More then a decade after alternative rock began phasing out across America, the Smashing Pumpkins are bringing it back, at least for a night. While their latest album Zeitgeist is nothing exceptional, their current tour is reminiscent of the day when rock bands such as Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden ruled the land. Before pop stars and gangster rap, prior to the classic rock resurgence and back in a time where artists wrote, recorded and performed their own music, the Smashing Pumpkins helped define '90s alternative rock. With Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness the Pumpkins put out two of the most diverse, influential and truly musical albums of the alternative rock era.While the current tour is in support of 2007's Zeitgest, their first studio album in seven years, it highlights the band's past more than anything else. Front man Billy Corgan walked on stage at a recent show wearing one of his weirder outfits to date. Green scrubs went over his patented black-and-white-striped long sleeve t-shirt he has worn off-and-on since the Mellon Collie days. Joining Corgan this time around is longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and two new Smashing faces. Jeff Schroeder replaced founding pumpkin James Iha on guitar, while Ginger Reyes took over on the bass.

Opening act Explosions in the Sky took the stage of Boston's Orpheum Theatre five minutes early starting their set at 7:25. Never before has a band taken its own name so literally, as for 45 minutes the Texas-based quartet tried very hard to sound like explosions in the sky and nothing else. The band features three guitarists, one drummer, and no vocals. With no clear definition as to when a song began or ended, it's very possible the entire set was one explosive song. The sound was vaguely reminiscent of psychedelic Pumpkin instrumentals, but the audience didn't seem to grasp what they were listening to. The set ended with all three guitarists kneeled over on stage making it difficult to determine if they were playing guitar or praying. Forty-five minutes later the Pumpkins marched on stage to a patriotic beat and the rock show began.

After opening with the nine-minute "United States," featuring guitar solos of both the American and Canadian national anthems, Corgan sang the lyrics "The world is a vampire" and the crowd erupted. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" rocked. Lights blazed from an overhead rig almost identical to the mechanical spider from Wild Wild West. Red lights froze the stage during each line of the chorus while a rainbow array of spots flashed on and off from every angle possible through the rest of the song. The stage was set for rock stars and Smashing enough, the Pumpkins delivered.

The guitars drove hard and the drums beat along for 10 songs before taking a break. The first act was filled mostly with new material, but did include hit Today as well as two songs from their Machina album; "Stand Inside Your Love" and "Glass and the Ghost Children." With Chamberlin, Schroeder and Reyes offstage Corgan filled the intermission with an acoustic version of 1979. The crowd sang along as Corgan strummed memories of the Pumpkins alt rock glory days, as well as chords. As the song ended with the lyrics "as you see there's no one around," Corgan stopped and smiled, laughed and took a drink of water before the band returned for a solid second act.

The pumpkins came back with four straight hits. While "Tonight Tonight "lost some of its luster live, "Tarantula," "Ava Adore" and "Disarm" were done loud and well. The Pumpkins then closed with their one mistake of the night, a 15 minute muddy version of "Heavy Metal Machine." The song quickly became noise and continued way past bad, leaving all musical traces behind. Corgan screamed and screamed and screamed until the audience was finally thankful to see them walk off the stage.

The band returned as expected and picked up much better than they left off. "Pomp and Circumstance," an odd choice at best, led off the encore before Corgan stopped to talk for the first time all night. He explained his desire to find an old fashioned Pilgrim-esque Massachusetts woman to work his fields before asking for volunteers from the eager to oblige crowd. Corgan barely finished his last sentence strumming his way into "Muzzle" with one chord and the line "I fear that I am ordinary." "Muzzle," an often-forgotten single off Mellon Collie, was probably the best song of the night. The Pumpkins walked off but did not get very far as they soon returned, led by Corgan, for their second and final encore.

Seizure inducing lights once again bounced around the stage while "Where Boys fear to Tread" played along. Corgan once again stopped to talk, but this time was cut off by Chamberlin's drum roll intro to "Cherub Rock." With a sense that this really was the last song, the audience gave the band everything they had, shouting along as they watched the lights of a new millennium shine on the music of a decade and era past.While their new music seems lost on traditional Pumpkin fans as well as current radio audiences, their '90s hits stay strong with age. For the time being, the Pumpkins sound as good as they ever have, putting on one a hell of a show.