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Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Billy Corgan on playing Smashing Pumpkins songs solo, and Pope Leo XIV being a White Sox fan
'I think that's the great hubris of a creator,' Corgan said on a Zoom call from his home in Chicago. 'You feel these are your sculptures and your paintings, and you have the ability to once more reframe and re-illuminate why they're attractive to you.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up His 'A Return to Zero' solo tour begins this weekend in Baltimore, then heads to the Paradise Rock Club on Advertisement Altogether, Corgan will draw from a pool of over 100 songs for the tour, although he won't necessarily cull enough material for a grandiose three-hour performance, as he's done in the past with the Smashing Pumpkins. Advertisement 'I'm 58 now, so I do have to temper myself,' he said with a laugh. To Corgan, enmeshing the different eras in one setlist felt like 'coming home,' and 'more resonantly consistent' with the band's first era, before their — in his words — 'quote-unquote breakup' in 2000 and quasi-reformation around 2007. Following a rotation of lineup changes over the years, the band currently performs with three of the four founding members. Guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin are back in the saddle with Corgan, while original bassist D'Arcy Wretzky has not rejoined. From an outside perspective, Corgan's claim to the Smashing Pumpkins' two album anniversaries might look like a catalyst for another fallout within the band. But the frontman said he's been chatting with his bandmates 'for years' about how to honor anniversaries in a way that was personal, rather than an opportunistic cash grab. 'One thing we've done successfully, I think, in this decade of our knowing each other, is if there's not an even consensus, we don't persist,' he said. 'That was some of the problems in the '90s — not taking into account, let's call it, a balanced view of everybody's take.' So when the band had unspecified 'differing views' on the two upcoming anniversaries, Corgan took the reins with his new solo group, which includes the Smashing Pumpkins' touring guitarist, Kiki Wong. Advertisement 'The fact that these significant anniversaries were going to go by with no particular unified voice of how to present them, I said, 'Well, I'm just gonna do it myself,'' Corgan said. Add that to the list of sizable projects that Corgan has taken on in recent years. Directly prior to this interview, Corgan described himself as occupying a '12-year-old brain space' while working on his memoir. (Per his wife Chloé Mendel Corgan, he said, he's tried to write it on four separate occasions since they met, and 'as far as I'm concerned, this [time] is the last.') Corgan has also owned the National Wrestling League since 2017, and this year launched a podcast called 'The Magnificent Others,' in which he interviews fellow cultural bigwigs like Gene Simmons and Sharon Osbourne. Corgan's extracurriculars involve his local community, too. Alongside his wife, he runs a plant-based tea shop and cafe called With a daily routine that typically involves 12 to 14 hours of work across his various projects — fueled by an average of six hours of sleep — Corgan has continued to expand his identity as an artist and cultural figure. But that complexity sometimes gets muddled within the public's narrower perception of Corgan and his role in the Smashing Pumpkins. Advertisement 'One has to deal with the complication of, I'm so closely identified with the band that most people don't really understand who I am without the band,' he explained. 'The band's history after 2001 is rife with incredible external pressures on who the band needed to be in, let's call it, this second era: a greatest hits band, an artistic band, a mixture of both,' he added. 'Not that you'd want to, but you could find a voluminous treasure trove of material of people criticizing me for not being the band that people want me to be in. And me saying, over and over again, 'The band you think I was in, I was never in. So why would I be in that band now?'' To Corgan, the name under which he performs is 'sort of inconsequential.' But in this case, performing with the Machines of God — especially to revisit some of his older work within the Smashing Pumpkins — casts off many of those notions about how he and the band should operate. The freedom is the ultimate trade-off for any nitpicks the public might have about him striking out on his own. 'It's very attractive to me to present this material without dilution — meaning, I don't really care in this setting for that pressure,' he said. 'If you don't embrace the freedom, then you're kinda wasting, let's call it, 'the upside of the downside,'' he concluded. BILLY CORGAN AND THE MACHINES OF GOD With Return to Dust. At the Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, June 9, 7 p.m. Tickets available on the secondary market. Advertisement
CairoScene
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
The Smashing Pumpkins to Play First-Ever UAE Show at Etihad Arena
The legendary alt-rock band is bringing its 'Rock Invasion' tour to Abu Dhabi on October 9th with a career-spanning setlist. May 23, 2025 The Smashing Pumpkins are heading to Abu Dhabi for the very first time, bringing decades of alt-rock anthems to Etihad Arena on Thursday, October 9th, as part of their globe-spanning Rock Invasion tour. The Chicago-born icons, led by frontman Billy Corgan alongside original members James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin, are set to ignite the capital with a career-spanning set that blends grunge-era nostalgia with their latest sonic experiments. Fans can expect to be swept up in the emotional swell of classics like 'Tonight, Tonight', scream along to the angst-fuelled chorus of 'Bullet with Butterfly Wings', and drift back to teenage memories with the shimmering dream-pop of '1979'. But this won't be just a greatest hits show—the band's newer material, including tracks like 'Empires' and 'Beguiled' from their recent albums, will keep things fresh and furious. With over 30 million albums sold, Grammy wins, and a legacy that helped shape the alt-rock movement of the '90s, The Smashing Pumpkins remain one of rock's most dynamic acts—balancing poetry, distortion, and the occasional existential scream. Tickets go live this Friday, May 23rd, at 10 AM via Live Nation Middle East's official website. Set your alarms—because in the words of Billy Corgan, the world is a vampire, and this show will sell fast.
