The Smashing Pumpkins have officially announced their long-rumoured reunion tour, after months of sneaky teasers and hints.
Three quarters of the band’s original lineup — frontman Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (sans bassist D’arcy Wretzky) — are set to tour the US between July and September, backed by longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
The tour’s title, the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour, was first teased by the band yesterday, and will be the first Pumpkins tour in almost 20 years to feature Corgan, Chamberlin and Iha on the same stage.
“Some 30 years ago, as The Smashing Pumpkins, James Iha and I began a musical journey in the cramped rear bedroom of my father’s house,” says Corgan.
“And so it’s magic to me that we’re able to coalesce once more around the incredible Jimmy Chamberlin, to celebrate those songs we’ve made together.
“This show and staging will be unlike any we’ve ever done, and will feature a set unlike any we’ve ever played. For if this is a chance at a new beginning, we plan on ushering it in with a real bang.”
The Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the band’s formation, and organisers say it will “highlight music from the group’s inception through 2000, and will exclusively feature material from their groundbreaking debut Gish through Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Adore and Machina“.
While there are no Australian dates just yet, you can head here for tour and ticket details, or watch the tour teaser video featuring original Siamese Dream album cover stars Ali Laenger and LySandra Roberts below.
While the Pumpkins’ reunion has been one of rock’s worst kept secrets, with leaked photos and hints aplenty, it has also enflamed tensions between Corgan and Wretzky, who have become involved in another public dispute over Wretzky’s non-involvement in the band’s reunion.
The dispute resulted in Wretzky giving her first media interview in 20 years earlier this week, in which she criticised Corgan and suggested he “may have a brain tumour”.
The interview took place after Wretzky shared a number of text messages which Corgan allegedly sent her about the Pumpkins’ reunion. Wretzky said she shared the messages “as proof to the many people who said that I was lying about ever being offered the job”, after Smashing Pumpkins denied her accusation that they withdrew a reunion offer which was supposedly put to her.
The reunited members of the band have also been working on new music, which is yet to surface.
