Pumpkins pick Paris for first reunion show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The reunited Smashing Pumpkins will end their six-and-a-half year hiatus on May 22 when they play a theater show in Paris, the first date of a tour of European festivals, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Besides original members

Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, it is unknown who else is in the lineup. The band will unveil songs from its upcoming Reprise Records album "Zeitgeist," its first CD since 2000's "Machina/The Machines of God." A release date has not been set.

Amid increasing intra-band tensions, the Pumpkins played a marathon farewell show in their Chicago hometown on December 2, 2000. Corgan and Chamberlin were supplemented by guitarist

James Iha and bass player Melissa Auf Der Maur, who had replaced D'arcy Wretzky in 1999.

Since the breakup, Corgan pursued various solo projects with little success. In 2005, he took out a full-page ad in a Chicago newspaper to announce reunion plans.

After the May 22 show at the Grand Rex, the Pumpkins will head to the Dutch city of Landgraf for the Pinkpop festival on May 28. They will subsequently travel to Spain, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and England. They will also play the North American V Festival shows in Washington, D.C. on August 5 and Toronto on September 8. A statement said to "stay tuned" for news on more North American dates.

Reuters