Billy Corgan has said that the Smashing Pumpkins are keen to bring the ‘A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness’ live show to the Las Vegas Sphere.
The shows, which were first announced in March 2025 and kicked off in North America later that year, see the frontman join up with a 60-piece orchestra to deliver an operatic reimagining of Smashing Pumpkins’ hit 1995 album ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’.
Dubbed ‘A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan’, the music is composed by Corgan alongside Grammy-nominated conductor James Lowe, performed alongside world-class soloists and orchestras.
Now, Corgan has revealed that the band would “absolutely” love to bring the shows to the Las Vegas Sphere, and even has an idea for the production.
“It’s a no-doubter for us. We just haven’t been asked yet,” Corgan said in a recent interview on KROQ when asked about his interest in playing the high-tech venue. “See, if the Sphere came to us and said, ‘We’d love you to do all of Mellon Collie with that production.’ Now, that makes sense to me to do something like that, to build the show around the album…. Then you have a chance to recast the songs and the music in a different dynamic.”
According to a press release, the shows look to “re-imagine and pay homage to the era-defining album of the same name, whilst also expanding the definition and intention of opera”. It also cites highlights, including a “tear-jerking” version of ‘Tonight,
Tonight’ by the orchestra.
The shows will come to the UK and Europe later this year, and you can visit here for tickets.
Earlier this month, Corgan held a “requiem” show for the character ‘Zero’ – the persona he took on during the time of the album’s release.
As well as announcing the unique, operatic tour, last year also saw Smashing Pumpkins drop the 30th anniversary deluxe reissue of ‘Mellon Collie’, which featured over 80 minutes of unreleased audio from their 1996 tour, a hardbound book with new liner notes from Corgan, a custom tarot card set, and seven frameable lithographs.
Before then, the frontman spoke to NME that February and opened up about the milestone for the 1995 album – hinting that he was “working with the parent label” to release a revisited version of the record at the time.
“It’s weird because I can’t believe it’s been 30 years. I’m really excited, but at the same time, I’m like ‘What happened over these last 30 years?’” he said.
Since then, he has invited Hole’s Melissa Auf der Maur on his podcast and opened up about being inspired by Courtney Love, invited Love herself onto the show where they shared their issues with “gatekeeper” Kim Gordon, and duetted with Sombr at Coachella.
Elsewhere, the band recently announced they have reunited with Butch Vig for a new song that’s “98 per cent done” – and on its way soon.
The post Smashing Pumpkins eye up ‘Mellon Collie’ show at Las Vegas Sphere appeared first on NME.
