The Killers’ bassist Mark Stoermer has found a worthwhile way to pass some time during his primary band’s hiatus: touring with the Smashing Pumpkins.
Stoermer and Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk are set to join existing Pumpkins Billy Corgan and Jeff Schroeder for a brief promotional jaunt supporting the band’s new studio album Monuments to an Elegy (out December 9), the latest release in the gradually unfolding Teargarden By Kaleidyscope concept.
UPDATE: Las Vegas is among the small handful of cities on the tour schedule. Tickets ($58 in advance, $60.50 on day of show) go on sale today at 10 a.m. for a just-added December 13 show at the Brooklyn Bowl. The Pumpkins are also slated to play LA radio station KROQ’s sold-out Almost Acoustic Christmas the next day.
Stoermer has previously stated that early-1990s guitar rock influenced his formative years—he played for local alt-rock act the Negative Ponies before joining the Killers—thus making him an appropriate choice to play with the Pumpkins despite his gender. Though social media commentary on the news has fixated on Corgan’s predilection for female bassists, Stoermer would technically not be the first male low-ender for the band. Deceased Electric Prunes member Mark Tulin briefly served on bass guitar duties in 2010.
