Pages tagged “smashing pumpkins”

There was something off about the Smashing Pumpkins’ second of two sold-out hometown shows on its so-called Twentieth Anniversary Tour-- in particular, the math. The lineup performing that night only had half the original members, and if you subtract the band's 2000-2006 hiatus, its time “together” totals a mere 14 years. Then there's the bizarre fact that it took Billy Corgan and company two years to return home for a show.

Just when Chicagoans were beginning to think Billy Corgan doesn't love us anymore, the Smashing Pumpkins have announced their 20th Anniversary Tour with four dates in the Windy City-- one for each of the times they've shunned us on previous tours. (The closest the Pumpkins have come to playing in Chicago since announcing their reunion three years ago right here was this summer's appearance at Indiana's Horseshoe Casino, which isn't just kinda-not-Chicago; it's not even in Illinois.)

Reaffirming that Neil Young really does have a "Heart of Gold," the venerable singer/songwriter will once again headline the 2008 Bridge School Benefit concert, in honor of the California school he co-founded to provide assistance for children with severe physical and speech impairments.

The Smashing Pumpkins will release their new single, “G.L.O.W.,” as part of the Guitar Hero: World Tour video game, before releasing it to the public.

Forego the infinite sadness, because you've been invited to one of the best birthday parties of the year. The Smashing Pumpkins, celebrating two decades as a band, plan to embark on two rounds of tours this year: a run in August playing "unique sets and songs" at mostly small venues followed by a larger-venue, big-city set of shows. Dates for the latter have been slated for New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, Billboard reports.

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan recently discussed the band's lawsuit against Virgin Records for allowing the use of their songs in Pepsi and Amazon.com commercials. "I'm sure they indicated to Pepsi that they had a right to do this, full well knowing they do not have the right," Corgan said told Billboard.

The band filed a lawsuit last week against Virgin stating that the company's commercial appropriation “irreparably harmed” Smashing Pumpkins' “reputation and goodwill” with their fans. Although several ads featuring Pumpkins songs surfaced during the band's five-year hiatus, the band's main quarrel lies with unauthorized uses of its music.

This suit comes on the coattails of a long and hard-fought feud between the Pumpkins and Virgin, a company Corgan says has shown a consistent lack of respect for the band's body of work. “They've atrophied the [Pumpkins] catalog down so low that they probably hope we'll crawl back and ask for cash.”

Related links:
SmashingPumpkins.com
VirginRecords.com
AP: Smashing Pumpkins sue Virgin Records

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

[Above: Billy Corgan]

A mysterious fan death marred a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Vancouver this past Monday (Sept. 24). The Toronto Star reports that concertgoers dragged a young man's body from a packed crowd at Vancouver's PNE Forum. The cause of death was not immediately clear, but it appears the fan got sucked into a mosh-pit while crowd-surfing.

One eyewitness told Vancouver's News1130 Radio that the young man fell while crowd-surfing and "when he came out, he was lifeless."

The Edmonton Journal reports that the fan was a 20-year-old native of nearby Richmond, British Columbia. His body did not appear to have any external bruises or other injuries, as one might expect. A coroner is currently investigating the incident.

PNE spokeswoman Laura Ballance expressed the venue's grief over the incident and reiterated PNE's "three strikes, you're out" policy when it comes to crowd-surfers.

"Regardless of how it happened, a 20-year-old who came to enjoy a night of music is gone," Ballance said. "It's extremely sad and very tragic."

The Smashing Pumpkins are still on a lengthy North American tour that will last through mid-November. Tour dates can be found on their MySpace page.

UPDATE (9/28, 3:34 p.m.): The Toronto Globe and Mail gives the young man's name as Kenny Leung. Vancouver's regional coroner has conducted an autopsy, and reports that Leung did not die of injury in the concert mosh-pit. He's currently awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine what the cause of death might have been. Thanks to Pitchfork for the link.

Related Links:
Paste: Billy Corgan Wants His Pumpkins Back
SmashingPumpkins.com
Video from the PNE Performance (YouTube)

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.

Dischord: One Album, Two Opinions

Smash Hit!

