Photo Credit: Cuffe and Taylor/The Piece Hall
The legendary Smashing Pumpkins‘ visit to Halifax as part of four UK outdoor headline events this summer was one of the most unexpected announcements of the 2025 Live from the Piece Hall series. The band was in full gear as they travelled to West Yorkshire following a productive warm-up in London.
An already packed Piece Hall welcomed White Lies to the stage. Their blend of indie, post-punk and synth could be mistaken as a mismatch, but it certainly works. Since their debut albums release back in 2009, the band has gained a cult following as their sophisticated sound has taken on new avenues over the years. A well suited addition to the line-up regardless, the band strived to entertain the Halifax crowd right from the off. Opening with ‘Nothing on Me‘, taken from their upcoming album ‘Night Light‘, followed by their highest charting single to date ‘Farewell to the Fairground‘ served as a well equipped introduction. Harry McVeigh accepted the applause that followed every song, thanking them for coming out early to the show before resuming with the remainder of the set. The bands’ highlights were for sure ‘To Lose My Life‘ and ‘Death‘, before rounding off their support slot with ‘Ritual‘ for good measure.
The stage was soon set for the main event. Arguably the biggest act to perform at The Piece Hall this year, The Smashing Pumpkins were about to step out for their Halifax debut. As two inflatable pillars took over the stage, a tremendous roar reverberated throughout the venue that could be heard across the town as the band made their way on to the stage. The cheers continued as they opened with ‘Glass’. A perfect warm-up to kick things off. It marked thirty years since ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ was released, a favourable record for many of their fans. Peaking at #4 in the UK Album Charts, it has been matched on two further occasions with their releases.
The first of nine tracks taken from the record was ‘Where Boys Fear to Tread’, with ‘1979’ getting the loudest response across them all. Fan favourites ‘Today’ and ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’ maintained the tension throughout the show, with the crowd beginning to let loose and match the bands energy on stage. Billy Corgan wasn’t afraid to make use of the space on stage, but it was no match for Kiki Wong’s presence, she went all out for every song.
Guitarist James Iha expressed his admiration for both the UK crowd but more importantly the architecture of The Piece Hall, a common theme that has been voiced from many of the acts this summer. The songs came rolling fast from then on, ‘Disarm’, ‘Tonight, Tonight’ and ‘Bodies’ all received overwhelmingly positive responses from the crowd, as expected. Corgan returned to praise the crowd for their support over the years, setting up the remaining two tracks. ‘Zero’ let in to ‘The Everlasting Gaze’ to cap off what was likely to be The Piece Hall’s highlight of 2025.
Taped Magazine 