Results tagged “smashingpumpkins”

Billy Corgan put on a puppet show. Yes, you read that right, a puppet show named Gothageddon. It features appearances by -- among others -- a teddy bear ringside announcer, the bald one himself, Robert Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, and, wait for it, James Iha. All characters are voiced by Corgan, often rather hilariously. While we have been greatly disappointed by Corgan's output over the last few years, and with his insistence on squeezing every last penny he can out of the Smashing Pumpkins brand, we have to admit that Gothageddon proves that the dude does still have a sens of humor and for that we're grateful. And amused.

The Great Pumpkin has announced he'll release the next Smashing Pumpkins album -- all 44 projected tracks of it -- piecemeal online for free. Superfans can shell out for periodic EP packages of 4 songs each, and super-duper fans can buy a box set of the whole shebang once (if?) all 44 tracks are released.

We couldn't help but snicker when we saw that The Smashing Pumpkins a.k.a. the Billy solo show made #8 on The Independent's list of worst rock and roll comebacks. We still count ourselves fans, but Corgan is sorely testing our ability to even listen to ""Rhinoceros"* without cringing because his current antics continue to sour our appreciation for his band's past heights. (h/t HipstersUnited)

Sometimes you just get tired of working with rock stars...especially if you happen to be one. Instead of combing the Hollywood handbook of freelance musicians for new members, Smashing Pumpkins leader and sole remaining member Billy Corgan is putting out the word that the job of timekeeper is open to anyone who can sling a stick. From a press release received at the musically inclined Chicagoist office today:

             

[Ed. note: Lizz was our eyes and ears at this year's SXSW ... here's our last peek at what she saw.]

The Smashing Pumpkins just announced they will be playing a show at the Aragon Brawlroom on December 7. Supposedly the set will be unlike the cruddy ones they've been alternating between on the current tour, and will serve as a blow-out stand-alone concert. We're so pleased Corgan and crew have decided to put on a fan-pleasing show in a room with such pristine acoustics. Sorry Billy, we were really kind of pulling for you at the beginning there, but you've just worn us down to the point where we've just given up. [S-T]

The Smashing Pumpkins finally returned home last night and were predictably panned by both DeRo and Kot (were they sitting together in the balcony one wonders?). One of our readers wrote in to tell us the crowd was the problem though, including folks "playing with picture templates on their camera phones, screaming horribly at the most inappropriate times, and worst of all the whiny girl who sat behind us and spent the entire show talking." Were you there? What was your take? Is Billy Corgan off his rocker or are the fans really to blame?

Tickets for the Smashing Pumpkins' 20th Anniversary tour Chicago shows go on sale to the general public this Monday, October 13 at 10:00 a.m. They are:

Looking forward to hearing the new Smashing Pumpkins single, "G.L.O.W." (not to be confused with the G.L.O.W. we remember from our youth)? We hope you have an Xbox360, Wii, or Playstation 3. Capt. Corgan has announced the track will be packaged with two other older Pumpkins tracks ("1979" and "The Everlasting Gaze") on the upcoming video game, "Guitar Hero: World Tour." How avant-garde. Lucky players will also be able to play as Corgan, enabling them to live the dream of being a once-vital rock star who has kept wheezing well past his sell-by date.

We're gearing up for the stretch-run of Chicago's premier music fests, Pitchfork and Lollapalooza. But there are some pretty great shows still happening unrelated to those fests and lots of tickets going on sale or already available. It's too hot to mull it over any more, so here we go.

Oh Billy Corgan, are we on this list? Today the Smashing Pumpkins announced:

Ruben Zarate attempted to rob a muffler shop on the Northwest Side yesterday, but employees told him only their boss could open the safe, and he wasn't there. So Zarate gave them his phone number and told them to call when the boss got in. They called the police instead. Police wound up shooting Zarate when he returned to the store; he survived and is being charged with attempted armed robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer. [Trib]

It wasn't so terribly long ago that in order to watch any sort of semi-obscure Japanese cinema you'd have to be prepared to invest in a region-free DVD player and sit through discs with dubious subtitles (when they were subtitled at all). Even a filmmaker like Kurosawa wasn't immune. Luckily for cinephiles the situation has really changed, and access to Asian cinema in general is better than ever.

Each morning we're going to highlight five bands playing at Lollapalooza that we think are worth seeing. Some will be popular, some less known, but we believe they're all worth your time. And for those not making it to the festival itself, we'll round it out with an additional show going on after the grounds close down for the evening. The Switches We are sure we'll be cursing this band from England throughout the day....

We're a bit mystified that anyone is paying attention to the new Billy Corgan solo jawn Smashing Pumpkins album. OK, not really. Though Corgan has been largely written off as a joke in recent years, there is no denying his influence over the direction music took in the '90s. He led a band that appealed to everyone from gloom and doom goths to mainstream Abercrombie & Fitch-lovers by playing the disaffected heartstrings that lay within every teenager. Some blame him for the commercialization of the Alternative Nation, but we feel those folks are just griping because Corgan had the gall to reach for superstardom while admitting that was his goal all along.

