The set opened with the dreamy 'To Sheila' setting the tone. Next was 'Behold! The Nightmare' followed by current single 'Ava Adore' (which got the first audible response from the crowd). But those wanting something else familar had a long wait throught the funky 'Pug' and the perfect 'Crestfallen', the latter losing nothing of its elegance and beauty in the stadium environment.
Dressed in a boxy black suit, Billy Corgan looked like a cross between Johnny Cash and Uncle Fester. D'Arcy was the epitome of the cool rock star in tight leather pants with red flames shooting up the legs, a sexy halter top and a pair of black devil's horns perched on her perennially peroxided head. James Iha continued the dark theme, also all in black but looking a bit woozy owing to the 'flu.
They were joined by four other (predominantly bald) musicians playing a variety of drums, gongs, bells, cymbals and the keyboard - the Ronald releasing notes worthy of the grandest piano. No technical tricks, just live and loud as when 'Tear' crashed over us in a swirling sonic wave.
I was wondering how the textured, atmospheric grandeur of Adore would come across in a big venue and expected technical tricks. Instead it was all live and it was amazing how something so loud and magnificent could remain so delicately beautiful. This was displayed at best on Tear which crashed over us like a swirling, sonic wave.
When they did play something old it took a while to recognise them in radically rearranded form. There was a thigh-slapping, toe-tapping acoustic rendition fo 'Tonight, Tonight' which was sped up and given a clackity-clack Riverdance percussion beat. 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' was transformed from a riff laden guitar rock song to a stomping tribal chant with big booming jungle drums shouted tarther than sung lyrics. There are two ways to react to this: you could feel ripped off because it was not the song you know and love or - my choice - admire their ability to make something so familiar sound so different while maintaining the passion and energy that made you love it. These are special live moments to be cherished.
The set ended with 'For Martha' akk theatrical crescendos and horror film darkness, and if Melbourne Park had a chandelier it would have crashed down on us right then.
During the night Corgan kept thanking us for our patience and for listening to the new stuff, hinting that some old stuff was to come - a promise never fully realised. The encore opened with '1979' which will always be a great song, but lacked intensity. It was hard to remember that this was a band famous for guitar rock, although when they started on the guitar solos they were hard to stop.
The final song for the evening was 'Zero', a bone thrown to the hits hungry crowd. This was played half-heartedly with an apologetic "we don't play this anymore" and the lyric changed to "and God is empty...just like Billy". It did sound empty but after an evening full of Adorable magic it didn't matter to me.
Leaving the park I heard a lot of the predominantly teenage crowd complaining about feeling ripped off. Nothing from Siamese Dream was played and only three from Mellon Collie. After all this was not the Greatest Hits tour it was the Adore tour. But even without the old songs this was a night to remember. They just get better and better.