Smashing Pumpkins announce semi-reunion tour, visit Phila. July 28
It’s been perhaps the worst kept secret in alternative rock history, but Thursday saw the announcement that three quarters of the original Smashing Pumpkins lineup would be reuniting for a tour. Frontman – and longtime sole founding member Billy Corgan – guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin are the musicians on board for the jaunt which kicks off July 12 in Glendale, Ariz.
The run is titled “Shiny And Oh So Bright” and tickets go on sale next Friday, February 23. It stops at the Wells Fargo Center July 28.
Rising to prominence in the early ‘90s on the wave of the grunge explosion, the Pumpkins saturated the airwaves with hits like “Today,” “1979” and “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.” The band fell apart at the turn of the millennia, but Corgan held onto the name, making it a glorified solo project for the most part. He famously took out full page ads out in his hometown Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times newspapers declaring “I want my band back” the same day his debut effort under his own name ‘TheFutureEmbrace’ was released in the summer of 2005.
Chamberlin was the lone returning original in 2007, while last year Iha joined for a series of Los Angeles gigs and in Chicago. Rumors abounded that a full-fledged reconvening was in the works with bassist D’Arcy Wretzky the wildcard. She left in 1999 amidst substance abuse accusations from the group, but had recently made amends with Corgan on a personal level.
Unfortunately, the past few months have been fraught with tension and public bickering between Wretzky and the group across social media. Corgan posted pictures of himself, Chamberlin and Iha in the studio together. Wretzky took offense and blasted the frontman in the media, accusing him of misleading fans about a reunion. As recently as this week, she delivered a series of text message images to Alternative Nation between herself and Corgan, none of which painted the leader in a positive light.
“I honestly think he may have a brain tumor,” Wretzky said in a particularly venomous interview with the magazine. “He’s always been insufferable.”
While there’s been a lot of hype surrounding the semi-reunion of the band, they may be overambitious in their choice of venues. It’s been quite some time since the Smashing Pumpkins headlined arenas, and without the full original lineup or even a modern gimmick – say, performing one of their classic albums in full – there’s a better than average chance it will tank.