Smashing Pumpkins - The Other Side of the Kaleidyscope

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

ANNOUNCE 12-CITY U.S. FALL TOUR

LAUNCHING OCTOBER 5 IN LOS ANGELES AND WRAPPING OCTOBER 22 IN PHILADELPHIA

SHOWS TO INCLUDE MATERIAL FROM THE BAND’S UPCOMING ALBUM ‘OCEANIA,’

DUE IN EARLY 2012

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS--singer/guitarist BILLY CORGAN, guitarist JEFF SCHROEDER, drummer MIKE BYRNE and bassist NICOLE FIORENTINO--will return to the road this fall for an intimate 12-city U.S. tour that will serve as a warm-up to a big year of touring for the band in 2012.  The fall trek launches in Los Angeles on October 5 at the Wiltern Theatre and wraps in Philadelphia on October 22 at the Tower Theatre.

Mixing classics, deep cuts and a few songs from the upcoming album OCEANIA--now due out in early 2012 (exact date TBA)--the tour encompasses dates in the band’s Chicago hometown (October 14, venue TBA) and New York City (October 18, Terminal 5). Tickets for the concerts—which follow the band’s 2010 critically acclaimed shows (see pull quotes below)—will go on sale shortly (see on sale info below). At all the shows, the Pumpkins will be joined by two support acts: Fancy Space People (featuring Don Bolles, who credits include the Germs, Celebrity Skin and 45 Grave) and Light FM, the band Nicole Fiorentino was in before joining the Pumpkins (see bio info below).

The Pumpkins are now hard at work putting the finishing touches on OCEANIA, which will mark their first full album since 2007’s Zeitgeist.  OCEANIA is “an album within an album,” part of their in-progress 44-song work TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE. Featuring 13 new songs, OCEANIA will be released in early 2012.

Also this fall, EMI Music will honor the legacy of THE SMASHING PUMPKINS with an extensive campaign that will see the iconic band’s albums from 1991-2000 reissued in fully remastered deluxe versions, each with bonus material.

With the full support and guidance from THE SMASHING PUMPKINS--who’ve created one of the most acclaimed bodies of work in musical history, selling over 30 million albums--EMI will roll out the global catalog campaign with the band’s 1991 debut album GISH and 1993’s SIAMESE DREAM, both of which are due in stores November 15.  

The excitement will continue into 2012 when EMI will reissue the 1994 compilation album PISCES ISCARIOT, 1995’s nine-times-platinum double album MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS, 1996’s five-disc box set THE AEROPLANE FLIES HIGH and 1998’s ADORE. 

In 2013, their 2000 albums MACHINA/THE MACHINES OF GOD and MACHINA II: THE FRIENDS & ENEMIES OF MODERN MUSIC will be unified into one package.  A best-of compilation will also be released in 2013. The pivotal group’s many hits defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation.

DATE		CITY / STATE	VENUE	ON-SALE
WED	10/5	Los Angeles, CA	Wiltern Theatre	10am, Friday 8/19
FRI	10/7	Oakland, CA	The Fox Theatre	10am, Sunday  8/21
SAT	10/8	Las Vegas, NV	Cosmopolitan	10am, Friday 8/19
MON	10/10	Denver, CO	Ogden Theatre	10am, Saturday   8/20
THU	10/13	Milwaukee, WI	Riverside Theatre	12pm, Friday  8/19
FRI	10/14	Chicago, IL	Venue TBA	10am, Saturday 8/27
SAT	10/15	Detroit, MI	The Fillmore	10am, Friday 8/19
MON	10/17	Washington, DC	930 Club	10am, Friday 8/19
TUE	10/18	New York, NY	Terminal 5	10am, Friday  8/19
WED	10/19	Providence, RI	Lupo's	12pm, Thursday 8/18
FRI	10/21	Boston, MA	Orpheum Theatre	10am, Friday  8/19
SAT	10/22	Philadelphia, PA	Tower Theatre	10am, Friday  8/19

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Here are pull quotes from the band’s 2010 dates:

"Some of Mr. Corgan’s 21st-century songs, like the new ‘Freak,’ aim their rage at sociopolitical targets; many of them revolve around blunter, simpler riffs than his 1990’s songs…Yet by and large, Smashing Pumpkins are what they were: Mr. Corgan’s platform for tormented thoughts and invincible guitar. While his nasal voice and the magnified self-loathing of his lyrics allied him with grunge, Smashing Pumpkins were always on the rhapsodic, psychedelic end of the grunge spectrum. Now, it’s clearer than ever that Mr. Corgan made himself a latter-day guitar hero in full late-1960’s and early-1970’s style: with aerobatic upper-register leads, bulldozing low riffs, pealing echoes and outbursts of feedback....The new Smashing Pumpkins share Mr. Corgan’s sense of dynamics. The patient tension and release of their instrumental passages came from a pre-punk mindset, and there were extended stretches of free-form jamming in ‘United States’ and in ‘Gossamer,’ the 19-minute, metamorphic final encore."

