After an hour and a half in the car, me and a friend of mine got to Ovens Auditorium about 45 minutes before the show started. We got shirts and found our seats.
The auditorium seated 2,600 people, and was really intimate (it reminded me of a club). So we sat and waited for the show to start. It was our first time seeing the band live, so we were anxious and very fidgity. They were supposed to start at 8:00, but for some reason they were a little late. At 8:15, they entered the stage! We were on our feet at once! Billy's wardrobe was all black, and you could tell where he was because the light reflected brightly off of his head. James was in all black also; in pants and a t-shirt. D'arcy was wearing white/silver vinyl pants and a shirt.

They immeadiately went into To Shelia. This was better than the Adore version. The backround guitars rocked through this one. It was a lot heavier.
Next came Behold! The Night Mare. They just flowed into this one and it was somewhat more mysterious and a lot shorter. I loved how Billy's voice rang out when he sang "And the night mare rides on!" It was very soothing. Pug! Pug! This came next, and it blew me against the back wall! Pug is my favorite Adore tune, so I got really excited when they started this! They screamed and played in rock-out stances, making the whole place vibrate at very high speeds! They also substituted the electronic parts with guitars beautifully! It was a highlight of the night for me!
Next was Once Apon a Time. This was a very sweet version. It sounded shortened, but the harmonics of the auditorium were used nicely by Billy's voice.
Ava Adore: This was awesome! They rocked through this one as much as they did Pug. Billy was screaming the whole time while James & D'arcy jammed away. This was, in my opinion, a much greater-sounding version! It totally rocked harder and better! Billy then ditched his guitar and sang Annie-Dog. The lights dimmed while Billy went to the front of the stage, and really getting into it. He was bending down and moving during his singing, with the rest of the band playing softly in the backround.
Thru the Eyes of Ruby, a MCIS classic, came afterwards. this was really cool, because the way everyone played, it had a surrealistic dream-like quality to it. Billy's voice amplified this too. After that, Billy switched to an acoustic guitar. The stage went black, except for one light on Billy. He said hello, amidst all the cheering. He said to us that "it's hard being the most loved and hated band in the world," and thanked us for our support. He dedicated the next song (Tonight, Tonight) to a troubled girl named Shannon, whose letter he read before the concert started, and to the audience.

The next three songs were done acousticly. Tonight, Toight was great as it always has been. Next came Perfect, which was beautiful with the backround vocals by D'arcy. Then was Stumbeline, which was as surreal as Ruby earlier. Then came Shame. Billy sang "Sh-sh-sh-sh-shame," in the chorus to the microphone, like he was saranading to it. Next, the upped the tempo a bit. Actually, a lot! Billy, D'arcy, and James left the stage, leaving the percussionist They start this tribal jam-thing; absolutely superb! It rocked! After about five minutes of this, the band enters again, and start to rock the house! It is BWBW, in all its glory! Most of the lyrics were lost in the feedback, jamming, and beating of the instriments, but there was one line Billy made sure the audience heard: "DESPITE ALL MY RAGE I'M STILL JUST A RAT IN A CAGE!!" he screamed! D'arcy was tearing us apart on her bass! It was fast-paced and the whole thing from beginning to end blew us away! My ears were definately ringing after that! Then came Tear, which had great guitar harmonics to it. Billy crowed "Lost in motorcrash," the music going silent between lines. It was great. For Martha: this is such a beautiful song, and they made it better. It was softer and was sung with great emotion. The guitar riff at the end was awesome too.

Billy thanked us all for a great night and said farewell. They all exit stage left. But we did not want them to go. Everyone cheers, claps, stomps, and yells for five minutes until the stage lights come back on and James walks out. He thanks us again and introduces representatives from Elon Homes, the charity they were sponsoring. James makes a speech (the most I've ever heard him talk) and hands the microphone over to the head person from Elon. He tells what Elon Homes does and states that the concert earned $103,000! Tons of cheers follow this, as the rest of the band enter the stage. He then says that the mayor of Charlotte came out to Elon and declared August the 6th, 1998 Smashing Pumpkins Day! We go wild! They give bags of stuff to the band in thanks and leave. They then pick up their instriments and James says "And now...back to the rock!"
They break into 1979, giving our ears another reason to keep ringing. everyone sings along, having a blast! It was a lot harder than the MCIS version. It rawked!

Afterwards, Billy tells us that the next song they'll play will be the 25 minute version of it, but for us they'll play the 23 minute version. They break into Joy Division's Transmission. Half of it was guitar solo, and the other half was Billy singing lines over & over, groovin' out to the music, dancing a jig. He even played his guitar with his microphine! The whole thing was so much fun, for us and the band!! At the end...man, it was so surprizing! Billy goes to the front of the stage and picks three people to take the band's places for the end of the song! Two guys play D'arcy & James' parts and a girl plays for Billy. The band leaves in the wake of their own feedback and the playing of the three lucky fans. The whole croud goes nuts and rushes to the front of the stage! And it ends! Wow!

A couple of highlights (other than the music):
1.) During one tune, a beach ball covered in Pumpkins labels gets thrown on the stage. Billy sees it & later kicks it to the center of the stage. Later on, James comes up on it and holds his guitar like a golf club, takes a few practice swings, and hits it off of the stage into the audience! It was soooo cool!
2.) During the end of Stumbeline, Billy forgot the last four lines and improvised them. It was halarious! "And this is the end of the song," he sang on the last line, smiling. The whole show can be described in one word: perfection! The crowd had a blast, and I think the Pumpkins did too. It was an expierence that I'll never forget!