Having narrowly escaped a brush with death in a suburban Adelaide robbery and showcased to a swag of international delegates at Brisbane’s Big Sound Festival days later, Australian indie rock outfit City Riots have proved that it does indeed come in threes. The band today confirmed they’ll be hitting the national stage as main support for legendary US alternative rock outfit The Smashing Pumpkins next month after being hand picked by Billy Corgan himself.
“I got a tip off from our producer in Chicago that Billy had heard the songs… and I guess he took it from there” says front man Ricky Kradolfer, on the phone to Music Feeds earlier today. He is of course referring to acclaimed producer Bjorn Thorsrud, who’s previously worked with, you guessed it… The Smashing Pumpkins (along with Dandy Warhols, Iggy Pop, Whitesnake) and with whom City Riots recorded their debut LP last year.
Receiving the news yesterday via their New York based manager, Kradolfer says he was disbelieving at first, but upon today’s official announcement, let the news sink in. “We worked on the album for so long and it still hasn’t been released, so it’ll be nice to play these songs for the first time to a reasonable number of people, in some really great venues” he reflects.
So are City Riots mad Pumpkins fans? “We started taking more of an interest in the Smashing Pumpkins when we were making the record because Bjorn worked with them and would give stylistic suggestions, and say things like ‘Oh Billy likes this, check it out.’ From there I really started to take the time to re-listen to their back catalogue with new ears… They’re really great albums, etched into time in the world of rock and roll.”
This tour comes in the middle of yet another American trip for the band, “There will be a bit of back and forth travel across the world, yes” laughs Ricky. Booked in to play FILTER Magazine’s Culture Collide festival in LA alongside The Bronx, Klaxons and Black Keys, the band will then have to leg it back to Australia to tour with Pumpkins and make it back to the states in time for CMJ Festival in New York City at the end of October. Busy month.
There’s no doubt the band have come a long way since being unearthed by Triple J in 2008 and embarking on constant self-funded national and international tours since. “It’s pretty exciting for a relatively unknown band from Adelaide to be supporting one of the most influential bands in the world…” agrees Ricky. “It sure beats the hell out of being held up by knifepoint at the post office. So things are starting to look up.”
The Smashing Pumpkins and City Riots will tour to:
Tuesday 12 October – Riverside Theatre, Perth
Wednesday 13 October – The Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Friday 15 October – Festival Hall, Melbourne
Saturday 16 October – Big Top, Sydney
Sunday 17 October – The Tivoli, Brisbane
