Billy Corgan: playing full albums live is the dregs of the music business

Billy Corgan says that playing full albums live is “the dregs of the music business.”

Smashing Pumpkins’ iconic double-album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness turned 20 last year, but frontman Corgan dismisses the idea of playing the record in its entirety onstage.

He tells Rolling Stone: “The idea of getting up and playing an album that was never meant to be played live in that sequence smacks of consumerism. That stuff is the dregs of the music business. I have a hard time believing that everybody out there doing it really wants to do it.

“I think it’s played itself through. I think the fans have already grown bored with it, best I can tell. You don’t see as much of it as you saw a couple years ago.”

Corgan made similar comments about the trend for classic lineup reunions, saying it’s an “inorganic” and “gross” business move which rarely works out the way the band wants it to.

The Pumpkins’ current lineup put out Monuments To An Elegy in December 2014, with Day For Night slated for release this year. They recently extended their In Plainsong tour in North America, which kicks off next week.

The Smashing Pumpkins North America tour 2016

Mar 22: Portland Schnitzer Hall, OR
Mar 23: Seattle The Paramount, WA
Mar 25: San Francisco The Masonic, CA
Mar 26-27: Los Angeles Theatre at Ace Hotel, LA
Mar 29: Salt Lake City Kingsbury Hall, UT
Mar 30: Denver Ellie Caulkins Opera House, CO
Apr 01: Detroit The Fillmore, MI
Apr 02: Columbus Palace Theatre, OH
Apr 04: New York Beacon Theatre, NY
Apr 08: Philadelphia Tower Theatre, PA
Apr 09: Boston Orpheum Theatre, MA
Apr 10: Washington DC Lincoln Theatre, WA
Apr 12: Toronto Massey Hall, OT
Apr 14: Chicago Civic Opera House, IL
Apr 15: Louisville Palace Theatre, KY
Apr 16: Nashville Ryman Auditorium, TN
Apr 18: Dallas Majestic Theatre, TX
Apr 19: Austin Bass Concert Hall, TX
Apr 20: Houston Cullen Performance Hall, TX
Apr 22: New Orleans Saenger Theatre, LA
Apr 23: Little Rock Verizon Arena, AR
Apr 24: Memphis Orpheum Theatre, TN
Apr 26: Atlanta Cobb Energy Center, GA
Apr 27: Charlotte Ovens Auditorium, NC
Apr 29: Akron Goodyear Theatre at East End, OH
May 01: Ft Lauderdale Broward Center for Performing Arts, FL

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.