Last night at Dallas, TX’s Club Dada, funk jammers Pigeons Playing Ping Pong began a four-night Halloween-themed run featuring a slew of flavorful and diverse covers. Pigeons has recently been on tour with experimental producer Flamingosis, with the beatmakers’ opening sets immediately energizing the crowd from note one.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong got settled in from the get-go with a “Walk Outside” opener, followed by a funky, spaced-out jam during “Funk E. Zekiel”. “Funk E. Zekiel” eventually led into “Come Together” by The Beatles before meandering back into “Funk E.” to close the sandwich. The Doors‘ 1970 Morrison Hotel classic “Peace Frog” acted as the bread for an “Offshoot” sandwich, while “Ocean Flows”—from the band’s latest release, Pizazz (which was just released on 10/19)—closed out the first set properly.

A cover of David Bowie‘s “Space Oddity” eventually made it’ way into “Mountain Jam” by The Allman Brothers Band, with Pigeons making it crystal clear that they were not messing around for second set. The always-rowdy “F.U.” segued nicely into a funked out cover of Rick James‘ “Give It To Me Baby” before returning to the original tune, making for a near 16-minute exploration. One of the more interesting points of the evening came when P4 performed a “Big In The Changes” mash-up that featured Notorious B.I.G.‘s “Big Poppa,” Tupac‘s “Changes,” and Linkin Park‘s “In The End” before landing in “Lightning” from 2014’s Psychology. Michael Jackson‘s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and Steely Dan‘s “Reelin’ In The Years” came next, followed by an appearance of “Schwanthem”. Frank Zappa‘s “Pojama People”, sandwiched in between “Doc”, served as an encore, ending things in a fine fashion.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong will make their way to Austin’s Mohawk tonight. The show will be followed performances at Houston’s White Oak Music Hall on Saturday, Terminal West in Atlanta, GA on Halloween proper, and Nashville’s Exit/In on Wednesday night. Check out a full schedule of tour dates here, and take a listen to the full show from Club Dada below:

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong @ Club Dada – Dallas, TX – 10/26/17


[taped by Don Olker via Archive.org]

[Cover photo: Jay Blakesberg Photography]

Setlist: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | Club Dada | Dallas, TX | 10/27/2017

Set 1: Walk Outside, Funk E Zekiel > Come Together [1] > Funk E Zekiel, Bad For You, Penguins >, Peace Frog [2] > Offshoot > Peace Frog > White Night*, Ocean Flows

Set 2: Space Oddity [3] > Mountain Jam^ [4] > The Hop > F.U. > Give It To Me Baby [5] > F.U., Henrietta, Big In The Changes#^ > Lightning, Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough% [6], Schwanthem

Encore: Doc > Pojama People [7] > Doc

Notes: R.I.P.P.P.P. Halloween Night 1
[1] The Beatles
[2] The Doors
* w/ Imperial March
[3] David Bowie
^ First time played
[4] Allman Brothers Band
[5] Rick James
# Big Poppa [Notorious BIG] / Changes [Tupac] / In The End [Linkin Park] mash up
% w/ Reelin’ In The Years [Steely Dan] tease
[6] Michael Jackson
[7] Frank Zappa