Review: Smashing Pumpkins throw a bit of everything into stacked, diverse Charlotte show

Smashing Pumpkins returned to PNC Music Pavilion for the first time since 2019 on Tuesday night with two opening acts: NYC alt-rock veteran Interpol and classic-rock/grunge throwback Rival Sons — and pre-show pro-wrestling matches courtesy of Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan’s NWA promotion.

How you felt about the show may depend on what drew you to the band in the first place.

Over the past 30 years, I’ve seen Smashing Pumpkins play a variety of sets, from intimate and acoustic-leaning to full-on metal attack to its original lineup at Lollapalooza 1994 as the group was coming off the success of “Siamese Dream.” Its 2019 show was visually spectacular and instantly won over my then-9-year-old son.

“The World Is a Vampire Tour” mixed a bit of all of those experiences.

As Tuesday’s headlining set began with the aural assault of “The Everlasting Gaze” and “Doomsday Clock,” I was afraid fans were in store for a noisy night. Wearing black makeup and his signature ankle-length black coat, Corgan turned Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” into a drudging, bass-driven, noise-rock dirge that bordered on befuddling.

“I’m confused,” my son said three songs into the show. It didn’t help that the sound was initially muddy (as it had been for much of Interpol’s reverb-soaked set), with sonic nuances lost to the wall of distortion. Even “Today” — the night’s first “pop,” to borrow the pro-wrestling term for a positive crowd reaction — suffered from a thread of harsh static in the vocal mix. Backing vocalist Katie Cole’s voice helped even things out throughout the night, though.

Thankfully the sound improved with “Perfect” and “Disarm.” The latter found the impassioned audience belting the words with Corgan. Its early hits still resonate three decades after their release.

Thematically, the show was darker than in 2019, when three giant, ornately decorated inflatable figures towered above the band. Tuesday’s stage set-up was starker, but with more focus on the spectacular light show.

Guitarist James Iha looked like The Lone Ranger in a white Western shirt emblazoned with skulls and matching white pants. He was not only Corgan’s visual foil, but played straight man as they exchanged stage banter.

“James, I think they like the bleak new wave better than the wrestling,” Corgan noted, in a nod to Interpol, while thanking both opening acts and talent from the National Wrestling Alliance.

“We could’ve won the Crockett Cup, but we stayed at home and wrote songs with no future,” Corgan said, bizarrely making reference to both his wrestling promotion’s prized trophy (named for Charlotte’s first family of wrestling) and his and Iha’s early years practicing in his dad’s bedroom 36 years ago.

The intimacy between the two lingered as they performed an acoustic version of “Tonight, Tonight” without the rest of the band, before launching into a raucous, full-band rendition of “Bullet With Butterfly Wings.”

Following a string of newer songs, I overheard a man behind me say to a friend, “I don’t recognize anything.” But songs like “Spellbinding” and “Empires” — from the band’s most recent collection, “ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts” — were standouts.

Then Corgan returned to his penchant for unusual covers, giving ’60s UK group Manfred Mann’s “Hubble Bubble (Toil and Trouble)” his own dark twist; and as he traded licks with guitarist Jack Schroeder, the song morphed into “Jellybelly” from “Mellon Collie.”

Likewise, “Hummer” from “Siamese Dream” was a pleasant surprise. That song’s momentum continued through “1979,” “Cherub Rock” and the finale of “Zero,” a highlight of 2019’s show — which was wisely saved for last this time.