In 2005, Billy Corgan took out an advert in the Chicago Sun-Times that read: "I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams." Taking to a London stage for the first time since the Smashing Pumpkins imploded in 2000, he gets one of his wishes as he reclaims the grunge-prog behemoths' back catalogue over almost three hours.

However, only one of his old colleagues, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, is with him, as guitarist James Iha and bass player Melissa Auf der Maur opted out of the much-anticipated reunion. It's just the latest lineup change since the band began in 1988, and Corgan is typically rueful. "We are the Smashing Pumpkins, 2007," he says. "Mark four."

Wearing a flowing white robe, Corgan looks like a comic-book villain. Betwixt new guitarist Jeff Schroeder and bassist Ginger Reyes, also in white, Corgan lurches and plunges into United States, from the band's upcoming sixth album, Zeitgeist. But though the song has all the usual Pumpkins elements - uncompromising rhythm, a stinging solo and sneering vocals - the passion is missing.

Framed by a sinister black-and-white American flag and lights that look like heated towel racks, Corgan is distant and uncommunicative, the atmosphere flaccid. It's not until Shame, from 1998's Adore, that Corgan throws off his cape and starts to inhabit his songs. A four-song acoustic set reveals the tenderness behind his nasal whine - the melodic majesty of Disarm and Tonight, Tonight remains euphoric, and Hummer and Silverfuck writhe with evergreen intensity. Despite banter about David Beckham's arrival in America and a long, self-indulgent spot of fret-fiddling, after two encores the night is ultimately a victory of self-belief and unabashed pomposity.

· At Carling Weekend, August 24-26. Box office: 0870 060 3775.