Pigeons Playing Ping Pong delivered another installment of the band’s annual Domefest celebration at Legend Valley in Thornville, OH this past weekend. Over the three days of the event, PPPP shelled out five sets of funky fun with new original debuts, surprise special guests, themes, and more. In addition to Pigeons, Domefest 2022 hosted performances from Lotus, Spafford, SunSquabi, Magic Beans, Great Blue, Eggy, Star Kitchen, LITZ, and many more.

Thursday saw Pigeons kick things off with a duel-themed two-set performance, as frontman “Scrambled” Greg Ormont narrated the “History of PPPP” throughout the show with an established “All Mixed Up” theme. Night one also featured guest sit-ins from longtime onstage collaborator Casey Russell (Magic Beans) on keys for “Condensor” and Austin Litz (LITZ) on saxophone for “Water” in set two. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong capped off Thursday’s second set with the debut of “Fantasy”, a new original, before wrapping their first night with a recently debuted cover of 311‘s “All Mixed Up” to coincide with the set’s theme.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Casey Russell – “Condensor” – 5/19/22

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – “Fantasy” – 5/19/22

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – Domefest – Legend Valley – Thornville, OH – 5/19/22 – Full Show

On Friday, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong performed a single “There Goes My Hero”-themed set on the Domefest Main Stage. The performance featured guest appearances from both Chuck Morris and Tim Palmieri of Lotus, with the percussionist adding to “Upfunk” and “Move Like That” and the guitarist squaring off against Jeremy Schon on Jimi Hendrix‘s “Fire”. The set also hosted a tribute to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins with “Learn To Fly” sandwiched between “High As Five”. Pigeons also debuted its second original in as many days with “Beneath The Surface” before “Julia” closed the set.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – Domefest – Legend Valley – Thornville, OH – 5/19/22 – “There Goes My Hero” Full Set

Related: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Welcomes The Horn Section, Jason Hann, More At North Beach Music Festival [Photos/Video]

PPPP wasn’t done with Dome just yet on Friday, as day two witnessed the band’s first late-night set at its own festival since 2013. The late-night performance was highlighted by a sit-in from keyboardist Eli Winderman (Dopapod, Octave Cat) on hand for a movement of “Su Casa” into Pigeons Playing Ping Pong’s debut of Foo Fighters’ “My Hero”, back into “Su Casa”.

Legend Valley went prehistoric on Saturday with a “Disco Dino” theme, as Pigeons used its final set of the weekend to debut the original “Dinosaur Disco”. Saturday’s finale was meant to be a two-set affair, but inclement weather forced the band to deliver one extended frame of music.

The band kept the disco party fueled with a cover of the Bee Gees‘ “You Should Be Dancin'” in addition to a well-placed cover of the Jurassic Park theme. Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach (Goose/Great Blue) joined the band on guitar for “Poseidon” before the Funk You horns jumped in on “Elephante” and a fitting “F.U.”. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong wrapped its final Domefest set with “Ocean Flows”, though they weren’t off the clock just yet.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Peter Anspach – “Poseidon” – 5/21/22

After PPPP’s last set came The Domefest All-Stars, with members of the band and some of their closest musical mates joining together for a set of jammed-out covers. Bird band representatives linked up to start the set with a fitting “Birds Of A Feather” as Anspach and Jake Brownstein (Eggy) joined the four members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. A run through Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky” brought up members of Funk You, The North 41, LITZ, and more prior to a rendition of Robert Palmer‘s “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” featuring a continuously rotating cast of characters listed below in full. The Domefest All-Stars sequence then came to a close as all hands were on deck for “Feelin’ Alright” to close things down.

The Domefest All-Stars – “Birds Of A Feather” (Phish) – 5/21/22

In addition to their own sets, the members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong made frequent guest appearances at performances throughout the weekend. Schon and Anspach both crashed Star Kitchen’s set for an extended jam, and Jeremy also lent his services to Spafford for “Leave The Light On”.

