Last weekend, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong celebrated Halloween with a four-night “Red Hot Sgt. Peppers” run, which included a Halloween night celebration at Richmond, VA’s The National followed by a performance at Charlotte, NC’s Neighborhood Theatre and a two-night stand at Atlanta, GA’s Variety Playhouse.
Over the course of the four nights, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong’s dedicated fanbase, “The Flock,” was treated to 15+ cover debuts, including The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers classics like “Give It Away” and “Around The World” in addition their first complete version of “Otherside”. Dressed in red Sgt. Peppers jackets with custom patches on the back reminiscent of the classic RHCP symbol and white pants that featured black tribal designs from the RHCP album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the band delivered on their Halloween tradition of combining the music bands they admire in new and exciting ways.
On their final sold-out night at Variety Playhouse, the band surprised fans by putting a twist on the theme and mixing Grateful Dead covers into the material for a night of “Dead Hot Sgt. Peppers.” They even shocked the crowd by unzipping their Sgt. Pepper jackets to show skeleton shirts to signify the change in theme.
Of the many highlights from their run, the final night’s spin on their own “Funk E Zekiel” was a true stand-out, sandwiching The Beatles’ “Drive My Car” and “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”, and tacking on RHCP’s “By The Way”, Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street”, and their own “Somethin’ For Ya” toward the end of the first set. For those of you who missed it, fear not! The band released pro-shot video from the show, which you can enjoy below:
“Funk E Zekiel > Drive My Car > Why Don’t We Do It In The Road > Drive My Car > Funk E Zekiel > By The Way > Shakedown Street > Somethin’ For Ya”
[Video: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong]