--- Jon Pareles, THE NEW YORK TIMES, July 27, 2010

"...exhilarating performance....The frontman and guitarist Jeff Schroeder…engaged in dueling pyrotechnics on ‘Ava Adore’ and the new ‘Song for a Son.’ New bassist Nicole Fiorentino's thick lines stood out in ‘Ava Adore’ and the intro to the metal marvel ‘United States.’ And Jimmy Chamberlin's replacement on drums, wunderkind Mike Byrne, was nothing short of wild child all evening....He wedged the line ‘Oh, California, look what you've done to me’ into ‘Owata’; he seemed to delight in the unholy crunch of ‘Cherub Rock’; and he put more blood in the opening line of ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ than three vampire movies combined. The new material — the Pumpkins played three of the four songs on the new EP, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope Vol. 1: Songs for a Sailor — fit in seamlessly with the old..."

-- Kevin Bronson, SPIN.COM (Los Angeles), July 1, 2010

"Opening with the new 'Astral Planes,' the Pumpkins' new lineup showed it may be the best since the original version in the '90s made the band icons of the alternative scene. The musical interaction between the four was excellent, breathing new energy into songs like 'Ava Adore,' 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' and a ferocious 'United States,' as well as a crunching 'Cherub Rock' that had the Viper Room insane. But just as importantly, Corgan seemed to be having a great time with his new band, proving downright amiable at times."

---Steve Baltin, AOL SPINNER (Los Angeles), July 1, 2010

“On songs like ‘A Song for a Son,’ another newbie, he engaged in guitar heroics that would impress Queen's Brian May, showing his classic rock chops on the tune's epic closing....’Today,’ ‘Cherub Rock,’ and ‘Hummer,’ all gems from SP's 1993 breakout second album Siamese Dream, saw the Chicago native manhandle the neck of his Fender Strat (at 6'4" dude has some big hands), pausing to motion at the sold-out crowd before diving into another solo....Pop-rock hit ‘Perfect,’ from SP's electronica-tinged 1998 release Adore, rocked hard and loud yet was equally melodic and beautiful, and on ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’ Corgan ended a short pause for a sing-along with a piercing shriek and guitar blitzkrieg that knocked heads backwards....’Freak,’ another Teargarden track, was a union of pop-rock sensibility with heavy, distorted bass lines and lyrics that show Corgan can still be the romantic mouthpiece for disenfranchised youths. If ‘Freak’ was an indication, Pumpkins fans have something to look forward to."

--- William Goodman, SPIN.COM, July 27, 2010

"...one of the most potent concerts of the summer so far...showed off how Corgan knows what made him and his band so big in the first place."

--- Dan Aquilante, NEW YORK POST,  July 28, 2010

"...transcendent performance....Billy Corgan once again proved his legendary status with fleet-fingered guitar virtuosity, poetically jarring lyrics and unique delivery. The Pumpkins commenced the set with ‘The Fellowship’ from Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. The song fused psychedelic riffs to swirling vocals, and Corgan sounded rousingly clear over tight strains of delay. Guitarist Jeff Schroeder complemented the frontman's fretwork with succinct and solid axe-slinging, nailing each and every sustained note. ‘The Fellowship’ bled right into ‘Today,’ and The Pumpkins infused the classic with an elegant heaviness that was both pristine and powerful....the band left the stage completely and utterly triumphant."

--Rick Florino, ARTISTDIRECT.COM, December 13, 2010

“They played a beautiful, unrecorded ballad called ‘Spangled.’ They closed with ‘Freak,’ another new song, the best song Corgan's written in a decade.”

--- Jonathan Zwickel, SEATTLE TIMES, September 12, 2010.

“The capacity crowd was clearly in the mood for a celebration, and Corgan and company delivered with a loud, boisterous, colorful show.”

--- Gene Stout, SEATTLEPI.COM/GENESTOUT.COM, September 12, 2010

"Billy Corgan still has vigor and vision to continue the band’s continued progression into the second decade of the 21st century.... performed a tight two-hour set that was the perfect balance of 1990s classics, Zeitgeist material, and new songs…and Corgan was appreciative of the crowd’s willingness to hear the new material."

