Pigeons Playing Ping Pong continued their early-Spring run on Saturday with a gig at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine. The funk outfit delivered the debut of “Distant Time” during the opening frame at the historic 1,870-seat venue.
The Baltimore-based band opened their night in The Pine Tree State with “Yo Soy Fiesta.” The tune has become something of a setlist staple since it debuted in late-November of last year with last night marking its 18th take in its short existence. Back to back tunes from their 2016 LP Pleasure followed with “Whoopie” and “Live It Up.” The quartet of guitarists Jeremy Schon and Greg Ormont, bassist Ben Carrey and drummer Alex Petropulos then gave “Distant Time” its maiden voyage. A segue-filled run highlighted the back end of the with “Sunny Day” used as a jumping off point. The Psychology cut worked its way into the frequent trifecta of “Spacejam,” “The Hop” and “F.U.”
“Sail On” kicked off PPPP’s second frame of the night as they would dig in on another jam-filled run next. The quartet would string together “Somethin’ For Ya” with a take on “Funk E Zekiel” that featured “Penguins” dropped in its midst. A cover of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” and old-school fan-favorite “Schwanthem” helped close out the stanza with the foursome looking to “Skipjack” as their lone encore in Portland.
Watch full show pro-shot video courtesy of The Relix Channel below:
Setlist (via Phantasy Tour)
Set I: Yo Soy Fiesta, Whoopie, Live It Up, Distant Time*, Bad For You, Fox and Toad, Sunny Day> Spacejam> The Hop> F.U.
Set II: Sail On, Somethin For Ya> Funk E Zekiel> Penguins> Funk E Zekiel, King Kong, Ghostbusters, Too Long, Schwanthem
Encore: Skipjack
* First time played
