At 8:00 PM on July 22, 1998, the large crowd at the Cleveland H.O.R.D.E. festival went absolutely crazy!  That is when the greatest band of all time took the stage.  The Smashing Pumpkins came out and put on a hell of a show! 

D'Arcy was on the left wearing a black fish net top, tight black pants that had red streaks on them and her black head band with horns.  Billy was in the center wearing a black long sleeve dress shirt and black dress pants.  James, on the right, was wearing the same as Billy, but had a black top hat early on, but that was tossed a little bit into the show.  On the far right was a big bald fella (Mike Garson?) playing the piano.  Behind Billy was Kenny Aranoff, who had a shaved head and weird lookin yellow glasses on.  There were two more percussion guys, each on opposite sides of Kenny. 

Everyone did a terrific job and put the most into their allowed hour and fifteen minutes that they could!  Most of the Adore songs were similar to the studio versions, but with Kenny's added drumming, they seem more like rock songs than they were before. 

Set-List and Song Desriptions:

To Sheila (electric)
They opened with a piano and guitar intro that led into an electric version of To Sheila which made the crowd go crazy!  The best parts of the song was when the drums came storming in on the second verse and when Billy sang "Stong as I feel" and just stretched 'feeee-eeeeelllllll' long, it was great!  Drums added alot more to this song, but it is still similar to the studio version. 

Dusty and Pistol Pete (electric)
After To Sheila, they went into a small percussion solo then into the electric version of Dusty and Pistol Pete.  This was very similar to the studio version.  Then near the end of the song, there was another similar percussion solo added (sounds the same as the one before the start of the song) 

Ava Adore (electric)
After Dusty and Pistol Pete, they played an altered electric version of Ava Adore.  It seemed quicker and didn't last all that long, except for a weird piano solo in the middle of the song.  The new guitar verse at the beginning was more of a heavier and harder song than the studio version.  It also had a fairly long drum/guitar/piano outro strapped to the end of it. 

Perfect (electric)
After Ava Adore, they played an electric version of Perfect.  But it still sounds similar to the studio verson, but maybe faster.  The drumming added alot to this song, to make it seem faster.

Thru the Eyes of Ruby (electric)
Perfect was then followed by another altered song, and the first MCIS song of the night, Thru the Eyes of Ruby.  This new version had extra-long guitar solos added between each verse.  The unique thing about this song was that when Billy was singing "The Night has Come", we all could se a huge black cloud making it's way over to us, as it seemed to be answering Billy's command!  Then at the end of the song, they played a very very long guitar solo.  After the song was over, with the crowd going nuts, Billy spoke for the first time (excluding singing) and gave us a "Thank You, Thank you very much".  I am really not sure if he was trying to be like Elvis?!   

Blank Page (electric)
After that, they went into a very long piano solo that led into Blank Page.  Billy sang this song in a voice that I have never heard him sing before!  It was as weird as I ever heard him!   After singing with the weird voice, he started to 'switch' between his 'regular' and 'new'!  Then the cloud from Thru the Eyes of Ruby made its way to the crowd and brought bad weather including lighting and heavy rain.  But Billy's voice left no room for the lighting to be heard!  The crowd was running, trying to get out of the rain and lighting.  It seemed like something out of the ordinary!  It was totally fantastic!  I was then able to sneak from the lawn under to the pavillion, where I got a seat that was about 15 rows back, but the view was perfect!  There was a guitar solo added to the end of this song while the storm continued to bother us [in fact, it stormed for the rest of the night :-( ]

Tonight, Tonight (acoustic)
Billy then spoke to the crowd and said, "Thank you so much, Thank you.  Thank's alot to Blues Traveler and H.O.R.D.E. Festivel for having us.  How's everybody doing?  You havin' a good day?  So we like to send this next song out to you.  Hope you have an enjoyable rest of your evening.  You know those harmonicas they go right through your skull...harmonics...psshh"  Billy knew that he messed up and when he corrected himself while saying "harmonics...psshh", he slapped his palm on his forehead as to call himself an idiot!  That was kinda funny! 

Then they started with Tonight, Tonight.  It was very good and the drumming was also neatly done.  Billy and James played with acoustic guitars and it was very quickly strummed.  It didn't last long, but it was fantastic!  Billy also used the Tonite Reprise verse, "And the embers never fade in my city by the lake, the place where I was born".  

Let Me Give The World to You (Billy-acoustic, James-electric)
After Tonight, Tonight, Billy once again spoke to the crowd.  It was still raining so he said, "Is it raining out there?  Is that the problem?  Well....at least you can look on the upside.  You know...when the rain comes down it washes all of our sins away..so..you're going to have to (???? i have no clue what he said here cause the crowd was too damn loud!)  They then played the yet-unrealeased Let Me Give the World to You.  It was a great song.  After the song Billy said, "Sorry, that was a nice song, I wasn't very good, but thank your very much"  I'd have to disagree!  They ALL did a fantastic job!

Percussion Jam
Billy, D'Arcy and James then left the stage.  Billy tossed his water bottle to a very lucky fan in the front row. Then came the percussion jam.  Those 3 guys were really getting into it!  The drumming going on was great!  Then Billy came out and put his hands above his head and started clapping with the drums.  The fans then did the same.  We started clapping faster and faster, keeping even with the drums, as was Billy!  We were clapping so fast that Billy purposely fell to the ground, still clapping!  That was another funny thing he did!  They then started the drum intro to BWBW!  Kenny would do a verse, then one of the other two perscussion guys would hit one of their things (cymbal, gong, swords, etc.) 

All-Out Jam (electric)
Then Billy, D'Arcy and James came back on to give an all-out jam!! 

During that, Billy played the beginning of "Zero", which seemed unnoticed by alot of people, 'cept me! and he also played the beginning of "Today" which received a huge uproar from the crowd!  They then just continued to tune their guitars to find their right sound for the next song. 

Bullet with Butterfly Wings (electric -  tribal version)
They then played right into the beginning of BWBW.  This was a new 'tribal' version, but it was still loud and great.  The beginning of this song was faster than the normal version.  Billy sang "Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in cage" each time with no instruments in the background.  His voice probably could be heard for miles!  They also added a guitar solo, much like they have in previous songs.   

Shame (electric)
Shame was next and was basically the same as the studio version, but with a long piano and drum intro.  This song also had a long guitar solo added to it. 

For Martha (electric)
They then closed with For Martha.  This song was the best of the night and was a perfect finisher!  It had a longer intro than the studio version.  The guitar solo at the end was extended and was absolutely amazing!  

Billy spoke to us one last time saying, "God bless you...thank you...good night..have a goodnight..thank you" and then the greatest band of all time, The Smashing Pumpkins left.  It was sad to see them go, but the concert was worth anything!
 

I hope you enjoyed my review and feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions, find something wrong or find a mistake that I need to fix!
 
tkalc