Smashing Pumpkins Reunite with Guitarist James Iha

BY Alex HudsonPublished Mar 27, 2016

In a recent interview, Billy Corgan said that he wanted to "find peace" with his former Smashing Pumpkins bandmate James Iha. Evidently he's found it, since the veteran alt-rock group reunited with Iha at a Los Angeles show this weekend.

Last night (March 26) at the Theatre at Ace Hotel, Iha sat in on guitar for a number of songs, marking his first time performing with Smashing Pumpkins since the group's temporary breakup in 2000.

Mid-set, Iha joined in on classic cuts like "Today," "Mayonaise," "Disarm" and more. He returned in the encore for a couple more tunes. It was Iha's birthday, so the band presented him with a cake and sang "Happy Birthday."

At the bottom of this page, watch a few clips from the show. Smashing Pumpkins shared a photo of the reunion, which can be seen above.

Jimmy Chamberlain is also part of the current Smashing Pumpkins lineup, meaning that only bassist D'arcy Wretzky was missing from the outfit's classic incarnation. Today (March 27), Chamberlain tweeted about the reunion with Iha and indicated that they would play together again at some point in the future. Meanwhile, Smashing Pumpkins are still on the road for their acoustic-electro "In Plainsong" tour, which is coming to Toronto next month. They're playing again today in Los Angeles, so it remains to be seen if Iha makes another appearance. See the schedule here.







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