Star Kitchen, Jeremy Schon, Peter Anspach – Domefest – Thornville, OH – 5/21/21 – Partial Set

[Video: Vlad Reznik]

Setlist: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | Domefest | Thornville, OH | 5/19/22

Set One: Too Long > Penguins*^ > Funkijam* > Funk E Zekiel, Landing* > Jam > Funky House”, Dome People* > Lightning* > Psycho Killer% > Lightning, Melting Lights*

Set Two: Burning Up My Time* > Sir Real* > Burning Up My Time > Condenser*&, Drums* > The Liquid, Fox And Toad*, Yo Soy Fiesta*, Water*+, Fantasy*$

Encore: All Mixed Up

Notes:
“All Mixed Up” theme
Surprise “History of PPPP” sets with chronological songs and storytelling
* w/ Greg narration
^ w/ “I Like To Blaze” tease
” Funky Town / Brick House / Play That Funky Music mashup
% Inverted
& w/ Casey Russell (Magic Beans) on keys
+ w/ Austin Litz (LITZ) on saxophone
$ Original debut

Setlist: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | Domefest | Thornville, OH | 5/20/22

Set: Dawn A New Day, Upfunk*, Move Like That*, The Town, Fire^, High As Five > Learn To Fly > High As Five, Beneath The Surface”, Julia

Notes:
“There Goes My Hero” theme
* w/ Chuck Morris (Lotus) on percussion
^ w/ Tim Palmieri (Lotus) on guitar
” Original Debut

Setlist: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | Domefest | Thornville, OH | 5/20/22

Set: Skinner > Moonwalk > Skinner, Time To Ride > Kiwi > Time To Ride, Somethin’ For Ya > Skipjack > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles+ > Skipjack, King Kong%, Su Casa~ > My Hero~+ > Su Casa~, Doc

Notes:
“There Goes My Hero” theme
First late night set at Domefest since 2013
% w/ extended drum, bass, crowd jam
~ w/ Eli Winderman (Octave Cat) on keys
+ First time played

Setlist: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | Domefest | Thornville, OH | 5/21/22

Set: Avalanche, Dinosaur Disco*, Poseidon^, Hell Yeah > You Should Be Dancin’ > Hell Yeah, Horizon, Zydeko > Jurassic Park > Zydeko, Elephante”, F.U.”, Ocean Flows

Notes:
“Dinosaur Disco” theme
One set due to weather delay
* Original debut
^ w/ Peter Anspach (Great Blue/Goose) on guitar
” w/ Funk You horns

Setlist: The Domefest All-Stars | Domefest | Thornville, OH | 5/21/22

Set: Birds of a Feather [1], Get Lucky [2], Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley [3], Feelin’ Alright [4]

Notes:
[1] Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Peter Anspach (keys, Great Blue/Goose), Jake Brownstein (guitar, Eggy)
[2] Gavin Hamilton (vox, Funk You), Evan Miller (guitar, Funk You), Palmer Owens (percussion, Funk You), Will Clark (drums, Funk You), Mark Dykes (bass, Funk You), Riley Pettrone (vocals, The North 31), Pat Walsh (guitar, The North 41), AP (keys, The North 41), Frankie Lightning, Austin Litz (saxophone, LITZ)
[3] Jeremy Schon (guitar, PPPP), Alex Petropulos (drums, PPPP), Chris Petropulos (bass, Puremotion), Gavin Hamilton (vox, Funk You), Evan Miller (guitar, Funk You), William Foster (keys, Funk You), Will Clark (percussion, Funk You), Palmer Owens (percussion, Funk You), Geoff Wood (trumpet, Funk You), Josh Spilliards (trombone, Funk You), Gnarly G (saxophone, Funk You), Peter Anspach (keys, Great Blue/Goose), Chud (percussion)
[4] Austin Litz (vocals/saxophone, LITZ), Jeremy Schon (guitar, PPPP), Greg Ormont (vocals, PPPP), Jake Brownstein (guitar, Eggy), Alex Bailey (drums, Eggy), Ethan Michael (Great Blue), Donoven Brown (The North 41), Geoff Wood (trumpet, Funk You), Josh Spilliards (trombone, Funk You), Gnarly G (saxophone, Funk You)

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