Just in case you aren't tired of seeing Paris Hilton's entitled face plastered all over every news outlet around the world, the Smashing Pumpkins are making sure you have yet another reason to stare at her mug.

We haven’t seen this much talk about an album cover as art since LPs were phased out as the dominant form of music delivery. The artwork for Zeitgeist, the first album in seven years from a retooled Smashing Pumpkins, has been released. Graphic artist / illustrator Shepard Fairey was given the nod to create the cover for the band. Fairey has created album art before with such musicians as Flogging Molly, Less Than Jake, 311,...

Joshua Kuhl of Madison, Wis., and Simon Brown of Rockford, Ill., were charged with felony burglary on Tuesday for allegedly breaking into the Smashing Pumpkins’ rehearsal space and taking various items including publicity photos for the group’s next album.

Chicagoist needs to stop making bets that the Smashing Pumpkins will play Lollapalooza this year. With Pearl Jam already rumored to headline and the Pumpkins playing every fest known to man this summer, we thought that Billy Corgan would actually have some sort of allegiance to our fair town. Not so fast.

She’s Your Sister was formed in Chicago, but after logging in a bunch of shows and pretty much getting nowhere, they decided to hightail it to California. We know, we thought that was weird too. Why would a reasonably decent band willingly plunge into the morass that is the Hollywood/L.A. music scene, right?

This morning Billy Corgan announced to his myspace friends that the 6th album from the Smashing Pumpkins will be titled “Zeitgeist”. The post lists the strange drop date as July 7, 2007 – a Saturday. Is it a wedding gift for Eva Longoria or an opportune day for reunion fans still swooning about the past after The Police concerts at Wrigley to keep the nostalgia trip going with a purchase?

We realize we’re a bit late to the game on this one, but Illinois Entertainer recently published a list of the top 25 local albums of the last ten years. And we’re a bit surprised that it hasn’t inspired more discussion on their site. The usual suspects made the list with Wilco, Sea and Cake, Jim O'Rourke, Kanye and Smashing Pumpkins all making appearances. Local H seems to be the most glaring omission here, as...

Some days when Chicagoist is busy reading the trades, it’s almost enough to put us to sleep. Thank goodness for that that intravenous caffeine drip. Lately, these stories all have a “Chicago Connection”. From working with Jay-Z and Kanye West on his debut album to garnering three Grammy nominations, Lupe Fiasco has had some dreams come true. He’s decided to take Oprah’s advice and dream even bigger for what comes next. His high hopes include...

An unfortunate side effect to the blustery and icy wind is that our mailbox jams for the postal worker. We normally get started in the morning by popping in a movie to get the wheels turning and drinking exorbitant amounts of coffee to shake off those gin and tonics from the night before. We imagine our postal worker is still carrying around those Netflix movies in her pouch, because this morning we've got nothing. So...

Billy, you done gone and done it to us again. Every time we think you’re about to slip out of the public consciousness you pop right back up with yet another crazy scheme to keep yourself relevant. Well, maybe not relevant. Let’s settle for “talked about.”

While out of town this week, Chicagoist wandered into a piano bar. The gent behind the keys asked us where we were from. “Chicago,” we replied. “I love that band,” he said.

Yesterday, we posted about a piece that ran on Billboard.com regarding a possible Smashing Pumpkins reunion at Lollapalooza. Our curiosity was piqued by one line in particular that said “Chicago media reports” had first carried this speculation. Since we hadn’t seen anything like that, we started doing a little research and sending a few e-mails. What follows is an account of our attempts to track down exactly how stories like this get legs and whether...

Yesterday afternoon Billboard's website added to the Smashing Pumpkins rumors circling the globe with a possible reunion occuring at the August 4-6th Lollapalooza here in Chicago. There's no confirmation of the dates or who will be playing, but the Texas-based Capital Sports & Entertainment are in charge again. The line-up will not be announced for weeks, but Thievery Corporation told Billboard that they would be there.

We’re not sure if you noticed, but Greg Kot was a busy guy at the end of last week. On Friday, Kot reported that the Smashing Pumpkins will not be reuniting at Coachella this April. Over the last couple weeks, published reports created a veritable Hokey Pokey of information: you had your Pumpkins in, you had your Pumpkins out. Whether Corgan backed out or was never in it to begin with remains a cause for...

For the last month or so, we’ve been seeing rumors online about the “The Smashing Pumpkins” reuniting for Coachella. Forgive us if we’re having trouble getting excited about it. We’re not sure how it started but it might have something to do with this post on Billy Corgan’s MySpace blog that said: “The surprise I have in store for you all will be announced soon enough…” Ever since then, the Pumpkins have been mentioned in...