MEMPHIS, TN – When Christina Aguilera postponed her 2010 Bionic Tour earlier this year, engineer Jon Lemon was able to transition his gig-and the DiGiCo SD8 he was using for the tour's promo leg-onto a 14-date tour for the Smashing Pumpkins in smaller venues, with audio support from Clair.
Having worked extensively on an SD7 over the last few years with artists including Janet Jackson, Lemon wanted to use the few one-off gigs for Aguilera, including a VH1 Storytellers taping, to try out the SD7's sibling.
"I decided to go with the SD8, as I originally didn't need many inputs for Christina," Lemon recalled. "Plus, I hadn't really played around with one… But we ended up using every input and output on the console because the band kept expanding as we went along, adding strings, brass, etc. So when her tour got cancelled, I figured I'd take it out with the Pumpkins because it worked admirably and I'd gotten on really well with it."
With no rehearsals prior to the first show, The Smashing Pumpkins did their string of U.S. club dates in July. The intimate shows were a warm-up for a global swing in the fall, and to promote the band's new, limited-edition box set, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The tour also showcased frontman Billy Corgan's new band, which including bassist Nicole Fiorentino (formerly of Veruca Salt), guitarist Jeff Schroeder and drummer Mike Byrne.
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