Arab News
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
The Smashing Pumpkins to make UAE debut this October
DUBAI: Alternative rock icons The Smashing Pumpkins are set to perform in the UAE for the first time, with a one-night-only concert at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena on Thursday Oct. 9, 2025. The show is part of the band's global 'Rock Invasion 2025' tour and marks their Middle East debut. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ Led by founding member Billy Corgan, with longtime bandmates James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin, the Chicago-born group will deliver a setlist spanning their three-decade career. Fans can expect to hear beloved classics such as '1979,' 'Tonight, Tonight,' and 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings,' alongside newer tracks like 'Beguiled' and 'Empires.' A post shared by Live Nation Middle East (@livenationme) The Abu Dhabi stop is the final leg of their regional tour, which also includes performances in Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, Bangkok, Singapore, and Bahrain. The tour follows the release of their ambitious rock opera 'ATUM' and their latest album 'Aghori Mhori Mei,' released in late 2024. Tickets for the Etihad Arena show go on sale through Live Nation Middle East, with artist and presale tickets available starting May 21, and general public sales opening on May 23 at 12 pm.
FACT
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- FACT
The Smashing Pumpkins to rock Etihad Arena this October
Catch the Indie superstars belting out their biggest hits. The Smashing Pumpkins are finally coming to Abu Dhabi. The popular alternative rock band will bring their Rock Invasion tour to Abu Dhabi. Set to take place on 9 October 2025 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, this concert promises a night of unforgettable anthems and a performance that spans over 30 years of sonic innovation. Brought to the capital by Live Nation Middle East, the event will be a landmark moment for rock fans across the region. The tour kicks off in Japan this September and will blaze through Asia before The Smashing Pumpkins arrive in Abu Dhabi, with stops including Seoul, Manila, Bangkok, Singapore, and Bahrain. From the searing riffs of Bullet With Butterfly Wings and the nostalgia-drenched 1979, to new crowd favourites like Sighommi and Beguiled, the setlist will showcase the band's extensive catalogue. With over 30 million albums sold worldwide, two GRAMMY Awards, and a discography that includes Siamese Dream and the diamond-certified Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Smashing Pumpkins have remained at the forefront of the global rock scene for more than three decades. Frontman Billy Corgan, alongside founding members James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin, continue to defy genre boundaries, fusing elements of goth, metal, and shoegaze into a sound that's unmistakably theirs. Their most recent projects include ATUM, a sprawling rock opera released in three acts, and the critically praised Aghori Mhori Mei, their 13th studio album, released in late 2024. If you're after cool concerts, big stars are coming to the UAE. Other concerts include Kygo at Coca-Cola Arena on 30 May, Mary J. Blige at Coca-Cola Arena on 24 June, Jennifer Lopez at Etihad Arena on 29 July, Lil Baby at Coca-Cola Arena on 18 October, Enrique Iglesias at Etihad Arena on 1 November and Katy Perry at Etihad Park on 7 December. Tickets to see The Smashing Pumpkins in Abu Dhabi will be available via Live Nation presale from Thursday, 22 May at 10am, with general on-sale beginning Friday, 23 May at 12pm. Prepare for a night of noise, nostalgia, and pure Pumpkins power. GO: Visit via for tickets and more information.
