It is the 30th anniversary year of one of the most epic double albums in the history of rock and roll: Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins. An album that his record label resisted, actually considered “career suicide” according to Billy Corgan, but which ended up charting at number one, it has won a special place in the hearts of many people, from super fans since the 1990s to the up-and-coming Gen Z, with their Zero t-shirts and Melon Collie posters.
To celebrate the anniversary, Billy Corgan has announced a show that is coming up in late November with Chicago’s famous opera house, The Lyric. In the city where Smashing Pumpkins were born and continue to this day, he says that he has gone to the Lyric for years, but never assumed that they would want to put something on having to do with a garage band of “DIY” alternative rockers, like The Smashing Pumpkins.
Well, the cards have fallen into place, and Corgan says confidently that, “It doesn’t betray the original spirit of the album, but I believe that it will actually enhance it even more.” Where rock and rollers are often of the self-starting, self-taught ilk, Corgan is excited for classically-trained musicians and singers to bring the work to another outstanding level of musicianship and entertainment.
To see the Lyric take on the Smashing Pumpkins should be a wonder
You can bet that people will be traveling from far and wide to catch the performance, “A Night of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness.” Tickets go on general sale at 10 am on Friday, April 11. They are also touring Europe in the summer after their recent release of Aghori Mhori Mei.
You can imagine songs like the orchestral "Tonight, Tonight," which opens the album, which Corgan actually composed the strings for, being performed at the Lyric, but what are they gonna do with face-shredders like "X.Y.U." and "Jelly Belly?" Perhaps one of the highlights of the show will be how they handle the charming Goth anthem, "We Only Come Out At Night," one of my favorite songs off the album, when I heard it thirty years ago.
An album that already charted at number one on the charts, that is as relevant to modern music today as it was then, will likely see a bit of a resurgence with this 30th anniversary this year. I'm not sure what else the Smashing Pumpkins have in store for this anniversary, but you can bet, with someone like Billy Corgan, there are a few other tricks up his ever-magical sleeves.