It would be interesting if each reviewer stated if they where sitting down in the Arena or standing. I was standing pretty close, and this was a perfect show, I couldn't have wished for more.

The sound quality on the guitars was incredible throughout, and Billy's vocals hit a level of excellence I would never expect to hear in a live show. He lived up to his own self-hype last night, he was just unbelievable. If you experienced a muddy sound or it was excruciatingly loud at point, then that is a fault from the sound engineers at the M.E.N Arena.

'Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans' was an outstanding opening track; in-fact, the whole set-list worked surprisingly well, considering the range of the material. The reworking of several hit songs where also a great treat, and in all cases I believe that they topped the original recordings. The entire band was incredibly tight, and for moments they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I'm sorry to hear others didn't have the same experience as I did, and I hope that the Smashing Pumpkins where not disheartened when it was over - because many people where incredibly grateful.

It was well worth £30; great value for money, I would pay treble that amount if I had to. It is just a shame that touts quickly bought out a large portion of the tickets - in fact, tickets where sold out on many sites, yet (I was told) that the Arena was only half-full.