The second of two shows at Chicago's Auditorium Theater was postponed until Monday, December 8 due to Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan's illness. Having also played two previous nights at the Chicago Theater up the street, Corgan's voice could allegedly not handle a fourth consecutive night of screaming to the masses. As part of their current 20th Century Tour, the band decided to stop in their hometown and do an extra few shows. In many of the major cities on their tour, Smashing Pumpkins have done double-nighters in which the setlists are completely different. The band decided to give names to each performance in their traveling two-night event, the first show dubbed "Black Sunshine" and the second "White Crosses".

Those who had tickets for both nights at the Auditorium Theater were a bit less disappointed at the postponement of White Crosses. The venue, where Corgan supposedly saw his second-ever concert, is a beautiful old opera house where events like this rarely occur and it's exactly the kind of place where you'd expect an overconfident band like this to play. Smashing Pumpkins, now with Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin as the only two remaining members, put on a show on Friday that left many confused as to how they should feel about the whole experience.

The Pumpkins' way of laying out a setlist is definitely bizarre. The set for Black Crosses began with a drum solo (entitled "Rocktopus") by Chamberlin, who established with the first snare hit that he'd be the one stealing the show. The band entered along with a group of seven or so musicians who alternated between everything from accordions to trumpets to violins. They were featured in various songs throughout the set, including "Mayonnaise" and "Tonight, Tonight”. Corgan made his grand appearance donning a gold headdress and what appeared to be a ballroom gown, in which he sang an awkward rendition of Searcher's "Everybody Come Clap Your Hands." The scrawny frontman stripped the gown to reveal his all-white stage garb which, complemented by his pasty bald head, made him look like Jack Skellington after a shower.

After apologizing for the sickly-sounding nature of his voice, Corgan and company pumped up the adrenaline with tunes like "Tarantula" and a very well-played "Siva", which was unfortunately the only song performed that night from their debut record. The energy level was high enough where a near half-hour-long hybrid of "Superchrist" and "United States" didn't seem terribly excessive. The show lost some momentum during three acoustic tunes that few people seemed to have heard. The band was wise to wake up the crowd by playing two of their biggest hits to date, "Today" and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", back-to-back.

Those two were unfortunately the last well-known songs in the show. The rest was filled in by selections from their weird electronic era, including "Heavy Metal Machine" which lasted three times as long as it should have. Having played a good deal of B-sides that were likely only known by serious Pumpkins fans, the least they could have done was end the show with a bang. Instead, however, the band closed with a cover of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun", which basically consisted of a 15+min drone, decorated by Corgan pounding on some timpanis and returning to his guitar to mess around with his effects for a little while. The band stopped and walked off stage without saying a word. The lights went up and there was no encore.

Admittedly, it's admirable how The Pumpkins defy convention and basically just play whatever they want. They're very aware that playing all the hits doesn't always make a good show and that an encore is really just a formality. Of course, it's always good to leave the audience wanting more. But there's a limit to that, and as it's great to throw in some of the more obscure material, more songs need to be worked into the setlist that the majority actually recognizes. What Corgan has thus far failed to realize is that people are paying good money to see this. Had the ticket said Billy Corgan and Friends, then that would have been fine. This time, though, people came to see Smashing Pumpkins, and it's simply not fair to blue-ball people like that, especially when they're shelling out over $65.

If Corgan's wealth of self-indulgence was toned down just a bit, maybe he could spend a little more time thinking about his fans and a little less time noodling on his guitar and forgetting he's onstage. Still, the man can play a mean guitar, and when paired with Jimmy Chamberlain's driving and precise drumming, the Pumpkins can still shake the house down. Plus, the lightshow complementing the band forgave most of the show's flaws. The tapestry of rapidly moving colors being projected down onto the stage kept the crowd attentive even during the concert's dullest moments.

Although sold out, it's likely that many tickets for White Crosses have been refunded due to its date change, so tickets may still be available. If you don't go in expecting to hear all the hits and just want a unique sensory experience, then it's worth investing in a ticket. It's a rare opportunity to see a band like Smashing Pumpkins at a theater like this.