Unexpected Pumpkins

Surprise, kids: The Smashing Pumpkins are coming to town, and you heard it here first.

The band will be appearing at the Cat's Cradle Saturday night in a surprise gig that's part of a 31-date club tour. The Pumpkins are hitting record stores and smaller venues around the country in hopes of drumming up support for their forthcoming album, Machina, due February 29.

In addition to lackluster sales of their last album, Adore, the Smashing posse faced yet another hiccup when D'Arcy, the band's bassist, left the band earlier this year. However, Jimmy Chamberlin, the drummer who was fired for heroin abuse following the band's July 10, 1996 show in Landover, MD, is back in the lineup.

For those hoping to get tickets, you'd better get there early. Tickets go on sale at 9 this morning at Schoolkids Records in Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Cary. A very limited number are also being sold at the Cradle's box office. You can only get two tickets each, so if you're planning on going with a big group, bring extra people with you to buy tickets.

For the truly dedicated, you can also catch the band at noon on Saturday at Manifest Disc in Charlotte. Then, if you're down with another two-hour drive, they'll be at Plan 9 Records in Richmond at noon on Sunday. That's a lot of Pumpkin in a weekend, but for the chance to see a whiny, screaming man that looks that much like Sinead O'Connor, it's worth it.