Smashing Pumpkins Pack Rats In A Cage Tour Opener With Bust-Outs & Debuts

The Smashing Pumpkins dusted off songs unplayed for nearly two decades and reached even further into their catalog on Wednesday at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The band launched The Rats In A Cage Tour with a 32-song, two-set concert featuring a first half devoted entirely to Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness and a second loaded with additional rarities and two live debuts.

The trek belatedly celebrates the 30th anniversary of the band’s 1995 double album, which turns 31 later this month. As announced in May, the tour pairs two distinct sets honoring Mellon Collie and the Pumpkins’ broader catalog.

The Smashing Pumpkins opened with “1979” and “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” before unveiling the evening’s first lengthy bust-out, “Cupid De Locke.” According to Setlist.FM, the song was played for the first time since 2008, as was “Galapogos” later in the set. The band also revived “Fuck You (An Ode To No One)” for its first performance since 2007.

“By Starlight” returned after an absence dating back to 2010, while the instrumental title track ended the 16-song opening set with its first appearance since 2018. Other Mellon Collie selections included “Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans,” “Jellybelly,” “Bodies,” “Here Is No Why” and “To Forgive.” The Pumpkins also nodded to another track from the album by teasing “Tales Of A Scorched Earth” during “Zero.”

The second set began with the night’s longest bust-out, “Le Deux Machina.” Setlist.FM lists just one previous performance of the Machina II instrumental, on February 19, 2000 at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. The band followed with the live debut of “Sojourner” from their 2023 rock opera, ATUM.

More deep cuts followed, including “Dorian” from Monuments To An Elegy, which the Pumpkins revived in July after a decade away. “As Rome Burns” received its first performance since 2010. Near the end of the show, the band debuted “Jesus Is The Sun” before “The Everlasting Gaze” and a closing “Superchrist,” the latter last played in 2019.

The career-spanning second set also incorporated Siamese Dream favorites “Disarm,” “Mayonaise,” “Today” and “Cherub Rock” alongside “Ava Adore,” “Stand Inside Your Love” and three tracks from 2024’s Aghori Mhori Mei.

The Rats In A Cage Tour continues on Friday, October 2 at Boston’s TD Garden. Watch full-show video from the Columbus opener below: