June 23
Link

To celebrate the 17th anniversary of 'Gish', the Smashing Pumpkins are planning to release a box set of their debut album complete with material preceding Gish’s release, according to the band's official website.

Plans are already underway for the box set, and while the exact contents of the release are currently unknown, the Pumpkins expect to embark on a 'Gish' tour to coincide with the special edition — both of which are scheduled to happen later this year.

The 'Gish' reissue will likely be the first move in the master plan Corgan has schemed since becoming a record label free agent following the release of Zeitgeist. The band is also rumored to be playing 20th anniversary concerts at some point this year as well.

he needs to rename the current configuration of his band, because it is NOT smashing pumpkins. even if he called it "SP 2.0" or something, it would be an improvement. his band is basically zwan with a couple of young indie rawk whippersnappers switched in. i hope he doesn't wonder why the pumpkins don't get the respect they used to, because it's kind of a no-brainer.

I don't see anything wrong with him continuing the band under the name Smashing Pumpkins as long as the original members don't object. Bands change membership all the time and keep the same name.
It's not Zwan because he's doing Smashing Pumpkins songs and songs in their style.
Now if they had a different singer, it might be a problem, but with different backing musicians, I don't see the big issue.

Glindathegood said:

it's not the band. it's different if it's like NIN or world party, where it's essentially a one-man production under the moniker of a band name, but it's different. the band identity was attached to those four original members, and when people hear "smashing pumpkins reunion" or "gish anniversary tour", they are going to expect those four people to be performing. i think it's shady of corgan not to make it explicit that such will not be the case.

Anxiety said:

Exactly! This is only marketing or like a franchise! Same name, different people behind the name! To call this a reunion is truly laughable!

PatrickS77 said:

i'd be mad if prince promised a "prince & the revolution reunion tour" and when the curtain came up it was just prince, wendy, and a bunch of musicians i'd never seen before.

now, if it was advertised as "prince and wendy play the music of the revolution", i'd be excited for it for exactly what it was.

I don't see why the members of a band can't change and the name stays the same. I think it's clear from all the articles about them that's it's not all the original members. He's not saying it's all the original members. And who are the original members anyway? The original bassist D'Arcy left, to be replaced by Melissa Auf de Maur formerly of Hole. No one complained about that.
Why should Billy have to stop doing something he loves which is Smashing Pumpkins because some of the original members can't or won't be part of it anymore?

Glindathegood said:

i think it depends on the identity behind the band name. i think the smashing pumpkins at their prime was about more than just billy corgan. i think billy corgan is well known enough that he could record and tour under his own name and people would be just as happy without any confusion or false hopes.

i'd be pissed if i went to a talking heads concert and it was just david byrne and some musicians i'd never seen before. why? because i was/am a fan of THE WHOLE BAND, not just david byrne.

i think corgan's deceiving his fans, simple as that.

Glindathegood said:

Of course, people in a band can change! But the people didn't just change! Corgan stopped the Smashing Pumpkins! He made the band come to an end! Then he goes on to do his solo thing, starts Zwan, get's the previously sacked Pumpkins drummer back... then the project doesn't quite work out the way he envisioned! Then he puts this pathetic ad in the paper, stating, that he wants his dreams and band back and announces a reunion of the Smashing Pumpkins, gets the hopes of the fans up and eventually comes up with the sacked drummer, which he already had in Zwan and 2 strangers, who coincidently happen to be a female bassist and an american-asian guitarist!
That is not a reunion... that's just marketing and deceiving at that!
[Edited 6/27/08 18:30pm]

The Smashing Pumpkins Reveal 20th Anniversary Tour Details


July 9
Link

The Smashing Pumpkins announced some details for their upcoming 20th anniversary tour.

To kick off the festivities in August, the band will take to “smaller venues” to play “unique sets and songs.”

In November, the tour will shift to much-larger venues in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, as well as a few more unannounced cities. “The August tour is going to be a blast… Expect a very loud and raucous show from us…and we are very, very happy to know we will finally be playing our own shows come November in New York, L.A., and Chicago… The 20th Anniversary shows will be magical… We are already working on lots of surprises,” Billy Corgan wrote on the band’s website.

The planned Gish tour — coinciding with the reissue of the Pumpkins’ ferocious debut album — has been pushed back to 2009. So far, only one date has been announced–August 9 at Hammond, Indiana’s Horseshoe Casino–with the remaining dates and venues expected to be announced shortly.

Corgan revived the Pumpkins in 2006 after a five year breakup and toured behind the release of the new album Zeitgeist; only Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin were involved in the reunion, and it seems unlikely that original members James Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky will be involved in the anniversary festivities.