By David Marchese

Ignore the fact that without founding members James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky, Zeitgeist is a new Smashing Pumpkins record in name only. Ignore the fact that the album would’ve had to have been released over a decade ago for its title to feel remotely deserved. Ignore the fact that Billy Corgan’s post-Pumpkins output has barely reached the level of inane. The only thing you should pay attention to on Zeitgeist is the music—and it’s pretty darn good. Zeitgeist finds Corgan embracing his big-rock tendencies for the first time in years. Catchy, riff-driven tracks like “Bring the Light” and “Come On (Let’s Go)” explode in Technicolor, full of strong choruses and dense with mega-ton guitar-synth bombast. And instead of the wearying cars-and-girls sentiments of the classic-rock it recalls, Zeitgeist offers perfectly inoffensive ruminations on politics and self-affirmation that fit nicely with the music’s ecstatic onslaught. Zeitgeist may not be smart, tasteful or timely, but it is well-wrought stadium rock for people who like a little satori with their guitar solos. And as such, its stoned, immaculate grandiosity fills a void that’s been empty since Siamese Dream.

Smash It!

By David Mead

I don’t know about you, but it still scares the poop out of me. Two measures of Jimmy Chamberlain’s yeomanic drumming collide with one hard yank of Billy Corgan’s E string and the demons of Hell arise. Slashes of barbed guitar noise, them crazy jungle rhythms and the whiny voice of a little brother on meth envelop us. “Doomsday Clock...” Hell yeah! And then, with the flick of a paradiddle, time abruptly runs out on the Smashing Pumpkins’ sixth album. Zeitgeist might be the most extroverted work of Corgan’s career, the long-awaited call to arms for fans of Gish and Siamese Dream. There’s even a song called “Come On (Let’s Go)”, which would be great news if its author didn’t seem to get so damned bored with the concept about halfway through. It’s as if the pot finally kicked in around “Starz” (track six), leaving Billy and Jimbo to giggle away with their panning nobs and multi-colored foot pedals. For once, Corgan’s infamous narcissism seems to fail him, and we’re left with the troubling image of a rock star in priest’s robes wondering why he couldn’t save us again.

The Smashing Pumpkins will play their first show in six and a half years on May 22nd, 2007, at the Grand Rex in Paris, France, kicking off what is now a mostly-European tour with a few stops currently planned for North America (and more US dates in the works).

After cementing their position as an alternative music powerhouse in the 1990s with albums like Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the Pumpkins have proven to be less prolific in the new millennium, releasing their last proper LP and playing their last show to date in 2000.

In addition to the upcoming tour, the band will release Zeitgeist, their first album of new songs since Machina, on July 7th, 2007, debuting much of the material on the road in the weeks before.

As of now, tour dates include:

May:
22 - Paris, France @ Grand Rex
28 - Landgraaf, Netherlands @ Pinkpop
31 - Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound Festival

June:
2 - Nurburgring, Germany @ Nurburgring Race Track
3 - Nuremberg, Germany @ Zeppelinfeld
9 - Lisbon, Portugal @ Super Rock
12 - Madrid, Spain @ Las Ventas
15 - Nickelsdorf, Austria @ Nova Rock
16 - Imola, Italy @ Heineken Jammin' Festival
17 - Intrlaken, Swtzerland @ Greenfield Festival

August:
5 - Washington, DC @ V Festival at Pimlico Park
24 - Leeds, England @ Leeds Festival
26 - Reading, England @ Reading Festival

September:
8 - Toronto, Ontario @ V Festival

Related links:
The Smashing Pumpkins’ official website
Smashing Pumpkins on MySpace
Starla.org’s Smashing Pumpkins fansite listing
Pitchfork – “Smashing Pumpkins Reveal Album Title, Release Date”

April 5 marks the date that the entire Smashing Pumpkins catalog will be available in the digital domain for the first time. The band has been waiting and watching the regulation of digital music to ensure their fans receive proper access to the Pumpkins’ music in the most reliable and fair formats. The band has cranked out an impressive 227 songs in its 10-year existence. All the official album releases are here as well as 114 non-album tracks, including rare imports, long-out-of-print songs, obscure covers, soundtrack releases, vinyl-only B-sides and limited editions.

Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan worked closely with Virgin/EMI on this project (while simultaneously preparing to release his solo debut TheFutureEmbrace). The Smashing Pumpkins campaign extends to traditional retail, as well, with special CD-sale pricing on the band’s catalog for a limited time.

All major DSPs, including Apple iTunes, Real/Rhapsody, MusicMatch, Napster, Sony Connect, WalMart.com, MusicNet/AOL and MSN will generate customized visibility promotions for Smashing Pumpkins’ digital launch. In addition, previously unavailable live and concept video will drive promotions on major internet-service providers.