Some cities get to be cool all of the time. (Casts a sideways glance towards New York City.) The A.V. Club’s home base of Chicago, however, is not one of them. No, the last time Chicago was cool on a national level was in the ’90s, when local artists like Liz Phair and The Smashing Pumpkins formed the epicenter of an alt-rock scene in Chicago’s Wicker Park while alt-country bands like Wilco formed their own community at Lincoln Park’s Lounge Ax. The Chicago music scene was taken over by emo bands in the late ’90s, though, and nowadays William (not Billy) Corgan owns a tea shop in the suburbs and Phair, last we checked, was doing her best to alienate her fan base by releasing crappy experimental and forgettable lo-fi records after her big attempt at “selling out.” And Wicker Park? Well, one of its most famous clubs could become a Shake Shack any day now.
But the Midwestern dream of the ’90s will soon live again as Pitchfork reports that the Pumpkins are going on tour with their original drummer, Jimmy Chamberlain. It’s being billed as an extension of their “In Plainsong” tour, where they will perform “an evening of acoustic based music and electronic soundscapes” to thirty- and fortysomethings already sleepy from drinking two beers at dinner. Phair will open; these will be her first U.S. shows in six years, so that’ll be an eye opener one way or the other. The tour begins on March 22 in Portland, then snakes its way around the U.S. before ending with a trio of Texas shows in April. A full list of tour dates is below.
Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair “In Plainsong” tour
March 22—Schnitzer Hall—Portland, OR
March 23—The Paramount—Seattle, WA
March 25—The Masonic—San Francisco, CA
March 26-27—The Theatre at Ace Hotel—Los Angeles, CA
March 29—Kingsbury Hall—Salt Lake City, UT
March 30 Denver, CO – Ellie Caulkins Opera House *
April 1—The Fillmore —Detroit, MI
April 2 —Palace Theatre—Columbus, OH
April 4—Beacon Theatre—New York, NY
April 8—Tower Theatre—Philadelphia, PA
April 9—Orpheum Theatre—Boston, MA
April 10—Lincoln Theatre—Washington, D.C.
April 12—Massey Hall—Toronto, ON
April 14—Civic Opera House—Chicago, IL
April 15—Palace Theatre—Louisville, KY
April 16—Ryman Auditorium—Nashville, TN
April 18—Majestic Theatre—Dallas, TX
April 19—Bass Concert Hall—Austin, TX
April 20—Cullen Performance Hall—Houston, TX