The End Times comes this summer.
It is the name of the tour featuring The Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson.
It may not be the most likely pairing, but both bands have a gothic narcissist ego maniac of a frontman. One hails from an indie rock background. One came up in the wake left by Nine Inch Nails.
Both have built a core following with which they have not blown their collective cred, so it should be a fun show.
Big fuzzy dreamy indie rock songs followed by some razor cut chemical industrial pop.
These are bands that started on the fringes because of their originality, until it propelled them to such levels of popularity, they almost became a parody unto themselves.
Smashing Pumpkins especially. Billy Corgan is undoubtably a song writing genuis. The magic of the ‘band’ seems to revolve around the members being able to tolerate each other. With they apparently don’t.
Following the release of Smashing Pumpkins latest, “Monuments to an Elegy”, Corgan played a handful of dates with Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk and Killers bassist Mark Stoermer filling in the rhythm section. A confirmed band line-up has yet to be announced, but since toured dates have been… one would assume Billy has a band put together.
Marilyn Mason has been out promoting his latest and critically praised, “The Pale Emperor”. The album shows a return to a more stripped down and direct approach to song-writing. Even though it is more ‘accessible’… and accessible isn’t something that Marilyn Manson normally benefits from… the tunes are stronger for the stream-lining. More rock. Which is always the way to go when given a choice. Check, “Deep Six”.
And here is another single from the new album. “Third Day of a Seven Day Binge”. It’s got a moody effect and holds up Mason’s voice, allowing his howl of a morticians groan to shoot stares across the song’s back-beat.
If one pays attention to fake media feuds, the tour might be seen as hatchet-burying move by Manson. In an interview Manson gave to Larry King in 2013, he suggested to Corgan that, “it would be a good marketing idea that if he sold Charlie Brown T-shirts and bald caps at concerts.”
Obviously, Corgan was unfazed… or realized he couldn’t kick Marilyn out of his band, so might as well tour with him.
Here is the Smashing Pumpkins single, “Being Beige”. I think it is self-indulgent wankery, and I like a lot of their catalog. Perhaps you are having a case of the Mondays and need a friend…
I just know they can write a better song. I mean… c’mon…
Should be a great tour…
The End Times tour dates
July 7 — Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion
July 9 — Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 10 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
July 11 — Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre
July 13 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
July 15 — Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion
July 16 — Houston, TX @ NRG Arena
July 18 — San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum
July 19 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Live
July 20 — New Orleans, LA @ Bold Sphere Music at Champions Square
July 22 — Miami, FL @ Bayfront Park Amphitheatre
July 24 — Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
July 25 — Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
July 26 — Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
July 28 — Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
July 29 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 31 — Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
August 1 — Mashantucket, CT @ Foxwoods Resort Casino
August 2 — Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
August 4 — Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
August 5 — Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 7 — Chicago, IL @ FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
August 8 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
