SMASHING PUMPKINS MAKE SEMI-REUNION OFFICIAL, UNVEIL TOUR
The Smashing Pumpkins made it official on Thursday (February 15th), announcing the "Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour." The semi-reunion trek will mark the first time in nearly 20 years that founding members William Corgan on vocals and guitar, Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and James Iha on guitar will tour together, along with latter-era guitarist Jeff Schroeder. The 36-city tour will kick off in Glendale, Arizona on July 12th and visit North American arenas throughout the summer, wrapping on September 7th in Boise, Idaho.
Tickets for the tour will go on sale to the general public starting next Friday, February 23rd at 10:00 a.m. local time and be available at SmashingPumpkins.com, LiveNation.com and via the Live Nation app.
- Corgan said, "Some 30 years ago, as the Smashing Pumpkins, James Iha and I began a musical journey in the cramped rear bedroom of my father's house. And so it's magic to me that we're able to coalesce once more around the incredible Jimmy Chamberlin, to celebrate those songs we've made together."
- Corgan added, "This show and staging will be unlike any we've ever done, and will feature a set unlike any we've ever played. For if this is a chance at a new beginning, we plan on ushering it in with a real bang."
- The show will feature material exclusively off the first five Pumpkins albums, from their debut Gish to the last LP to feature the original lineup, Machina: The Machines Of God.
- Still unknown is who will play bass on the tour, as original bassist D'arcy Wretzky will apparently not participate. Corgan has reportedly hired Jack Bates, son of Joy Division co-founder Peter Hook.
- Earlier in the week, the Pumpkins denied claims by Wretzky that an invite for her to join the reunited band was later rescinded. D'arcy alleged in an interview with BlastEcho that Corgan sent her a contract that was agreed upon, only to later say that she would only be allowed to make appearances at select shows.
- Confirmed Smashing Pumpkins tour dates (subject to change):
July 16 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center
July 17 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
July 18 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
Story source: press release
CHECK IT OUT: The band broke the news of the tour with a dramatic video featuring original Siamese Dream album cover stars Ali Laenger and LySandra Roberts. Watch the clip below:
PAPA ROACH RELEASE NEW VIDEO
Papa Roach has unleashed a new video for "My Medication." The bondage-filled clip centers on a pair of women and their growing passion, although Papa Roach turns up in the clip as well to perform in between the two ladies. "My Medication" is featured on the band's 2017 album Crooked Teeth, which the group will begin a new tour in support of on February 20th in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Loudwire)
OZZY SAYS HE WON'T PLAY 'BLIZZARD OF OZZ' IN FULL FOR 40TH ANNIVERSARY
Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tours 2" farewell trek will end sometime in 2020, which also marks the 40th anniversary of Ozzy's classic solo debut, 1980's Blizzard Of Ozz. Asked by Rolling Stonewhether he'd consider performing the LP in its entirety to mark the occasion, Ozzy replied, "That was the thing for a while, to play the whole album, but I don't write albums that way, so no."
Ozzy added, "When I make an album, I specifically record songs that I'll never do on the stage. Like on Blizzard Of Ozz, there are songs that I wrote never to play live, because the production was too heavy."
- Ozzy told us a while back that performing one of his older albums from front to back would be too difficult: ["No. The production and the pitch in my singing was way off the Richter scale. It would be nice, but if I had known then what I know now, I'd would have probably done it differently. But there's no way I could do that, you know."]
- The singer did hint to Rolling Stone that he "could do one" album track that he has not performed live before.
- Ozzy's final world tour kicks off this spring with dates in Mexico, South America and Europe, coming to North America in August. It's slated to last until 2020.
- He insisted that he is not retiring from music at the end of the tour, but is instead saying goodbye to long global treks in favor of select shows.
- He also said at a press conference earlier this month that he has "eight or nine" song ideas for a new album, which he may work on once the tour is completed.
Story source: Ultimate Guitar