Billy Corgan: in Europe with a Smashing Pumpkins project
Billy Corgan brings back one of the most iconic chapters of his career with “A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness”a live project that reinterprets the historic Smashing Pumpkins album from 1995 in an orchestral key, “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”. After debuting in North America, the show will arrive in Europe and the United Kingdom starting in September 2026. The artist will be supported by a 60-piece orchestra to give life to a completely new version of the album, conceived as an immersive experience that combines music and visual component. Corgan himself described the project as “a new sonic and visual experience”, capable of transforming the album into a truly contemporary work. The European tour will start from London, with two dates scheduled at the Royal Festival Hall on 1st and 2nd September. Next the show will touch Antwerp and Paris (both with double dates), to conclude in Madrid by the end of the month. At the moment there is no Italy.
The project is based on a collaboration with the conductor James Lowe, with whom Corgan worked to reorchestrate the original material, expanding its expressive possibilities. The goal, as explained in the official presentation, is to “pay homage to an album that defined an era, while at the same time expanding the language of the work”. Among the most anticipated moments of the show, a new orchestral version of “Tonight, Tonight”, described as one of the most emotional passages of the performance. With this project, Corgan doesn’t just celebrate the past, but tries to rewrite it, transforming a symbolic record of the 90s into a radically different live experience.
