For fans in Cardiff and across the UK, the chance to save yourself from “Infinite Sadness” is rapidly approaching when alternative rock icons The Smashing Pumpkins bring their colossal The World Is A Vampire tour to the Welsh capital on July 16th. The veteran dream pop/progressive rock giants, led by visionary frontman Billy Corgan, are unleashing an absolutely stacked tour hitting venues across Europe and North America this summer.
The highly-anticipated Cardiff stop will see The Smashing Pumpkins joining forces with legendary punk trailblazers Green Day as co-headliners for what promises to be an absolutely monumental evening of alternative music’s past, present and future. Canadian rockers The Glorious Sons and pop rock upstarts Pvris will open the show as special guests.
Fans will have an opportunity to snag pre-sale tickets first using the passcode “Vampire” in a pre-sale beginning Tuesday at 10am local time. Remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public Friday at 10am local venue time via LiveNation’s website.
The World Is A Vampire tour is shaping up to be a celebratory showcase spanning The Smashing Pumpkins’ entire game-changing catalog and multiple eras. The band erupted out of Chicago in the early 90s with a singular vision of unbridled guitar rock defined by Corgan’s introspective, soul-bearing lyricism.
Their 1993 album Siamese Dream was a multi-platinum gamechanger, featuring cult favorites like the muscular “Cherub Rock,” the soaring “Today,” and the vulnerability of “Disarm.” They built on that momentum with the hugely ambitious 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, an epic journey containing anthemic hits like “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Tonight, Tonight,” and “Ava Adore.”
Those singles all topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and cemented The Smashing Pumpkins’ status as alt-rock royalty alongside contemporaries like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. The Pumpkins have sold over 30 million albums worldwide across their groundbreaking catalog blending volatile power chords and anguished poetics.
Now, longtime fans in Cardiff and newcomers alike can experience this iconic material live and loud when The World Is A Vampire tour haunts the city on July 16th. For Smashing Pumpkins devotees who discovered the band’s classic albums during their formative teenage years of angst and alienation, it’s a chance to reconnect with the cathartic anthems that provided a sonic refuge.
Simultaneously, a new generation of young alternative fans in Wales will experience The Smashing Pumpkins’ boundary-pushing musicianship and existential lyricism for the first time. The Cardiff show promises a multi-generational gathering of rock fans celebrating the enduring power of this essential act’s catalog.
From seminal early works through their acclaimed recent trilogy of albums Cyr, Machina reissues, and the Atum rock opera, The World Is A Vampire tour is shaping up to be a sprawling trek through alternative rock’s most captivating catalog. As Billy Corgan ominously crooned in a lyric encapsulating The Pumpkins’ urgency, “The world is a vampire…sent to drain.”
Don’t miss your chance to drink deeply from this iconic band’s celebrated songbook when The Smashing Pumpkins haunt the stage in Cardiff on July 16th alongside Green Day for an unforgettable evening of alt-rock treasures. Save the date and prepare for an infinite journey through infinite sadness – the kind that only transcendent live music can provide.
