‘I lost my mind’: The Smashing Pumpkins blow fans away at rousing Kansas City concert

For some people, finding their favorite band is love at first listen.

That was the case for Kiera Ainsworth the first time she heard The Smashing Pumpkins.

“I discovered them through a TikTok, like, three years ago, and it was this guy being like, ‘imagine hearing ‘Mayonaise’ for the first time in 1993,” Ainsworth said. “And that was the first time I heard ‘Mayonaise,’ in that TikTok, and it blew my f—ing world apart.”

“And the second I heard a snippet of that song, I knew that I had just discovered my new favorite band.”

Within two months of hearing that song, the 23-year-old got a tattoo inspired by a character on the cover of the band’s 1995 album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.”

“I have been peeking at the set lists that they’ve been playing recently, and I’ve noticed that ‘Rhinoceros’ has been making an appearance, so I’m hoping to hear ‘Rhinoceros’ tonight,” she added.

She wasn’t disappointed. While some of the songs she also wanted to hear, like ”X.Y.U.” and “Geek USA” did not make the cut, Ainsworth was able to hear the guitar riffs of “Rhinoceros” live at a nearly sold-out Starlight Theatre on Wednesday. It was the band’s first show in Kansas City in six years.

“I lost my mind,” Ainsworth said after the show.

For other fans, the chance to see their favorite artist has been decades in the making.

Sarah Bond has been waiting to see The Smashing Pumpkins since she was 13 years old. Now 41, she heard the band live with her husband, Dave, on their third wedding anniversary.

“My favorite song is ‘By Starlight,’ so when I listen to that I think of my husband,” Bond said.

While Dave said he would rather be at a Godsmack concert, the couple from Lenexa was excited to share this evening together.

From the moment The Smashing Pumpkins took the stage Wednesday, fans at Starlight Theatre were on their feet. Very few sat down after the band started with “The Everlasting Gaze.”

Smashing Pumpkins and their opener PVRIS appeared about 15 minutes ahead of schedule to make sure fans got out of the open-air amphitheater before thunderstorms hit Kansas City.

Pop-rock act PVRIS warmed up the audience with a 12-song set that combined funky synth sounds with heavy rock guitar for a unique, moody sound.

“We’ve been doing this for like 10 years, so it’s an honor to be opening for such a legend,” PVRIS front-woman Lynn Gunn said of The Smashing Pumpkins.

At 8:15 p.m. Billy Corgan and crew took the stage for fan favorites, classic hits and a few deep cuts.

While the band released their 13th album, “Aghori Mhori Mei,” less than two weeks ago, the setlist did not feature anything off the album. 2023 release, “ATUM,” had six songs played, as did the 1995 album, “Mellon Collie.”

The dominance of “Mellon Collie” in the band’s repertoire cannot be overstated. After all, the current run of concerts, The World is a Vampire Tour, gets its name from the opening line of the album’s lead single, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.”

T-shirts with the 1995 album cover were abundant throughout the crowd, and cheers erupted from the audience in response to the opening chords of “Tonight, Tonight.”

Frontman Corgan appeared in his classic uniform: a long black cassock with red buttons, black knee-high socks and combat boots.

Corgan and lead guitarist James Iha, two of the band’s three remaining founding members, conversed via guitar riffs between songs and joked with the audience.

“Kansas City in August is hotter than two rats f—ing in a sock,” Iha joked.

“It’s hot now, but in like four weeks it’ll be -20 (degrees) and the Chiefs will be winning another Super Bowl,” Iha said, eliciting one of the loudest responses of the night from the crowd.

“James,” Corgan said, “these lovely people didn’t come to hear us talk or joke. If there’s anything we’ve learned in the last 36 years, its that no one cares about hearing us talk.”

Maybe so. But one thing’s for sure, fans come to hear them play.

What songs did The Smashing Pumpkins play?

The Smashing Pumpkins played 21 songs in a nearly two-hour set list Wednesday:

• “The Everlasting Gaze”

• “Doomsday Clock”

• “Zoo Station” (U2 cover)

• “Today”

• “Thru The Eyes Of Ruby”

• “Spellbinding”

• “Tonight, Tonight”

• “That Which Animates The Spirit”

• “Ava Adore”

• “Disarm”

• “Springtimes”

• “Mayonaise”

• “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”

• “Empires”

• “Beguiled”

• “1979”

• “Rhinoceros”

• “Shame”

• “Jellybelly”

• “Gossamer”

• “The Spaniards”

• “Cherub Rock”

• “Zero”

The band also played snippets from “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas, “La Grange” by ZZ Top and “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz.