Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan Not With ‘Everyone’ in ‘Solara’ Clip
What is going on here? Smashing Pumpkins are back with a new video for their latest single "Solara" and it's a bizarre new clip brought together by director Nick Koenig.
The video features Billy Corgan seemingly being kept docile in a treatment facility of some kind. Led by a group of "nurses," Corgan is led toward a fountain where a surreal scene plays out with bandmate James Iha and a masked figure involved. Corgan appears to break free of the events going on in front of him, unclasping his chain and stopping to view a mime woman giving birth and a group of ultra-violet ray-worshippers getting in some fake baking before eventually escaping his environs. But the real world is nearly as surreal as what he just left, with his journey continuing with a puzzling group of interactions. Watch the video play out above.
"Solara" is one of the new songs conceived by Corgan and his reconfigured Smashing Pumpkins lineup. Three-fourths of the original band is in place, with Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha joining Corgan, alongside longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder, keyboardist Katie Cole and bassist Jack Bates. The group is hitting the road this summer for the "Bright and Oh So Shiny" tour, which is said to focus primarily on the early era material of the band. The tour gets underway July 12 in Glendale, Ariz. and dates for the run can be found here.
Meanwhile, the band got in some early work with a private show last night (June 27) at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. The gig was announced just 24 hours prior to the performance, with fans quickly snapping up wristbands for the intimate club show. Corgan and his crew treated fans to a 17-song performance that included "Solara" alongside such classic tracks as "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "Drown," "Tonight Tonight" and "Today." They closed out the show with a cover of Joy Division's "Transmission," bolstered by a guest turn by AFI's Davey Havok, and the fan-favorite "1979." Fans everywhere will get a chance to see the current Smashing Pumpkins lineup this summer.
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