UPDATE: While the photo above was taken by HU’s own Pins, the Smashing Pumpkins Media Militia is promising photo updates from the Chicago Theatre throughout the day on its Flickr account.

A few interlocking puzzle pieces for you:

1. The Smashing Pumpkins are playing only the second day of Silicon Valley’s Bridge School Benefit, the date for that being October 26.
2. They are playing Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Hollywood on October 24.
3. The Smashing Pumpkins are prominently featured in “Guitar Hero World Tour”, which is being released on October 26. Lead singer Billy Corgan is a playable character in the game.
   
4. There is a four-hour “Guitar Hero World Tour” launch event taking place at the Best Buy in West Hollywood on October 25.
5. The “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” launch event that took place at the same Best Buy location on October 29, 2007 featured live music by Poison, whose lead singer Bret Michaels was a playable character in that game.

Makes too much sense, doesn’t it? And might it not also explain why they would have set up shop in California around that time in the first place, considering their tour starts less than a week later in Ohio?

Now this is embracing the holiday:

This week the website of Guitar World magazine dug up and electronified a print article from 2005 in which rock-and-rollers were asked to tell the tale of their “Most Spinal Tap Moment”. The one we care about:

BILLY CORGAN of Smashing Pumpkins

When Mellon Collie came out [1995], we played a concert in Chicago that was broadcast directly across the world. We had 10,000 people at the show, including the world press, and millions were listening in. During the third song, a generator blew out. Some of the lights still worked, but there was no sound. I thought, No problem, I’ll play an improvised acoustic set until the problem is cleared up. Of course, nobody could hear anything past the second row. Meanwhile, the sound of a hum was the only thing being broadcast—from Chile to Tokyo! Worldwide, our fans were beginning to question our new musical direction. It took only a quarter of an hour for them to fix things, but it seemed an age. A rock star without amplification is dickless: for 15 minutes, I had no dick.

A nice tale, and understandable that over the years it gets a coat of memory varnish. And if FactCheck.org were on the case, they would surely give Billy props for remembering that it was exactly during the third song that the power went out. But…10,000 people at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre? Just, no. An “improvised acoustic set”? Didn’t happen. And in lieu of a “hum”, the band members spoke directly to the radio audience for several minutes (mp3) while power was being restored to the stacks.

It would be interesting to know how many people listened to that radio broadcast, but I imagine we will never have the hard data there…and I’m very happy just to take Billy’s word on what was happening in his pants.

(Thanks to HU reader Neil for the link.)

The Smashing Pumpkins will appear before the audience of ABC’s television program “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for an outdoor “mini-concert” on Friday, October 24. Taping will begin at 6:15pm at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Hollywood, with music presumably to follow gabbing. Tickets, which are good both for the talkfest and rock show, have already been distributed and apparently none remain.

We know the Pumpkins will perform “G.L.O.W.” for TV viewers, but for how long will they rock the in-person audience? Haven’t seen word from the band on this question, but Internet research suggests that the standard is five songs.

The acoustic Bridge School performance notwithstanding, it would appear that the Forest City has landed true opening-night honors for the Smashing Pumpkins’ fall tour. They will appear at Playhouse Square’s Palace Theatre on November 1, just before moving to Canada for an Election Eve-and-Day twofer at Toronto’s Massey Hall.

Below: You knew this was coming (YouTube)

Live Nation has the Smashing Pumpkins set for a November 16 date at the home arena of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.

Not much is getting past the Smashing Pumpkins’ online fan community today: even though the dates do not yet appear on Ticketmaster.com, HU reader Evelyn spotted two dates on Ticketmaster Mobile. The band will be playing November 6 and 7 at the United Palace (capacity 3,000+) on Manhattan.

Thanks to the several readers that wrote in to let Hipsters United know that two new dates have been posted to Ticketmaster.com! It appears as though the Mighty SP will hit the nation’s capital a week after Election Day to play a two-night stand at the DAR Constitution Hall.

Presale begins Saturday, September 27th tomorrow at 10AM ET and tickets will be $58.50.

The 1928 historical landmark venue was founded by the Daughters of the American Revolution (not, contrary to awesomeness, by the gorgeous ladies of wrestling). The concert hall seats 3,702 people according to Wikipedia, so it’s quite a bit smaller than the venue in LA.

This should be interesting — DC will still be a media frenzy after the election ends (that is, if they can conclusively count the votes by the time the Pumpkins take the stage).

But the question is — will a fellow Chicagoan be performing an onstage victory lap to the tune of “United States?” Now *that* is something I’d like to see…

UPDATE: Thanks also to the others in the comments and via email that have alerted HU to another upcoming show. It also appears that the Pumpkins are slotted to take the stage in Atlantic City, New Jersey in what might be considered a serial campaign to play casinos (and / or a hint at their new blackjack hobbies). The premier Borgata Hotel and Casino will host the band Saturday, November 8th. Anyone up to see New Kids on the Block the night before? Ticket onsale yet to be announced through LiveNation but it looks like tickets will be $75.00.

UPDATE: Regular onsale for both the Atlantic City and Washington shows is this Saturday, September 27.

The ticket-selling behemoth lists an October 4 onsale date for back-to-back gigs at Gibson Amphitheatre (above) on December 2 and 3. F/k/a Universal Amphitheatre, the large indoor venue seats about 6,000 and hosted a festival appearance by Zwan almost exactly six years prior to this two-night Smashing Pumpkins stand.

(Hat tip to Netphoria user Chuck=Zero for the find!)

