One of the biggest myths about The Smashing Pumpkins is that all the cool kids hated them in their early days when they were up and coming. Not true. more ›

Billy Corgan's Smashing Pumpkins™ are on tour and we suspect that all that time spent digging through unreleased material for their reissues has awakened some sort of nostalgia in The Bald One. The group's set in Las Vegas recently was steeped in golden oldies (and, c'mon, who out there is hoping that's still the case when the band comes through town this Friday at The Riv?) and their nascent Smashing Pumpkins Record Club is giving us glimmers of the nuggets we can expect from said reissue campaign. Last night Corgan released an early version of a classic Gish track, titled "Rhinoceros Version Two (Reel Time Sessions)," into the wild and it casts the guitar burner in a slightly different, organ dominated light. more ›

Tickets for the concert go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday through eTix, Jam's website and by calling 1-800-514-3849. more ›

People keep asking us who we think will play this year's Lollapalooza so let's throw a few names out there as predictions. We would like to emphasize that these are predictions! We have no inside knowledge of any sort -- these thoughts are purely speculative. more ›

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. more ›

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? more ›

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.” more ›

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... more ›

Chicago can be a cruel habitat for local bands that make it big. Just look at how quickly folks turned on The Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill and Liz Phair as their careers progressed. Okay, Phair deserved the hostile response once she started to seriously suck but that’s beside the point. OK Go jumped to head of the backlash pack with the release of their Major Label debut a few years ago. You couldn’t open a... more ›

Dave Suh has been a staple of the local music scene for over the last decade. His first band, Emil Muzz, provided the city with future members of Light FM, Rockit Girl and Veruca Salt. Suh himself went on to join simultaneously join Caviar and Woolworthy and, later, The Drama. While he was a vital component of all those bands none allowed him the free control of sitting solo in the driver’s seat. So he... more ›

Once upon a time Chicago was known as a city of bands unafraid to add a little grandiose spectacle to its rock and/or roll shows. Then we got over Styx, thank god. But in the Eighties there was a definite resurgence of groups (i.e. that whole Wax Trax contingent) combining instruments, computers and stage extravaganzas to accomplish something more human and interactive than your typical concert experience. more ›