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The Smashing Pumpkins Cover Joy Division With Peter Hook, Debut New Music in Mexico

The band is expanding its The World Is A Vampire festival for a 10-date run next month in Australia
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - MARCH 04: The Smashing Pumpkins band performing, during a festival The World is a Vampire at Foro Sol on March 4, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Medios y Media/Getty Images)

The Smashing Pumpkins launched their The World Is a Vampire Festival last night (March 4) in Mexico City and had a few surprises in store, including a cover of Joy Division’s “No Love Lost” with that group’s own Peter Hook to end the show.

The Pumpkins also debuted several tracks from their ambitious new release, Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts, including “Space Age,” “Moss,” and “The Good in Goodbye,” according to Setlist.fm. In addition, the ’90s alt-rock mainstays performed classics like “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” (whose lyrics provide the festival’s namesake) as well as “Cherub Rock,” “Ava Adore,” and a cover of the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime.”

The single-day event also featured a separate set from Hook and his band the Light, as well as appearances by Interpol, Turnstile, Deafheaven, the Warning, and Chelsea Wolfe, among others. The World Is a Vampire will live on next month, when it shifts to Australia for 10 dates with recent Pumpkins tourmates Jane’s Addiction and as Melbourne-based punk rockers Amyl & the Sniffers.

Meanwhile, the Pumpkins will release the final installment of Atum on April 21, with colored vinyl editions and a box set available for preorder on their official web site.