While it is by no means a reunion of the iconic alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan and his band are pitching themselves as the real thing, even though two of the original band members – bassist Darby Wretsky and guitarist James Iha – are not touring with Corgan.
Therefore, fans have actually gone to the shows not knowing Wretsky and Iha were not on the tour, and that’s wrong; it would be like The Rolling Stones touring without Keith Richards (yeah I know…) and Ron Wood. Read more about reaction to this controversy.
Nevertheless, Billy Corgan and Friends, as a local reporter called the band, sold out 10 shows at San Francisco’s historic Fillmore Theatre. Corgan apparently cannot lego his ego and decides to deceive fans.
Rumored to be ‘The Smashing Pumpkins’ last tour, tickets for all of the shows (the capacity of the venue is 1,500) were gone in one day and are now being scalped and sold on eBay and Craig’s List (which eBay owns 25% of) for four to ten times the original sale price.
So, if you are a real pumpkin head and you can’t get tickets for the San Francisco shows (listed below), make sure to stay tuned for announcements and check out concert dates here.
After missing out on getting tickets for the Fillmore shows in San Francisco, I was lucky enough to score a ticket for The Smashing Pumpkins playing in downtown Santa Cruz tomorrow, July 20. That’s so cool that the Pumpkins are playing Santa Cruz!
The venue, the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, is small and intimate and knowing Santa Cruz (which is only 14 miles away from my residence).
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The Smashing Pumpkins of Billy Corgan and friends are scheduled to headline, along with The Police (and an awesome line-up of indie and alternative artists) play at the 2007 Virgin Festival in Baltimore on August 5th.
Why are so many indie rock concerts held in the sweltering days of summer across the country and in Europe? Ahhh of course to sell more drinks!
Check out the Smashing Pumpkins also at indierocksongs.com and YouTube’s special series “Ask a Pumpkin”.
Smashing Pumpkins’ Links
– Smashing Pumpkins Official Website
– Smashing Pumpkins MySpace page
– Smashing Pumpkins YouTube videos
– Smashing Pumpkins Wikipedia entry
– Smashing Pumpkins TicketMaster
