Thirty years is a long time for a double album to retain its teeth. Most records from 1995 feel exactly like what they are — artifacts, museum pieces, nostalgia bait. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is different. It still cuts. And this fall, Billy Corgan is betting that the rest of the world hasn’t forgotten that either. The Smashing Pumpkins have announced the Rats in a Cage Tour, a 27-date North American run celebrating the 30th anniversary of the album, performing it in full alongside a second set drawn from nearly four decades of unruly hits and deep-catalog weirdness.
The tour kicks off September 30 in Columbus, Ohio, and winds across the continent through November 12 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California — hitting Boston, New York, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, and Seattle along the way. Separate festival appearances at Lollapalooza (July 31, Chicago) and Darker Waves in Huntington Beach (Nov. 14) are also on the schedule, sitting outside the main tour window.
For context: Mellon Collie was the moment Billy Corgan decided that restraint was for other bands. Released in October 1995 as a sprawling 28-track double LP, it opened with the elegiac piano intro of “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” dropped “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” like a grenade, gave the world “1979” and “Tonight, Tonight,” and proved that alternative rock could be as grand and ridiculous and genuinely moving as any arena rock record that came before it. It went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide and stands as one of the defining documents of its era.
Two Sets, Four Decades, Zero Apologies
The promotional video for the Rats in a Cage Tour promises “two unique sets” — the Mellon Collie performance and a second set pulling from the Pumpkins’ broader catalog. That is a significant chunk of evening, and it suggests Corgan isn’t interested in doing this halfway. If you’re going to do a 30th anniversary run for a double album, you might as well go all the way in. The Pumpkins’ catalog beyond Mellon Collie is deep enough to fill a second full show: Siamese Dream, Adore, Machina, the post-hiatus records, the recent output under rotating lineup configurations. Corgan has always been prolific to a fault.
The full tour schedule: Sept. 30 Columbus / Oct. 2 Boston / Oct. 3 Baltimore / Oct. 4 Brooklyn / Oct. 6 Pittsburgh / Oct. 7 Hamilton ON / Oct. 9 Montréal / Oct. 11 Madison / Oct. 13 Saint Paul / Oct. 14 Chicago / Oct. 16 Charlotte / Oct. 17 Jacksonville / Oct. 18 Tampa / Oct. 20 Indianapolis / Oct. 22 Nashville / Oct. 24 Oklahoma City / Oct. 25 Austin / Oct. 27 Denver / Oct. 29 Salt Lake City / Oct. 30 Las Vegas / Nov. 1 Portland / Nov. 3 Calgary / Nov. 5 Vancouver / Nov. 6 Seattle / Nov. 8 San Jose / Nov. 11 Phoenix / Nov. 12 Inglewood.
Why This Matters in 2026
Anniversary tours can go two ways. They can be cynical cash grabs dressed up in sentimental packaging, or they can be genuine events — opportunities for a band to reconnect with the record that defined them and give a generation of fans a chance to hear it done right, live, in a big room. The Smashing Pumpkins are chaotic enough and Billy Corgan is driven enough that the latter seems more likely. He has never been a man who phones things in. He’s also never been interested in being liked more than being heard. That tension — that fundamental Corgan-ness — is part of what made Mellon Collie what it was. If the Rats in a Cage Tour captures even a fraction of that spirit, it’s going to be something worth seeing.
Source: Ultimate Classic Rock | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/smashing-pumpkins-mellon-collie-anniversary-tour-2026/