 -- David Burger, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, September 17, 2010

“They'd opened with ‘The Fellowship’ from Teargarden by Kaleidyscope Vol. 2: The Solstice Bare, setting the tone for the concert with a chorus that demanded, ‘Are you with us or against us tonight?’ And then, after giving nostalgia its due with a raucous performance of ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings,’ it was back to more recent material with the intense garage-rock swagger of ‘Tarantula’ from 2007's ‘Zeitgeist’ album and two psychedelic treasures from Teargarden--‘My Love is Winter,’ which featured a dual guitar lead with second guitarist Jeff Schroeder after each guitarist took his own lead, and the Zeppelin-does-Donovan ballad, ‘A Song for a Son.’ By the time he sang ‘I used to be a little boy’ on Disarm, he'd made his way through several other recent songs, from the punkish abandon of ‘As Rome Burns’ to ‘Spangled’ (which featured a finger-picked guitar part that echoed the Beatles' later work), the upbeat '60s pop of ‘Tom Tom’ and ‘United States’ (again, from Zeitgeist)....The new kids definitely earned their keep, with 20-year-old drummer Mike Byrne attacking the kit with authority and a thundering approach that said his favorite drummer was John Bonham long before they'd made their way around to covering Led Zeppelin's ‘Moby Dick’ (although everyone leaving the stage so he could do a proper solo may have been a bit much). And Nicole Fiorentino brought a heavy bass groove to such raucous highlights as ‘United States’ and ‘Freak.’”

--Ed Masley, ARIZONA REPUBLIC, December 9, 2010

For more information, please contact:

For THE SMASHING PUMPKINS:

Mitch Schneider:                         mschneider@msopr.com

Todd Brodginski:                        toddb@msopr.com

Alexandra Greenberg:             agreenberg@msopr.com

MSO: 818-380-0400

About THE SMASHING PUMPKINS:

The Smashing Pumpkins have created one of the most acclaimed bodies of work in musical history and sold over 30 million albums.  Formed in Chicago in 1988, they released Gish, their influential (and platinum) debut in 1991, which was followed by more platinum and multi-platinum albums including the nine-time platinum Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness and the four-time platinum Siamese Dream as well as the platinum certified 1998 album Adore.   The pivotal group’s many hits defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation.   The Pumpkins returned in 2007 with their gold-certified and acclaimed sixth album Zeitgeist, which entered the charts at Number 2 in the U.S. and in the Top Ten internationally.    Since their triumphant return to the stage in 2007, the Pumpkins have headlined some of the biggest events around the globe including the Reading Festival, Rock Am Ring, and the V fest.  In 2008, the band was inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk. Their first post-major label release was the song “Superchrist,” issued via the Guitar Center CD Fresh Cuts Vol. 2.  They subsequently recorded the song--the modern rock hit--“G.L.O.W.” for the Guitar Hero® World Tour game, marking the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for the franchise. In November 2008, the band released their first live DVD, If All Goes Wrong.  In December 2009 The group’s BILLY CORGAN has said the band’s new music “harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of The Smashing Pumpkins; atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty.” 


About FANCY SPACE PEOPLE

Fancy Space People began with the unlikely partnering of quirky solo chanteuse No-Ra Keyes, formerly of the Centimeters, and Don Bolles, drummer of legendary punk icons the Germs. Fancy Space People's songs range from moody Mellotron space hymns to glitter rock stompers, featuring elements of psychedelic prog, 60’s girl group, and 70’s Krautrock, together reminding one of T. Rex, Bowie, Abba, Sparks, and even Amon Duul II. The group has already shared the stage with a variety of acts, ranging from 70's glam rockers The Sweet to eccentric indie singer/song-writer Ariel Pink. Already they have attracted such enthusiastic collaborators as Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Mars Williams from the Psychedelic Furs, and Belgian Synth Witch Shazzula Nebula. Their eponymous debut vinyl EP was mixed and recorded by Kerry Brown (Smashing Pumpkins, Kelley Deal, The Frogs) & Kevin Dippold (Smashing Pumpkins.) Their eponymous debut 12" EP is available now through Starry Records. Order the new 12" EP from Starry Records. "Fancy Space People is the musical version of unprotected sex while on ecstasy--a little bit scary but it just feels so POSITIVE,” wrote  Drew Denny in the LA Weekly, 6/27/11.

About LIGHT FM:

Los Angeles-based newgaze band Light FM is singer/guitarist Josiah Mazzaschi, drummer Jimmy Lucido, bassist Nicki Nevlin, and keyboardist/singer Savannah Wheeler. The band has built a strong reputation in the LA area through their live performances, which featured residencies at hot spots Silverlake Lounge and Spaceland, and they are gearing up for a highly anticipated tour this fall with the Smashing Pumpkins. The tour will also coincide with the release of their new album, Buzz Kill City, which they will be self-releasing through their own Moonboot Records. The band gained attention via their critically acclaimed album Let There Be Light FM. Their music has been featured in TV programs such as the MTV Movie and Music Awards, Jersey Shore, and they will be featured in the upcoming movie soundtrack The Vow, featuring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.

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