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.
