Smashing Pumpkins too popular for hometown gig, city says
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Officials have turned down an offer by the Smashing Pumpkins to stage a free hometown concert
because they feared the hit group would draw a venue-smashing crowd, a city spokeswoman said Tuesday. "There was just not enough room to accommodate the size crowd they would attract," said Margaret Denard of the Mayor' Office of Special Events.

The Chicago-based group had offered to put on a free July 7 concert at the Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park on the city's lake front. The space can hold about 60,000 people but officials said they feared the band would draw 100,000 or more.

Denard said the director of her office wanted the event to happen and tried unsuccessfully to find a place.

She said Soldier Field, a football stadium that could easily hold 100,000, was out of the question at least for this summer because a stage would have to be built "at a very high cost. It would take time to figure out the sponsorship." The Chicago Tribune Tuesday quoted the group's singer and guitar player Billy Corgan as saying, "It's one of the biggest heartbreaks I've ever had in my life." Corgan spoke to the paper from Sweden where the the band is on tour to promote its upcoming album, "Adore." Corgan told the newspaper the free concert was designed to be a gift to mark the band's 10th anniversary. "Adore" is set for a June 2 release.

Source: Yahoo! News