May 03--Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan quickly sold out four acoustic-electro shows set for this month at his Highland Park tea shop after announcing the schedule Tuesday.
Corgan said he will perform with Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder at Madame ZuZu's at 8:30 p.m. Friday; 7:30 p.m. May 13 and May 21 and 6 p.m. May 29.
The 140 tickets up for sale were snapped up about an hour after Corgan announced the shows.
General admission tickets, priced at $30, include a show poster, tea and pastry. VIP tickets cost $275 for a private tea and conversation with Corgan and Schroeder.
Corgan wrapped up his six-week "In Plainsong" tour Sunday in Florida. The jaunt included an April stop at the Civic Opera House with Chicago singer-songwriter Liz Phair and an onstage reunion with former bandmate James Iha.
In a Facebook post Monday reflecting on the tour, Corgan wished former Pumpkins bassist D'arcy Wretzky a happy birthday and said he was "encouraged" that she is playing music. Wretzky, who left the group in 1999, told the BlastEcho music site recently that she would "consider going back" to the band under the right circumstances.
"As I head home, it's crazy to think that it was nearly 30 years ago that I began this wild and wooly journey, and that meeting James (Iha), then D'arcy, then (drummer) Jimmy (Chamberlin) would alter all of our lives forever; for the better, I would argue," Corgan wrote.
"Which I suppose makes the hardships that came too, bittersweet. And as I feel speculation start to swirl about what happens next for SP, I'd like to say quite simply and directly that what matters most to Jeff (Schroeder) and I is the music."
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