In August Billy Corgan told me he wanted to put a tour together that would be a few dates around the Los Angeles area to try out some of the new songs he's writing for the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins record. Kerry and Billy asked me if I would make some art for it so I immediately got to work.
The finished poster came out like this.










































When the poster was revealed some fans got into a debate over whether it was ghosts or sperm in the poster. :) Someone came up with the definition that it represented death and rebirth and was relevant to what was happening in the Pumpkins right now with Jimmy leaving and the band going through a new incarnation. So, I said.... sure! :)



Here are the t-shirts (which are still available for sale on smashingpumpkins.com)



Here is a picture i took with my Blackberry of the drawing in progress.



So slowly the musicians all started to come together as the rehearsals progressed and the lineup ended up being
Billy Corgan, Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction), Kerry Brown (Catherine), Mike Byrne (then new Pumpkins drummer), Mark Tulin (Electric Prunes), me, Kevin Dippold, Mark Weitz (Strawberry Alarm Clock), Ysanne Spevack.
We only really practiced for about five or six days the week immediately before the first show. So, we'd meet up at the studio around noon and go til around five every day.
All in all i believe we learned 18 to 20 songs. There were charts everywhere, chords scribbled all over everything, people scratching their heads over billy's complex arrangements, and lyrics changing every day. It was a lot of work but very satisfying musically for everyone. It was a great vibe with absolutely no drama which is hard to find in the world of eccentric musician types. We would usually work and then eat together before we slowly all just vanished. It was really funny actually that no one ever actually said goodbye every day... we'd just all sort of vanish. :)








the set list ended up being


We had a practice show and invited our friends and family. Here's a clip Justin made from it.


Visalia, CA - The Cellar Door

We all met up about noon and piled into the vans and drove out. The van rides were fun. We blasted music, had the most random conversations, and i got in some really deep conversations with Mark Tulin about psychology and post traumatic stress. etc. At one point Billy stopped at a store (where he met an Elvis impersonator) and stocked us up with great records to listen to.


When we got to Visalia, B and I walked around and checked out some antique stores and goofed around then went to soundcheck.

Here is a video from the visalia show. as you can see we are heavily relying on the lyrics sheets because some of the lyrics had been finished that morning. :)
"Fellowship" was the last song we learned so we were all crossing our fingers. haha. but its so beautiful I'm really glad Billy kept it in the set.


The show was really fun. Some girl bit and licked Dave at one point and there is a twitvid of it somewhere. I also remember there being tons of cops there including some really good looking ones in front of our dressing room which gave it a really dreamy bizarre vibe. Also when I walked back to the hotel with Dave six security walked with us, which was funny but good since the girl that bit him was following us WITH her husband HAHA. It was pretty bizarre.

Santa Barbara - Muddy Waters

When we got out to this place I couldn't believe how small it was. It was a little coffee shop..very cool but i had no idea how we were going to play there. We ended up cramming in at one end between pillars. The place kept giving me free latte's. By the time the show rolled around i was wired!
It's strange that I really don't have any videos or pictures from this.
It was BOILING hot. Halfway through the show Billy had everyone go outside and take a break to cool off. Everyone poured out on the street drenched with sweat.
It all had such a chaotic vibe. There were no monitors so Billy and I couldn't hear a thing but we had alot of fun. I remember a girl in the front who was 8 months pregnant.... and people started sending me drinks, and that was the show that mikey lit into a crazy drum solo and blew everyone away.
After the show we were sitting in the back (me, Dave, and Mike) and he told us the incredible story of how he went from working at McDonald's to being the drummer for the Smashing Pumpkins at 19. It was very inspiring. He took a chance and it paid off big. He's freakishly talented though. He doesn't even know how talented he is.


Long Beach, CA - Open

I remember alot from this show. I was really really really tired. The week leading up to the tour was hectic. I had my job, rehearsal, and then was staying up to finish stuff for the merch. So I was totally sleep deprived. This was the day that Kristin Burns joined us though. :) So, that's why there are great photos from here on out, (kristinburns.com)including this photo from when she shot everyone on the huge pile of clothes next door.




Very pregnant Ginger showed up.



This bookstore was even smaller than the coffee shop. It had an excellent selection of books though. I spent most of the day flipping through them sleepily. It was a great show. I deliriously drifted around until we started then I caught some adrenaline. Everyone was being very quiet at first as if they were in a library. It was hilarious. All this loud rock sound and guitar shredding echoing back off of books.
It was really cool though because Perry and Etty Farrell came to the show. :) So we had four special guests. Etty, Perry, Ginger, and Kris. Here as some Kristin Burns photos.





















Ok, so that brings us to Joshua Tree.
Pioneertown, CA - Pappy and Harriet's

We drove right after the Long Beach show right down to the desert. We stayed at a place with some springs but I forgot a swimsuit! I was so sleep deprived I didn't pack very logically. oops. So, i just hung out and visited everyone. Everyone was sitting outside in the springs til the middle of the night. It was very relaxing. The next morning Kat came and got me and took me out to the house that she had rented with some friends and I finally got a solid chunk of sleep while listening to Cream. I used to listen to that record over and over when I was little. :) When we got to Pappy and Harriet's I fell in love with it. They had amazing comfort food and a country band, and the staff was very cool and the desert was breathtaking. The locals inside kept asking how I got my hair this color.
I hadn't really eaten in days so I order a huge steak and fries and some desert. :)
They also announced that they would release 250 extra tickets. I was happy about that because it was a great space. I think this was my favorite show because of the atmosphere. I felt like I was in a dream standing up there singing with some of my best friends while feeling the desert wind and staring up at the stars. I was in heaven.
At the end of the show the crowd was wild. Billy was trapped in a huge swarm of people for hours. Girls were flinging themselves on Dave and one girl in particular was really crossing the line and I remember ripping her off him and yelling at her. But then a few minutes later I saw her talking to her drunk friends and pointing and I knew it was my cue to leave. :) It was a brilliant show.

































San Diego, Ca - Che Cafe

On the way down to San Diego we took the scenic route through Idyllwilde. It had been a while since I was in a small mountain town like that. I spent an hour in a candy store talking to the locals about all the juicy town gossip.. you know, all about the town whore, and who was sent to jail etc. I would love to go stay up there for a week.:) It had a Andy Griffith vibe.




Dave had to miss this show because he had a previous engagment playing with Camp Freddy and Ozzy in Vegas. So, Kevin took over and learned everything on the fly. He rules! The venue was in this really wooded area and we got lost trying to find it. It looked cool and was covered in graffiti. I could have sworn I took a hundred pictures of the walls to use for textures but i can't find them. But, it was very artsy. This show hillarious, Billy kept cracking jokes about Green Day. :) I remember feeling like everyone there was really having a fun time. Again, we couldn't hear ourselves AT ALL on stage. It was very garage. We were crammed on this little stage. Kristin wasn't at this show so I have only a couple of Blackberry photos. I went into the crowd for Billy's solo set and I remember the startled look on his face mid note when he realized I was out there. It was fun being able to be a part of the crowd for a minute. Afterward the staff brought us out a gigantic and delicious vegetarian pizza. I remember meeting people out in the middle of the woods and Kerry finding a very spooky tree and helping Keith out with the merch.
The drive back to Los Angeles was kind of rough for me because I had a traumatic event happen in my past on that freeway. But Mark Tulin talked to me the whole way back. By the time I got home I was like a rock.







ah, i found a funny video - this was one of songs i remember. 'widow wake my mind'


Los Angeles, Hotel Cafe, CA

I was out of it in the morning when I woke up and I couldn't get it together enough to figure out what I was wearing even after two espresso's! I had the nurse outfit from the Superchrist video, some weird pirate dress (whore-o-ween style), and random weird clothes I always wear anyway. :) I don't know why I picked what I did and it was too late to go to Kat's closet but she saved me by bringing me some headdresses. I don't understand the logic behind what I wore or why I had a tree drawn on my face... but it was alot of fun. :) (thankyou again to kat for letting me borrow that headpiece)
I love Hotel Cafe and its centrally located so we hung out there most of the day. I was so out of it. There is a piano at a table in the shadows and I think I played over there most of the day.
So, this show was the 'halloween' show and was brilliant because so many people came in costume. Billy did the Costume Contest in the middle of the show and it was awkwardly hillarious. the rock n' roll ghost won!
good news - kristin burns was at this show again so there are good photos. :)































the beautiful and talented Sierra Swan did a duet with Billy "Willingly"










mikey's drum solo! :)

so there you have it.
in true spirits fashion after the show was done we all just wandered off without saying goodbye. :)