Smashing Pumpkins the eye of the storm. Billy whips his guitar, the band follow. Then the audience – each in their own way. The younger crowd who Billy acknowledges wouldn’t have even been born when Mayonnaise was first written, they bop and scream. Older members are just keen to mosh to any song that’s from the “old days”. Never did I ever imagine that I’d ever see a pit form for 1979. The strength of feeling that the Pumpkins evokes spans many eras now.

Even the tee’s at the merch stall reflect this. Siamese Dream hearts, Mellon Collie’s iconic Zero tees – right up to present day. A massive fan base who all got on the bus at different points. I was hooked as soon as a I saw Bullet with Butterfly wings on MTV. The band playing in shiny decadent clothing amongst miners caked head to toe in mud. Who then get released by the rain. The strangeness of it hooked me for life. Each fan wants their own way of marking the occasion.

One huge guy holds his phone in front of me for the entire three-minute duration of 1979. I want to hit him HARD for impeding the songs beauty. We all have our own adoration. Weezer even pay tribute before the Pumpkins arrive by playing “Celebrity Skin” by Hole. A song that Billy wrote. They roar into life with the distorted juggernaut of “Everlasting gaze”. Billy looks lean and vampiric in a black cassock with red buttons.

There are question marks – like when they roll into a cover of Zoo Station by U2. But you have to applaud the confidence with which they pull it off. They do what they want. The crowd go up a gear when Billy frees the initial chime of “Today” from Siamese Dream. It feels like a carefree summer. All these songs connect to some private internal world for each audience member that they hold dear. “Thru the eyes of Ruby” is Pumpkins at their very best.