Iha & Smashing Pumpkins Together Again for Two Performances

James Iha
Tiffany Bauer [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Guitarist James Iha joined his former bandmates Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin of The Smashing Pumpkins for the first time in 16 years when they performed together at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on the evening of Saturday, March 26. The performance came as a surprise to members of the audience.

The reunited band played several tracks off their 1993 LP Siamese Dream, which sold 10 million copies worldwide. The set list included:

• “Mayonaise”
• “Soma”
• “Rocket”
• “Today”
• “Disarm”
• “Spaceboy”
• “Whir”

The Smashing Pumpkins led the crowd in a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Iha. March 26 was his 48th birthday.

Iha joined Corgan and Chamberlin again for another performance at the Ace Hotel on Sunday, March 27. Iha performed on seven tracks halfway through the show. Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder took turns playing lead guitar on “Today.” The encore at the second show included a cover of the ballad “Angie,” which was written by the Rolling Stones.

Siamese Dream was The Smashing Pumpkins’ second studio album. It received generally positive reviews and solidified their reputation as an important band in the alternative music genre. Their 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 charts. The band has sold over 20 million albums in the United States.

Iha left the Smashing Pumpkins when the band broke up for the first time in 2000. The group reformed with several other members, but Iha never resumed his role as guitarist. Relations between the former bandmates seemed to improve earlier this month when they issued a joint written threat to sue the person or persons responsible for leaking some of the band’s early demos.

Corgan said in an interview with Consequences of Sound published on January 7, 2016 that he would like to make peace with former members of the band. He also said that he was not interested in a reunion involving the original members of the Smashing Pumpkins.

The Smashing Pumpkins are currently performing dates on their In Plainsong tour across the United States. You can attend an upcoming performance with tickets from buyTickets.com.