For the fans of '90s alt-rock icons Smashing Pumpkins who decided they would take a beer or bathroom break any time they heard an obscure song, they probably missed a majority of the two-and-a-half hour plus performance by the band at the Midland Theater Tuesday night, their second of two straight performances in Kansas City. At times, they may have been better off for it. But most of the night, they got a taste of lesser-known tracks mixed with a few Pumpkins hits that let people know why the band is alive, kicking and relevent.

As Corgan strolled onto the stage in all-black garb (and a dress) to the booming industrial beat of "Ava Adore," rhe reached into a plastic jackolantern to throw glitter on the front row. It didn't help people fly around like Tinkerbell, but it did transport people to the Billy Corgan show, where what he says, does and plays goes. For the most part, it was a good thing.

The Pumpkins are missing founding guitarist James Iha and bassist D'arcy Wretzky, with Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin still on board. The current incarnation has grown exponentially in size. In addition to a more-than-capable replacement guitarist Jeff Schroeder and new bassist Ginger Reyes, there were another five additional members that included a couple of keyboard and horn players and a violinist. They added texture and thickness throughout much of the show while occasionally being drowned out during the heavier rock numbers.

According to early show reviews, Corgan has stuck to playing more obscure Pumpkins tracks that appealed more to the hardcore fans than the casual listener. But the more popular songs like "1979," "Cherub Rock" and a highly caffeinated version of the crowd favorite "Zero" were also woven in with a warning from Corgan: "It's a rare moment of familiarity. Enjoy it. It won't last."

Those familiar tracks pleased the 2,000 or so in attendance, but it definitely didn't send them into frenzy. Thanks to the theater's seats, much of the upper balcony (where I was sitting) remained seated through ambiguous tracks and stood in attention when they heard a more mainstream Pumpkins tune. At one point, it caused Corgan to address the crowd antagonizingly stating "You're like a town hall meeting."

Many of the night's highlights came in the set's first half in various forms. The first was many of the lighter songs between the hits, where laidback acoustic/electric rock with some icy guitar notes and psychedelic touches like "Sunkissed," "Soma" and "Song for a Son" came out the cleanest over the theater's sound system. The second was an usual amount of VH1 Storytellers-esque banter between Corgan and the crowd at the halfway mark. Corgan and Schroeder took requests and played bits of their own songs ("Geek U.S.A.") and another iconic '90s band (Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), all while occasionally busting out a playful Jack Johnson-style riff they simply named "Good Times." It went on for an unusually long time and Corgan commented how much he liked the playful back and forth with the Missouri crowd. He also admitted that his good mood may be due to the medicine he was taking to keep his cold and cough in check.

After finally playing a muddled cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" and a lushly orchestrated "Disarm," the show took a turn for the more obsure, jammy, playful and slightly self-indulgent.

Songs took on the form of hard rock improvisations, which allowed Chamberlin to display his muscular precision and Corgan and Schroeder to trade aggressive guitar squalls. But some songs sounded long-winded. Other songs featured enough tribal percussion that Corgan referred to the band jokingly as "The Chicago Sound Machine" while donning a top hat and shaking a pair of tambourines. At one point, the band sounded like they were simply playing scales as a song closer.

A two song encore followed with a "Zeitgeist" track "That's The Way (My Love Is)," which the band played acoustically to reveal the hard song's tender core, and "I Am One Pt. 2" off their early album "Gish." Before the final track, Corgan got serious, addressing fan complaints about the tour's setlists by saying "They're my f***ing songs" and "We've always been a pain in your a** and we'll always be a pain in your f***ing a**." Fortunately, the chance to see the Pumpkins continue to persevere is more pleasure than pain.