We may have seen The Smashing Pumpkins last year, but that is not enough when it comes to Corgan and crew. Thankfully 2023 brings them back into our world with a 26-date North American tour. The World is a Vampire Tour will pair the Pumpkins with Interpol, Stone Temple Pilots, and Rival Sons on varying dates. The tour launches July 28th in Las Vegas and will bring them to SoCal in early August.
With the concert announcement, front-man Billy Corgan said: “I grew up in a world where I needed to know bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure existed, it meant there was a place for people like me to hang out and belong. That’s what The World Is A Vampire is about. Bringing back that sense of community. If you don’t fit in, you belong here. It’s about having a shared experience and respecting others, but ultimately having fun. A true alternative festival, where all the self-proclaimed weirdos and outsiders of the world can get together and have a party.”
When we saw them in 2022, they sounded just as awesome as they always have, but their lighting and staging was truly incredible. More than once, my teenager and I looked at each other and said, “Wow!” The crowd was also very into the show, and enjoying Corgan’s creepy antics onstage. Despite it being brand new at the time, the fans already knew “Empires” and of course sang along to “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” “Today,” “We Only Come Out at Night,” “Cyr,” “Eye,” “Tonight, Tonight,” “Stand Inside Your Love,” “Cherub Rock,” and “Zero.”
In addition to announcing their tour, they released another single from their upcoming “ATUM” album, “Spellbinding.” The highly anticipated third and final act of “ATUM” is set to drop May 5th.
“ATUM” is the sequel to 1995’s “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” and 2000’s “Machina/Machine of God.” Corgan has been writing and producing “ATUM” over the past four years, and Act 3 will be available with “a special edition boxset featuring all 33 album tracks plus 10 additional unreleased songs.”
SoCal residents can catch The World is a Vampire Tour in Irvine at FivePoint on August 9th (with Stone Temple Pilots & Rival Sons); the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista on August 10th (with Stone Temple Pilots & Rival Sons); and on August 11th at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland (with Stone Temple Pilots).
Pre-sales have begun and the general on sale begins Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
