expect curated anguish, not a strict album playthrough. That is the kind of rock math only Billy Corgan will defend in public, and we both know he will.