The Smashing Pumpkins are set to return to Chicago’s Lollapalooza this Friday, July 31, headlining the festival in their hometown for the first time since appearing on the original traveling edition of Lollapalooza in 1994.
To mark the occasion, the band has put together a series of fan-focused events across Chicago under the banner “Pumpkinpalooza.” The schedule includes a special club show, exclusive merchandise, themed attractions and other activities leading into their festival performance.
The celebration begins on July 29 with a sold-out concert at the historic Riviera Theatre in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. With a capacity of around 2,500, the venue offers a much more intimate setting than the band’s upcoming Lollapalooza appearance, giving fans a chance to hear material from throughout The Smashing Pumpkins‘ catalog in a smaller room.
From July 29 through July 31, the band will also operate a merchandise pop-up store at 900 S. Wabash Ave., just a short distance from Grant Park. The location will be open daily between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Festival attendees can also stop by Madame Zuzu’s Celestial Lounge, an extension of Billy Corgan and Chloé Mendel Corgan‘s Highland Park teahouse. The space will feature matcha, vinyl records, exclusive merchandise, and other items. Elsewhere in the city, Chicago cocktail bar The Aviary will offer a limited-edition drink called Infinite Mellons to celebrate the band’s return to Lollapalooza.
Billy Corgan says: “As a Chicagoan, born and raised, I take great pride in contributing to our city’s immense and colorful cultural fabric. And so this year’s already historic Lollapalooza is that chance to make new memories, new friends, and have a bit of Midwest fun, too, as only we might.”
The Chicago events continue a busy period for The Smashing Pumpkins, following last year’s 30th anniversary celebration of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. The milestone included a deluxe vinyl reissue featuring previously unreleased live recordings, orchestral performances with the Lyric Opera Of Chicago, and collaborations with Vosges Haut-Chocolat and Erewhon.
Following Lollapalooza, the band will head out on The Rats In A Cage tour, which runs from September through November. The shows will feature two different sets: one centered on Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness and another spanning nearly four decades of the band’s career, mixing major songs with deeper cuts.
Formed in Chicago in 1988, The Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and remain one of alternative rock’s defining acts. Their catalog includes releases such as Gish, Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, Adore, Machina/The Machines Of God, Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., Cyr, Atum and 2024’s Aghori Mhori Mei.
The latest album reunited the signature guitar-driven approach associated with the band’s early work, with Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha continuing to build on a catalog that has influenced generations of alternative and heavy rock musicians.
