This news is sure depress Generation X'ers very quickly. The Smashing Pumpkins, who dominated the post-Nirvana alternative rock landscape with Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, will be making a handful of dates in August and November.They will be promoting the band's 20th anniversary.

The Pumpkins have come a long way from their initial days as local Chicago openers for Jane's Addiction. Of course, the band, which only retains Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin from its original lineup, is a shell of its former self. But that shouldn't stop the graying children of  Baby Boomers from feeling really old.

So far, the band only has one confirmed gig, in the Chicago suburb Hammond, Indiana. You may remember Hammond from the minor controversy the town and its surrounding Lake County created recently with its late posting of results from Indiana primary. The Pumpkins' August 9 appearance at the hilariously generic-sounding The Venue will no doubt be the biggest event in Hammond since Thomas McDermott spent half an hour talking to CNN. Which appearance is more superfluous is still up for debate.

[Billboard]