~What’s the point that comment about this concert from someone who wasn’t present in it? So much rhetoric just to justify a tantamount whatever mental prejudice on top of a pointless question. This isn’t even about what was the best concert. It’s not even about that. This is about the whole atmosphere and atmospheric moment that happened there. And obviously it’s mostly those who were there that can make justice to it, because, definitely, these recordings do not make justice to the real sound of the concert since they weren’t professional. Still, for those who were there, like me, these recordings suffice to make you travel in time.
You may have a glimpse of it by doing the following. When I was listening to the tracks, there is one in particular that again made me feel that unique vibe of that night and probably the peak moment of the concert. Whist listening to it I couldn’t help feeling a chill, frisson or goosebump, to the point of having tears falling on my face in a mix of remembrance and pure love. That is track number 10 – Disarm. Hit it and you may drink the vibe of a moment when everybody was chanting and shouting. The rain was drizzly, so it wasn’t actually pouring, although it had moments. But the heat of the concert with the heat from the hearts was such, that the drizzle was a blessing. I mean, again, there are no words.
That’s why I ask tapedatshow, what are you trying to do with all that dialectic of yours? Do you have any idea when you said “shows where the band played particularly powerful versions of certain songs, were at the peak of their technical powers, and where the performance maybe even featured encores or rarities which hadn't been done before.” Man… were you there at this concert. You speak about power. Were you there? You weren’t simply. And forget these recordings to make justice to it. As said before, they are not professionally HQ. Intellectually assessing something you didn’t experience nor witnessed and at the same time giving a sense of inferiority to it by comparing to other that might have been better is very misleading and even arrogant.
In Billy Corgan’s own words, that concert was outstanding for whatever reasons. That’s it. It’s not about what’s the best concert. Surely there were many excellent ones, I don’t know which best, again that’s not the point. But what’s outstanding is just the moment, which for the Band, was also unique. Just for your information, that bullfighting ring exits no more. Buildings are now being built there as of Jan 2021. As I was saying, the moment was unique, because the Band almost cancelled the concert. A week before almost no tickets were sold (meaning their expectation of audience was pretty meagre). Then what came to happen was just the magical, because, yes, Portuguese many a times leave everything to the last minute. Then, 1996 was the year when definitely the whole buzz around Smashing Pumpkins was really peaking. And on the concert’s day, afternoon, I had friends desperately trying to arrange tickets. It was full. All tickets sold.
Who are we to say which concert was the best, other than the Band members themselves?
And yes. Peaks of exhilarating bliss, success and fame, go hand in hand with otherwise peaks of perdition if one doesn’t hold it, as we have seen throughout the course of many bands pitfall relating drugs and alcohol. You have to be wise enough to manage the energy received and triggered in certain moments and concerts. Definitely this one was one of them. No wonder the story of Jimmy Chamberlin and Jonathan Melvoin taking into account whatever tendencies each might nourish at a time.
And also yes my friend, yes. As awkward as it may sound, when you wonder “Listened to on its own, Billy's end-of-show comments that ‘of all the concerts we've played so far, this is the best one we've had’ stick out as kind of awkward.” …yeah, it’s kind of awkward isn’t it. Were you there?
You know what. I don’t know the other concerts of Smashing Pumpkins alive in person. I know this one. And you can try to bring down, diminish its whatever it was, by comparing with other concerts you might deem better. You think whatever you want to think, but what it’s impossible for you to do is to wipe off that moment in time when that concert happened. It was what it was.
Just hit track 10 and open you heart. You’ll see not with your eyes but with your heart.

This concert was not about how they played or if they played better than on any other show. Was the atmosfere, was truly magical, you cant explain. I was there, i felt it and everyone else felt it, so the band felt it. I understand Billy when he says it was the best he had. It was transcendental. Who wasnt there doesnt understand. Its the only concert that keeps vivid in my mind and spirit, after 35 years of concert on history. I really hope that The Smashing Pumpkins edit this concert.

The story about this show being the band's "best ever" stems from fan interpretations of a response that Billy Corgan gave in an interview to Q101 radio at the United Center in Chicago on 11/29/00. The interview is available online via clips on youtube, as well as on archive as a bonus track to the 11/29/00 show.

