The Illinois State Fair has announced that two-time GRAMMY award-winning The Smashing Pumpkins will headline the Illinois State Fair Grandstand on Friday, August 16.
The Smashing Pumpkins are one of the most iconic, iconoclastic and influential bands of all time, shaping alternative music and culture. Since forming in Chicago during 1988, the group have sold over 30 million albums worldwide and garnered two GRAMMY® Awards, two MTV VMAs, and an American Music Award.
Their catalog includes seminal offerings such as the platinum Gish [1991], the quadruple-platinum Siamese Dream [1993], the diamond-certified Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness [1995], the platinum Adore [1998], and the gold Machina/The Machines of God [2000].
Rolling Stone cited both Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness among its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” It would also be impossible to envision alternative music and culture without their signature iconography such as the idyllic album artwork for Siamese Dream, the black Zero shirt, the laissez faire bliss of the “1979” music video, the gothic metamorphosis of “Ava Adore,” or the multi-dimensional live shows that sell out worldwide to this day.
2018 saw The Smashing Pumpkins unveil the SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN. and launch the immensely successful Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour, which packed arenas. Maintaining this momentum, the band released their eleventh full-length double album CYR [2020], representing yet another evolution, and more recently, ATUM [2023], the sequel to 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina/Machine of God. As prolific as ever, The Smashing Pumpkins are currently working on new music. More details to come.
“The Smashing Pumpkins defined a new sound in the 90s and have continued to evolve through the years,” said Illinois State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark. “This show is sure to draw an eclectic and enthusiastic crowd, and we are excited to bring The Smashing Pumpkins back home to Illinois.”
Opening act PVRIS (pronounced Paris), who has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, brings artistry and storytelling to their genre-defying music with hits like, “Animal” and “Anywhere But Here.”
Tickets for this event, featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, will be on sale Friday, April 5th at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.
Tickets to the new tour dates will be available for presale on April 2 at 10:00 am local with the artist presale code “VAMPIRE”. You can learn more about the presale via The Smashing Pumpkins’ website. There will also be a few more presale events for the supporting artists and VIP packages via Ticketmaster.
General on-sale kicks off on April 5 at 10:00 am local. We recommend looking for non-US tour date tickets on Viagogo for the best deals and best chance at scoring tickets to sold-out dates. For North American fans, Stubhub will be your best bet for finding good seats, especially if your tour date of choice is sold out by the time the presale events end.
Great band. once upon a time the Pumpkins wanted to do a free show in Grant Park. A key police officer I knew kept telling me what a bad idea that was. don’t know why the security crowd wanted to kill it as I remember being down there for a giant Stevie Wonder free performance.
@jason, all the credit goes to Ms Clark. I knew she’d be great at this job, and hopefully the Agriculture Director some day, but I had no clue she’d be this good. Best Illinois band ever imho.
He’s spent most of the last decade as an on-again off-again wrestling promoter, almost destroying one promotion (TNA/Impact/GFW) and all but destroyed the NWA once he booked Tyrus as his champion.
- really hoping they stick to a similar “all killer, no filler” setlist. -
I’m admittedly not a fan of their music other than a couple songs, but some fans I know that saw them at Riot Fest a few years ago said it was an awful show. For those of you going I hope that was an outlier.
Man, that was cool to watch the embedded video of Tonight, Tonight. Thanks for bringing back some beautiful memories in including that in this post.
Bringing an Illinois native with some well-known name appeal to the State Fair will attract a GenX crowd from Chicagoland who might not have otherwise considered the State Fair as a destination. I grew up and worked not far from where Billy lived for a period and later lived for a period in Chicago’s suburbs.
Speaking for myself, seeing this announcement just elevated the State Fair to my shortlist of wanna-do’s come that time.
As for prior commentary on his forays into professional wrestling promotion, TNA/Impact was sunk the moment they brought back Hulk Hogan and the NWO.. Billy Corgan taking a role in booking was nothing more than a fan of something he grew up watching with the means of living out his dream of contributing to leading a pro wrestling franchise. Man, if I had a few bucks and the means to do the same, I’d do so, too.
Great to see this, and hope it turns out to be a great Fair for all present.
- workingfromhome - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 12:45 pm:
WOW
- George Ryan Reynolds - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 12:47 pm:
Wanna go for a ride?
- Treefiddy - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 12:50 pm:
Hopefully Billy sticks to the hits and doesn’t go off on any of his right-wing conspiracies between songs.
- mrp - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 12:56 pm:
AND a new Spinal Tap movie soon? Puppet Show jazz odyssey in store for fairgoers.
- Leap Day William - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 1:03 pm:
Saw them at the United Center in 2018 for a milestone birthday, really hoping they stick to a similar “all killer, no filler” setlist.
- Jason - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 1:12 pm:
Whoever is securing all these great acts should just get a Golden Horse Award now.
- James - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 1:25 pm:
this is awesome.
- Amalia - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 1:44 pm:
Great band. once upon a time the Pumpkins wanted to do a free show in Grant Park. A key police officer I knew kept telling me what a bad idea that was. don’t know why the security crowd wanted to kill it as I remember being down there for a giant Stevie Wonder free performance.
- Leslie K - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 2:26 pm:
===Hopefully Billy sticks to the hits and doesn’t go off on any of his right-wing conspiracies between songs.===
Oh please tell me he hasn’t gone that road?
- Lurker - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 2:37 pm:
@jason, all the credit goes to Ms Clark. I knew she’d be great at this job, and hopefully the Agriculture Director some day, but I had no clue she’d be this good. Best Illinois band ever imho.
- SAP - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 3:10 pm:
I hope they aren’t bleeping with us, based on today’s date.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 3:26 pm:
Another band I saw at the Palmer School of Chiropractic gym. Great show.
- The Dude Abides - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 3:34 pm:
=Oh please tell me he hasn’t gone that road?=
He’s spent most of the last decade as an on-again off-again wrestling promoter, almost destroying one promotion (TNA/Impact/GFW) and all but destroyed the NWA once he booked Tyrus as his champion.
- Treefiddy - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 4:13 pm:
=Oh please tell me he hasn’t gone that road?=
Let’s just say him and Alex Jones are quite chummy.
- Excitable Boy - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 5:10 pm:
- really hoping they stick to a similar “all killer, no filler” setlist. -
I’m admittedly not a fan of their music other than a couple songs, but some fans I know that saw them at Riot Fest a few years ago said it was an awful show. For those of you going I hope that was an outlier.
- Dotnonymous x - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 8:13 pm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LdSqhEwvPw
- Zoomer - Tuesday, Apr 2, 24 @ 5:42 am:
Man, that was cool to watch the embedded video of Tonight, Tonight. Thanks for bringing back some beautiful memories in including that in this post.
Bringing an Illinois native with some well-known name appeal to the State Fair will attract a GenX crowd from Chicagoland who might not have otherwise considered the State Fair as a destination. I grew up and worked not far from where Billy lived for a period and later lived for a period in Chicago’s suburbs.
Speaking for myself, seeing this announcement just elevated the State Fair to my shortlist of wanna-do’s come that time.
As for prior commentary on his forays into professional wrestling promotion, TNA/Impact was sunk the moment they brought back Hulk Hogan and the NWO.. Billy Corgan taking a role in booking was nothing more than a fan of something he grew up watching with the means of living out his dream of contributing to leading a pro wrestling franchise. Man, if I had a few bucks and the means to do the same, I’d do so, too.
Great to see this, and hope it turns out to be a great Fair for all present.