According to Orange Peel owner Pat Whalen, that club’s “great reputation among touring bands” partly accounts for why the Smashing Pumpkins picked Asheville as the eastern base of one of their two summer “residencies” (the other is at the Fillmore in San Francisco).
A fantastic sound system and a particularly professional staff are among the Peel’s perks, according to Whalen, who points out that the venue recently made Pollstar’s list of the Top 30 live-music clubs in the world. Whalen also concedes Asheville’s desirable location — “centrally located in the eastern U.S.” — as well as the “great connections and clout” of Knoxville-based AC Entertainment, who book the Orange Peel’s bigger shows, as well as engineering major summer festival Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn.
What remains to be seen is whether the Pumpkins still have enough pull to draw in remote fans for nine nights. Maybe Corgan will also be holding head-shaving clinics in the afternoons?
— Melanie McGee Bianchi, A&E editor
All 9 of these will sell out on Sunda, guaranteed.
Indeed! I can only hope that a local resident such as myself can get tickets!
Scalpers are already pre-selling on eBay, $500 per pair.
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Smashing-Pumpkins-Tickets-Orange-Peel-or-Fillmore_W0QQitemZ110127997377QQihZ001QQcategoryZ16122QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
An interesting aside: A few local bands like Stephanie’s Id and Menage appear to have been bumped from their scheduled shows (in this case, both CD release parties) to make room for the Pumpkin’s nine-day rock-o-thon. Is this sending mixed messages to the locals?
I love how the scalpers in that eBay link were charging $15 for “Expedited Flat Rate Shipping Service” even though it states in the description that the tickets would be available at the “Will Call” window.
Ebay is traditionally the land of Shipping-service profits. Yah, here’s a book for only 99cents (+$18.95 shipping). Like those emails from the immediate past president of LIBERIA in West Africa who only ask that i warehouse his millions of dollars, it must work once in a while!
Well, The OP ended any ebay ticket sales with this:
This event is a “WILL CALL ONLY” event. UPS and Ticketfast will not be available as delivery choices. You will need to bring your government issued photo ID to the box office window on the day of the show to retrieve these tickets. Once your order is picked up you must directly enter the venue. Alternate names for will call will not be allowed. Ticketmaster at its discretion will cancel any and all orders without notice that exceed the ticket limit. This includes duplicate orders having the same name, billing address or credit card.