Tickets for The Smashing Pumpkins’ Shiny and Oh So Bright reunion tour featuring Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder went on sale on Friday, and the first ticket sale results in major cities appears to be good news for the reunited band. It is the Pumpkins’ first tour of entirely large arenas since 2000’s MACHINA run, the last time Corgan, Iha, and Chamberlin toured together. It’s hard to find a comparison point for the tour when it comes to commercial expectations, as Billy Corgan has played under The Smashing Pumpkins banner for the last 11 years with Jimmy Chamberlin intermittently being part of the lineup in 2007, 2008, 2015, and 2016. So while it is somewhat of a reunion, the brand has been out there, and the reunion lineup also does not feature original bassist D’arcy Wretzky.
Stone Temple Pilots reunited in 2008 for a tour playing similar sized venues, followed by Soundgarden in 2011. Both bands had their entire classic lineups, and STP hadn’t toured in nearly 6 years, while Soundgarden had laid dormant for 13 years. Guns N’ Roses launched their Not In This Lifetime tour in 2016 which was a partial reunion after years of a replacement members lineup, but Axl Rose and Slash playing together again was historic as they are both iconic figures, and GNR are a much bigger band. Billy Corgan and James Iha are legends, but they are not on the level of Axl and Slash when it comes to fame. Soundgarden and STP’s initial tours were successes, while not every show sold out immediately they did end up filling most of the venues they played. Both bands downsized to smaller venues in later years after the reunion fervor calmed down prior to both band’s classic lineups ending under heartbreaking circumstances. Pearl Jam, Radiohead, and Foo Fighters have stayed together and never split up, so there is an audience loyalty and new fans that have been acquired over the years that makes it far easier for them to quickly sell out shows.
Jen Weigel shared a photo of Billy Corgan reacting to first day ticket sales, which you can view below.
She wrote, “A happy @williampcorgan checking the results of his tour ticket sales for #shinyandohsobright. ‘Today is the greatest…’ #smashingpumpkins #billycorgan #tour2018.'”
We have compiled photos of how many of the shows are selling via Ticketmaster screenshots you can view below (note that there are Ticketmaster resales on the map too, that’s important to note). Overall the tour appears to be selling well, especially with the unique circumstances leading up to it and expectations we laid out earlier in this article. There were some issues though with Ticketmaster when some shows went on sale where fans could only get a limited supply of tickets, while more became available a couple of hours later.
The best selling shows so far are in highly populated cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Uncasville, New York, Los Angeles, Duluth, Kansas City, Austin, and San Diego. All of those shows seem likely to sell out sometime soon, though they did not on the first day.
Saint Paul is doing well but slower than other major cities, while Detroit appears to be the slowest when it comes major cities, though it’s doing better than smaller markets. Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Nashville, and Baltimore have sold most of their premiere seats, but there are plenty of others still available.
In many smaller markets floor seats are going fast, but sections behind the floor tickets are mostly unsold. The weakest cities include Salt Lake City, Glendale, Louisville, and Portland, but some larger markets like Miami are slow as well. It’s definitely still early though, and many shows fill up as the tour dates approach.
Overall the larger cities are doing well for a band that has had so many ups and downs over the years, so the Pumpkins must be pleased with that. It is mostly the smaller markets that tickets aren’t moving as briskly yet. Fans should all be rooting for Billy, James, Jimmy, and Jeff, as the Pumpkins are 90’s alternative rock/Grunge era survivors. Go to the shows and see for yourself what The Smashing Pumpkins sound like in 2018!
