The Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour was the Smashing Pumpkins' headlining reunion tour after Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha formally rejoined the band in early 2018.[1] Prior to the tour, there were some notable exchanges from frontman Billy Corgan and founding bassist D'arcy Wretzky over her absence from the reunited band.[2][3] The tour was noted also for having a three-hour setlist with material solely from the band's first five albums, except for four covers and the 2018 single "Solara".[4][5][6]
Background
For many years after the band's initial breakup, they had toured with a litany of members, including Chamberlin himself when the band first reformed in 2006, although he quickly departed by early 2009. In 2015 he made a return to the band as a touring member for The End Times Tour with Marilyn Manson and 2016's In Plainsong tour, which was “acoustic-electro” and saw the band reach into their catalog of rarities alongside some hits.[7][8] James Iha made a few surprise returns on this tour as well, marking the first time he had shared a stage with Corgan since December 2, 2000.[9] On February 15, 2018, the band announced both Chamberlin and Iha would return on a full-member basis, alongside now longtime member Jeff Schroeder, making the band's first ever lineup with three permanent guitarists.
This tour would be the band's first arena trek since the Oceania tour, which itself was a mixture of arenas and theaters. Before the tour kicked off its arena stops across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy, two warmup shows were played at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, which saw AFI'sDavey Havok make a guest appearance to perform the Joy Division song "Transmission", and a small backyard house show where the band had filmed the "1979" music video years earlier.[10][11]
Reception
Reviews of the tour were mixed, but leaned towards positive more often. Many praised the tour for how much ground the setlist covered throughout the performance.[12] Others pointed out the tour's focus on fans' nostalgia, and that the tour performed every hit song along with several rarities and cover songs.[13] The band's performance of Led Zeppelin's renowned song "Stairway to Heaven" also garnered lots of attention for being authentic to the original.[14] Some complaints raised by some who reviewed the tour included the extensive length that the band performed, as they had a set spanning three and a quarter hours, and others pointed out the lack of any material from the band's catalog after Machina/The Machines of God.[15]