Billy Corgan performed new songs during the fundraiser that he organised for victims of the Highland Park mass shooting, including a song inspired by the tragedy called ‘Photograph’.
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The Smashing Pumpkins singer/guitarist played a live set on Wednesday evening (July 27) at Madame Zuzu’s, the Highland Park-based tea house and performance space that Corgan runs alongside his partner, Chloé Mendel.
Fans could video stream the show and donate money to Together And Together Again, a charity set up by Corgan and his partner in the wake of the shooting. The musician has lived in Highland Park for the past two decades and launched Madame Zuzu’s there in 2011, which is close to where the July 4 incident happened.
The fundraiser was webcast – watch the full non-embeddable video here. Corgan’s intro for new song ‘Photograph’ starts around the 1:37:00 mark, while he begins another new track, ‘Scimitar’, at around 2:17:30.
He said that ‘Photograph’ was written after having a dream about the Independence Day massacre, which left six people dead.
Corgan played part of last night’s set solo as well as sections with longtime Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and with touring bassist Sierra Swan.
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Over the course of the evening he played some solo songs and a few Smashing Pumpkins classics as well as ‘Like Lambs’, an unreleased song that he’s played previously.
In a video announcing the concert earlier this month the musician said that the July 4 tragedy is “very close to our hearts”.
“There are so many people here affected by this tragedy,” Corgan and his partner Mendel said. “It’s very close to our hearts, and we hope you’ll participate and support as well.”
The mass shooting in Highland Park happened on Monday July 4 when, during an Independence Day parade in the city, six people were shot dead by a rooftop gunman.
According to officials the attacker targeted attendees of the parade at random, and was armed with a high-powered rifle. In addition to the six fatalities, it’s said that 24 people were taken to hospital.
Corgan is among a handful of musicians who has vouched support for the shooting’s victims. Fall Out Boy responded to the attack by pledging a donation of $100,000 (£83,000) to Everytown, a non-profit organisation that advocates for gun control and protests against gun violence.
100 per cent of the proceeds earned from the fundraiser (and merch sales on the webstore) will be donated to the Highland Park Community Foundation.