Photo: Redferns
Kiki Wong made her official debut as Smashing Pumpkins' new touring guitarist during their 2024 tour opener in Birmingham, England last weekend and took to Instagram to open up about the "mind-blowing experience."
"What an absolute mind-blowing experience it was for @smashingpumpkins first show of the tour at the @utilitaarenabirmingham 🤘🏼" she captioned the carousel of pictures and videos from the set. "Here are some fun fan photos taken from the show! I am so overwhelmed with excitement. It was such an honor to play my first arena on guitar with such an incredible group of musicians. Someone pinch me, actually don’t because I want to keep living this dream."
The band connected with Wong after putting out an open call on social media in January, following Jeff Schroeder's departure from the band. They received 10,000 applications, but only auditioned a handful of musicians. In April, they announced Wong has their new touring guitarist. Billy Corgan recently revealed what made her stand out amongst thousands of musicians, saying "there was something about Kiki's presence and personality and sweetness that we just were really attracted to. She just felt like a real breath of fresh air."
Smashing Pumpkins plan to return to North America this summer. See a full list of tour dates here and check out Wong's post below.