Billy Corgan had a much better time in Pittsburgh than he did the previous night in Buffalo.

He launched the Smashing Pumpkins acoustic-electro tour up north Monday in a room with a bar in the back, and he spent the early, quieter part of the set competing with the chatter and scolding fans.

This short tour's mission seemed to work much better Tuesday in the theater setting of the Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead in Munhall, with the exception of it being June and there being hard, wood seats and no air-conditioning.

Corgan, who's never lacked for self-confidence, has chosen to generously treat fans to two-and-a-half hours of Pumpkins/Zwan/solo songs, an approach ideally suited to the super fan and Corgan completist.

That's a long time to listen to the Chicago singer's scratchy voice and stripped-down versions of not terribly varied songs. He did mix up the formats, starting alone on piano with the hit "Tonight, Tonight" and slowly, gradually building up to three-fourths of the current Pumpkins (with Katie Cole and lead guitarist Jeff Schroeder) rocking with a drum machine for a suite of songs from the well-loved "Adore“ album, including the tribute to his late mother, "For Martha.” The crunchiest song of the night was the industrial "The Crying Tree of Mercury" from "MACHINA/Machines of God," complete with a shredding solo from Jeff that evoked Jimi.

In between, Corgan did some of the songs solo acoustic ("99 Floors," "Today"), duo acoustic ("A Stitch in Time" recalling Led Zep's "The Battle of Evermore") and duo electric ("Prairie Song" with the guitars crying).

Corgan joked about the struggle in Buffalo, saying, "I told them, "If the songs about my dead mother don't shut you up, maybe the ukulele will.'" That led into one of the jauntier tunes of the night in "Blissed and Gone."

"You've been a fantastic audience," he said. "Thanks for not talking."

Most behaved and stayed throughout -- through the Zwan songs and concert rarities like "Jersey Shore" and "My Poor Troubled Heart" -- and were rewarded with nearly full-blown versions of favorites like “1979" and "Ava Adore," a Corgan karaoke session with the singer dancing with the mike to Schroeder and a drum-and-bass track. He also did his best Stevie Nicks on the faithful cover of "Landslide."

After opening the encore with the rarely played "Siamese Dream" track "Spaceboy," he said, "I'm just trying to please everyone now: wash your guitar, lend you some money." When a guy hollered "Play something from 'Gish'!," the duo did a comical medley of the guitar intros to every song from the album, prompting Corgan to comment. "It's amazing how many of the songs have to do with LSD."

Like that psychedelic experience, the Smashing Pumpkins Acoustic-Electro gig was a marathon session -- one that was surely cosmic for the big Pumpkin fan and a bad trip for the easily bored, the restless, the claustrophobic and the people who don’t think Billy Corgan warrants two-and-a-half hours.

Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com; 412-263-2576.

SET LIST

Tonight, Tonight

99 Floors

Today

My Poor Troubled Heart

Freedom Ain't What It Used to Be

For Your Love

Drum + Fife

A Stitch in Time

Mayonaise

Prairie Song

Jersey Shore

Sparrow

Perfect

To Sheila

Behold! The Night Mare

For Martha

Blissed and Gone

Ava Adore

Now (And Then)

The Crying Tree of Mercury

1979

Run2Me

Pinwheels

Stand Inside Your Love

Landslide

Encore:

Spaceboy

’Gish’ medley

El-A-Noy

First Published: June 17, 2015, 4:56 a.m.