In the context of the interview, the question was "Was there one night in particular, one show, that you think, that was just...that can never be re-created, that was magical?" Corgan responded with two gigs, with this show in Lisbon being one of them. The other performance he mentioned was a Chicago show from 1990 (7/26/90) where the band played in front of a room full of label reps. Regarding that Chicago show, Corgan mentioned that it was significant because the band knew that if they didn't put on a great show that it would be their last chance to get signed. A recording for that gig doesn't circulate, but I'm sure that if we heard it, it would indeed be a good one. Although, I do wonder whether that sort of thing lends itself more to what Corgan considered to be "milestone" gigs in the band's history, as opposed to what one might otherwise think of as the band's "best" performances.

Listen to the recording of the Lisbon show here (which really isn't that bad for an audience recording; certainly not the worst I've ever heard), and yes it's a well-played show with the band in good spirits. That being said, given the caliber of shows that that band had been playing going back to January, I really don't think this show is anywhere near the band's "best ever" (a phrase, by the way, that neither the interviewer nor Billy ever used in the interview to describe this gig). Honestly, it's not even the best of the MCIS tour. Sure, it is great to hear the audience sing along to all of the songs, and the fact that it was played in a bullring during a rainstorm in a country that they'd never been to makes for an interesting mental picture, but the performance itself is a pretty straightforward run-through of the standard MCIS set. No real surprises in the main set or the encores, save for maybe Muzzle, which is a particularly good version. Also, the show certainly isn't without its hiccups. At one point, Corgan admits that his voice was "totally shot", while D'Arcy has to leave the stage momentarily to use the bathroom due to a stomach bug. Then there is the setlist itself, which lacks any songs from Gish (although, apart from early shows, most MCIS gigs lacked songs from the first album), and features the inconsistently performed mellow rework of Mayonaise, and the "is this song going to keep going on forever?" obligatorily stretched out version of Silverfuck (although to be fair, when this new version worked out well, it was fantastic. Here it's okay, just not the best version they did - do look for the reference to the Velvet Underground's Sweet Jane during the "I put her in a box" section). Maybe it's personal preference, but when I think of the "best" shows, I think of shows where the band played particularly powerful versions of certain songs, were at the peak of their technical powers, and where the performance maybe even featured encores or rarities which hadn't been done before.

It's also telling that if you listen to the interview, Corgan gives this show high marks for pretty much everything BUT the band's actual performance. He mentions the circumstances regarding how they had almost canceled the show a week before due to poor ticket sales (only 700 sold out of 12,000), but that they went on the faith of their manager that the ticket sales would improve (which they did), and that on the day of the show it was raining and yet the audience were still enthusiastic, standing in the rain and singing along to every song. He makes special mention that the Portuguese are the best audiences that he's ever played to and that they sing along to every song, no matter how obscure. It makes for a great backstory, no doubt, but when taken as a review of the show, I think it sounds more like "it was a good day at the office", as opposed to "that was the best performance we ever gave".

Had Billy never given the interview pointing this show out, I honestly doubt that anyone would've paid attention to it anymore than any other show from this leg of the tour. Listened to on its own, Billy's end-of-show comments that "of all the concerts we've played so far, this is the best one we've had" stick out as kind of awkward. Sure, it's a good performance, but it wasn't THAT good. Moreover, I think that the context of the quote makes it clear that what Billy was really saying is that he thought that the Lisbon show was the best of the shows that the band had played so far on that European tour, which of course isn't the same thing at all as saying that he thought that it was the best show that the band had ever given.

Anyway, have a listen and decide for yourself. For this era, I would still take the January-February Club Tour as being the best of the era. For the European tour, I would go with the French shows from 4/27 and 4/28 as being more interesting (and better sounding) gigs.

For some additional context, it is worth noting that it was right after this show in Lisbon that Jimmy Chamberlin and Jonathan Melvoin had their second overdose incident, with both of them being taken to a local hospital for adrenaline shots to the heart. Billy had already warned Melvoin after the first overdose in Thailand in February that he would be fired if there was another incident. Per Billy's interviews after Jonathan's death, it was after the Lisbon overdose that Corgan officially fired Melvoin, but agreed to let him finish the European tour. After the Euro tour ended, Corgan let Melvoin stay in the band after all, figuring that he had learned his lesson. As history would show, unfortunately he hadn't. So, in that regard, this show in Lisbon does have an added, albeit tragic, significance to it.

Three stars for energy, track list, and flat recording. Audio is listenable, but dull and colorless. Still, 3 stars for the show. Thanks for the upload.

Best show ever in Billy's words...