My Chemical Romance began their Black Parade tour earlier this month, and on Saturday (7/19) they brought it to San Francisco’s Oracle Park, where they did a cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness classic “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.” Billy Corgan gave the band a shoutout on the Pumpkins’ Instagram account, sharing a bunch of memes pointing out the resemblance between himself and MCR’s Gerard Way, and writing “For any MCR fans who may have come here from the cover of “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”. Yes Billy is equally proud of his sons :)”
Scowl also covered the Pumpkins recently, beginning their set at Sound and Fury earlier this month with a partial rendition of another Mellon Collie track, “Zero.” SP shared video from that to their Instagram too, writing, “love this cover of “Zero” @scowl40831;” Scowl replied to thank them.
Billy has been busy hosting his podcast “The Magnificent Others” — can we expect an episode devoted to Pumpkins covers? — after being on the road in June as Billy Corgan And the Machines of God, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Mellon Collie and the 25th anniversary of Machina.
MCR’s tour continues through September in North America (including East Rutherford, NJ’s MetLife Stadium on August 9 with Death Cab for Cutie and Thursday), followed by shows in South America and Asia in 2026. Scowl are on the road through the fall, including recently added co-headlining shows with Sunami, one of which is at NYC’s Knockdown Center on November 7. They’ll also be in NYC before that for CBGB Fest at Under the K Bridge on September 27.