On Saturday, Baltimore-based funk quartet Pigeons Playing Ping Pong continued their spring tour with a stop at Portland, ME’s State Theatre.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong opened up their first set with “Yo Soy Fiesta”, a goofy tribute to former New England Patriots’ tight end/notorious partier Rob Gronkowski, which the band recently debuted in November of last year. The four-piece moved forward with “Whoopie” and “Live It Up”, two tunes off of the band’s 2016 Pleasure release. The biggest surprise of the night came next as Pigeons unveiled a new tune with “Distant Time”, led by Greg Ormont on vocals. Guitarist Jeremy Schon took “Distant Time” on a wild ride for its maiden voyage, backed by bassist Ben Carrey and drummer Alex Petropulos laying down a hard-hitting rhythmic groove. The band continued with “Bad For You” and “Fox and Toad” before diving into a monstrous set-closing segue with “Sunny Day” > “Spacejam” > “The Hop” > “F.U.”.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – “Whoopie”

[Video: Michael Liacos]

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – “Distant Time”

[Video: Michael Liacos]

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – “Funk E Zekiel” > “Penguins” > “Funk E Zekiel”

[Video: Michael Liacos]

Following a brief setbreak, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong returned to open their second set with “Sail On”, which was followed up by “Somethin’ For Ya”. The improv-heavy second set kept on rolling as the band sandwiched “Pengins” in between a hearty “Funk E. Zekiel”. Next, Ormont stepped up to lead his bandmates through “King Kong”, highlighted by some explosive guitar work from Schon on his beautiful PRS. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong moved forward with a cover of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters”, “Too Long”, and a set-closing take on “Schwanthem”. The band returned to deliver a lone encore with “Skipjack”.

Next up for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong is a two-night run at Rochester, NY’s Anthology on Friday and Saturday, April 12th and 13th. For a full list of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong’s upcoming tour dates and ticketing information, head to the band’s website.

Setlist: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | State Theatre | Portland, ME | 4/6/2019

Set One: Yo Soy Fiesta, Whoopie, Live It Up, Distant Time*, Bad For You, Fox and Toad, Sunny Day> Spacejam> The Hop> F.U.

Set Two: Sail On, Somethin For Ya> Funk E. Zekiel> Penguins> Funk E Zekiel, King Kong, Ghostbusters, Too Long, Schwanthem

Encore: Skipjack

* First time played