The Smashing Pumpkins 1992-08-29

August 29, 1992 – Reading, UK
Live performance by The Smashing Pumpkins
Artist	The Smashing Pumpkins
Date	August 29, 1992
Festival	Reading and Leeds festivals
Venue	Little John's Farm
Coordinates	51°27′47″N 0°59′23″W
Location	Reading, UK
Venue type	Festival
Capacity	65,000
Personnel	Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'arcy Wretzky, Jimmy Chamberlin
Order of bands	Therapy?, Buffalo Tom, Thousand Yard Stare, Rollins Band, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Farm, Manic Street Preachers, Ride, Public Enemy
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August 29, 1992 was The Smashing Pumpkins' first appearance at the Reading Festival. James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky reportedly ended their romantic relationship either just before or after the show, and the band almost broke up entirely. Billy Corgan smashes his guitar at the end of the set, apparently striking the president of Virgin Records in the head. Corgan was very unhappy with the band's performance and the technical problems endured throughout the show, telling Select magazine that "we were so awful it was disgusting".

Full performance

Setlist

1. "Geek U.S.A." (Suicide Kiss) 
2. "Rocket" 
3. "Bury Me" 
4. "Window Paine" 
5. "Hello Kitty Kat" 
6. "Kill Your Parents" 
   1. "Siva" [8:42] 
7. "Hummer" 
8. "I Am One" [4:56] 

Banter

BC: Bonjour. ... Are you ready?! No, are you ready?
Geek U.S.A.
> Rocket
Bury Me
> Window Paine
(At the end of Window Paine, Billy swings his guitar like a baseball bat and knocks over his and Iha’s mic stands)
BC: Sorry, I had a temper tantrum.
Iha: Sorry. Uh, it's great to be here in England and uh, good to see all you people out here. Heh, heh heh. (crowd yelling) What's that you're saying? Heh heh.
(crowd yelling more)
BC: We're from America, we don't understand English.
Iha: One step beyond.
BC: This is a song called Hello Kitty Kat.
Hello Kitty Kat
Iha: Thank you.
Kill Your Parents
> Siva
(BC alt lyrics: All this pain smothers me like a bomb that you can’t see. Tell me, tell me what you’re after. I just wanna get there faster. I just wanna get there faster. I just wanna fuck around. Like a clown. What you give is what you take. And all the love is what you make. Gimme, gimme what I want. Gimme, gimme what I want. (back into hard ending))
BC: So, we've come all this way to be out of tune.
D’arcy: Steven, I need my guitar, my other guitar, please.
BC: We apologize for disorganizational skills. This is our song called Hummer. (Jimmy begins drums) And it goes something like this .
Hummer
BC: Thank you for listening. We love you, even though we're awful. Thank you for coming.
> I Am One
(At the end of I Am One, Billy again uses his guitar like a baseball bat to knock over his mic stand, before smashing the guitar entirely)
MC: Smashing Pumpkins. He’s obviously a Leeds supporter ‘cause it’s Leeds 1, Liverpool 2. Seven minutes to go. [tape cuts]

Photos and memorabilia

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Videos

~8 minute clip