Smashing Pumpkins to headline Sunset Strip Music Fest III

Sunset Strip Music Festival producers announced last week that Smashing Pumpkins and band leader Billy Corgan will appear at the Third Annual Sunset Strip Music Festival in West Hollywood.

The iconic band will wrap up the third annual SSMF, which will also include a special tribute event for SLASH at House of Blues on August 26.

Last year's SSMF spotlighted the lifetime achievements of legendary rocker Ozzie Osbourne.

The Smashing Pumpkins will headline the street festival on Saturday, August 28, with a live performance on the legendary Strip, marking only the second time in its history the Sunset Strip had been closed to car traffic.

There will be two outdoor stages on Saturday, August 28.

Additional live performances by more than 50 bands in The Roxy Theatre, the Whisky A Go-Go, Viper Room, Key Club, Cat Club and House of Blues on Thursday, Friday nights and Saturday all day long flesh out the weekend's festivities.

The Smashing Pumpkins have created one of the most acclaimed bodies of work in musical history and sold more than 30 million albums.

They are touring this summer in conjunction with their TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE project, a collection of 44 songs being released online for free one at a time as well as in installments of specially packaged four-song EPs for sale in record stores.

In late May, the Pumpkins released the project's first EP TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE VOL.1: SONGS FOR A SAILOR (Martha's Music/Rocket Science Ventures) to critical acclaim, with Jerry Shriver of USA Today hailing the music as "a delicious swirl of howling psychedelic rock and melodic ballads (5/25/10)."

Look for leader Billy Corgan and his band mates--guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and new bassist Nicole Fiorentino - to hit the road for an array of intimate shows across the U.S. beginning July 6 in Cleveland, to be followed in August by two headline festival appearances in Tokyo and Osaka.

As in year's past, the SSMF will honor a figure who is synonymous with The Sunset Strip for their contribution to the history of The Strip as well as the music industry.

This year's honoree: SLASH. Previous recipients of this honor have been Ozzy Osbourne (2009) and Sunset Strip club owners Lou Adler, Mario Maglieri and Elmer Valentine (2008).

Last year's street fair drew 10,000 people to The Strip, which was closed between San Vicente Boulevard and Doheny Drive and filled with two full-scale stages, fans, food vendors and a VIP beer garden.

"We are ecstatic to be able to bring this caliber of talent to the street and create what will undoubtedly become the ultimate end-of-summer music festival experience for our attendees," says SSMF Festival Managing Director Karmen Beck.

Following the Smashing Pumpkins' show, bands will continue to play into the night in venues within the street closure, all of which will be free of charge to SSMF attendees.

General admission, VIP and 3-Day VIP tickets for the event will go on sale Thursday, June 17 through Ticketmaster at 10 AM PST.

Street fest tickets will be $49.50 in advance ($65 day of at box office) and VIP street fest tickets, which include access to a private tented area with full no-host bar and seating area, are available for $100 in advance.

A limited number of three-day "VIP" passes (which include entrance to Slash's tribute on August 26, the clubs all three nights + access to VIP tent at street fest) will be $250.

There will also be individual ticket sales for The Sunset Strip clubs on Thursday and Friday nights. The SSMF is donating a portion of all tickets sold to the Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN), a charity personally selected by honoree Slash.

LAYN's mission is to end homelessness, one kid at a time, by providing shelter, food and counseling for the abused, neglected and abandoned.

SSMF 2010's proud supporting sponsors include Virgin America, V Australia, Jack Daniel's, Ticketmaster, Vitaminwater, Gibson Guitar, 98.7fm, Andaz West Hollywood, Whole Foods West Hollywood, City of West Hollywood, West Hollywood Marketing & Visitors Bureau and Signature Creative. Street fest production provided by Swing House Hollywood.

The Sunset Strip Music Festival was created in 2008 to promote, preserve and perpetuate the legendary Sunset Strip music experience. The Sunset Strip Business Association is the managing member of the limited liability company, which owns the Sunset Strip Music Festival.

Contact us at:

www.sunsetstripmusicfestival.com