UPDATE: Ticketmaster has taken down the dates for now. Look for them to be back up — along with the rest of the tour (!) — probably sometime next week.

The Smashing Pumpkins wouldn’t consider Hammond to be Chicago, but those developing promotional material for the upcoming Total Nonstop Action pay-per-view event “Bound for Glory IV” couldn’t seem to repeat the word Chicago often enough. The venue? Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates.

Their contrary views on suburban identity notwithstanding, TSP and TNA have finally aligned themselves from a marketing standpoint. The band’s recent single “TaraNtulA” has been creatively recapitalized chosen as theme song for the big smackdown, and there may be more partnering in the works:

TNAwrestling.com will post more information in the coming weeks on the Smashing Pumpkins teaming up with TNA.

Below: These guys don’t want to fight every single night? (YouTube)

Brent DiCrescenzo — yes, the former Pitchfork Media contributor (more on Brent D. below) — gets the news in a phone interview with Billy Corgan for Time Out Chicago:

Corgan promises the Pumpkins will return to “Chicago proper” in November for the band’s 20th anniversary show; the only question, he says, is whether the venue will be the United Center or the Allstate Arena.

DiCrescenzo, best known to Pumpkins fans for his withering review of Machina, is apparently back in the world of music writing. (In 2004, DiCrescenzo wrote that he was quitting the profession at the end of his review of the Beastie Boys’ album To the 5 Boroughs, a piece that was later blasted by Pitchfork editors for…wait for it…making stuff up about Radiohead.) So, now what did he think of the not-really-reunited Smashing Pumpkins playing at a fucking casino?

[I]t’s a shame nitpickers avoided the Horseshoe for the sake of some mythical rock ideals; there’s no way those shows will sound as sweet as this one.

The Pumpkins have been practicing seven hours a day, Corgan says, and it shows: The band rips through material from each of its records, some B-sides and a cover of Pink Floyd’s early acid freak-out, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.” Unlike in his ’90s performances, Corgan exerts control over his voice; in fact, he sings better than ever. The group blends heavy-metal geek shredding with trippy goth shoegazing. After an insane, extended guitar duel, the band huddles up for a quiet acoustic set at the front of the stage. The Pumpkins always balanced the audacious with the intimate, which might have led to many listeners’ inability to understand Corgan’s intent. But that’s his point—to remain enigmatic. Before his biggest hit, “Today,” Corgan tells the audience, “This is for you, even though I don’t know who you are. But you don’t know me either.”

Wow, not even a snarky comment about how Billy singing “better than ever” must mean that he paid big bucks to have his “wax-paper septum” replaced! Looks like you can take the Pitchfork out of the boy.

Following seven years after their last such gig, Radiohead returned to Chicago’s Hutchinson Field last night, this time as part of Lollapalooza. This comes on the heels of Pearl Jam’s headlining slot at last year’s Lollapalooza, which of course also was held outside in the Loop.

Meanwhile, the Smashing Pumpkins have never played a large outdoor show in the center of their hometown (and no, Zwan never did either).

You have to think the Pumpkins will be the Lolla headliners next year, don’t you?

Jeremy Gorner of the oh-so-nearby Chicago Tribune reports:

Up to 12 construction workers suffered minor injuries when a ramp at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond gave way Tuesday morning and they fell into Lake Michigan, officials said.

Between 10 and 12 victims were taken to local hospitals, mostly with cuts and bruises, following the accident at the casino, which occurred about 8 a.m., according to the Hammond Fire Department.

The band’s newly announced August 16 tour date in the Charlottesville Pavilion (above, photo by Chris Makarsky) looks to be the first outdoor date on their expanding U.S. summer tour, with another outdoor show three days later in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park.

Sorry we are a bit late this week, but I wanted to be sure to get Jason and Andrew on board to talk about the upcoming tour. We will hopefully be back to our regular schedule next week.

Listen to the whole show (1:05:49)

(download)(iTunes)

This week’s topics:

Panelists
-Chris, Jason, and Andrew

News
-The band is looking for Gish photos, and I dig out my box of film negatives from 1987. (2:06)

-It’s not X.Y.U., it’s not Mina Loy (M.O.H.), the new single is G.L.O.W. Jason takes a stab at the abbreviation and we reminisce about past song titles. (3:45)

In Depth Discussion: The Hammond Concert
-Is playing a concert at a casino any less acceptable than playing at a bar or national restaurant conglomerate? (8:50)

-Is playing a show 20 minutes from Chicago proof of some not-so-subtle vendetta Billy has against the Windy City? (6:16)

-The $83 ticket price: designed to lure hardcore fans? Determined by The Venue? Plus, Jason contrasts the Arising tour with Resume the Pose and comes to a not-so-surprising conclusion about which was better. (7:45)

-Despite, or perhaps because of, being the only show announced and on sale, tickets were slow to sell out. Does this spell the end of the band? Plus, Jason thinks we pay too much attention to the fringe crazies, and I’m still out of touch with the youth of today. (12:16)

Concert Review
-Moon; New Haven, CT July 21st, 1991. How does this concert supporting the release of Gish compare to a possible Gish-era tour? Plus, Jason rediscovers his love of music, and I finally start to convince him that the whole Gish-era tour thing is a good idea. (14:53)

This Week in Pumpkins History
-Jonathan Melvoin dies, Jimmy Chamberlin is fired, and the band is never the same again. (5:09)

Song of the Week
-Money, October 31, 1998

We appreciate your feedback and hope to have Jill back on the show very soon.