Pigeons Playing Ping Pong continued their ongoing spring tour at the State Theatre in Portland, ME on Saturday. The show was Pigeons’ first of two nights in Portland, with the band scheduled to play a sold-out second show at Portland House of Music & Events on Sunday.

After an opening set from psychedelic soul-pop band Melt, Pigeons treated fans to two sets of mostly original tunes, opening with “Time To Ride”, “Porcupine”, “Let The Boogie Out”, “Poseidon”, and “Calm Before The Storm”. The band then jammed right into “Moonwalk”, which included teases of “Slipknot!”, “Moby Dick”, and “Heartbreaker”, before going full cover mode with Led Zeppelin‘s “Kashmir”. The first “Say Cheese” since 2021 (featuring a “Greg likes feta” fakeout) then brought it back to “Moonwalk” which capped off the sequence with a new ending, ultimately giving way to “Dawn A New Day” to close the set.

Set two was a bit more improv-heavy, with a few extended jams and a drum solo from Alex “Gator” Petropulos. Another highlight of the set came when Veronica Stewart-Frommer, Evan Gabriel, and Nick Sare of Melt joined the band on vocals, trumpet, and saxophone, adding additional layers of complexity to the fine-tuned funky foursome during “Juice”.

Check out a gallery of photos from Pigeons Playing Ping Pong at the State Theatre in Portland, ME courtesy of photographer Vic Brazen below. Pigeons will head just down the road tonight, April 2nd for a sold-out show at Portland House of Music & Events. For a list of the band’s upcoming tour dates and ticketing details, head here.

Setlist: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | State Theatre | Portland, ME | 4/1/23

Set 1: Time To Ride* > Porcupine, Let The Boogie Out, Poseidon, Calm Before The Storm > Moonwalk^ > Kashmir > Say Cheese+ > Moonwalk~, Dawn A New Day

Set 2: Fall In Place* > Water, Fox And Toad > Offshoot, Juice%, Horizon, Bad For You* > Upfunk > Drums > Upfunk, Avalanche

Encore: Doc

Notes:
* Intro fakeout
^ w/ Slipknot!, Moby Dick, and Heartbreaker teases
+ w/ Last time played 11/6/21; w/ “Greg likes feta” fakeout
~ w/ new ending
% w/ Veronica, Evan and Nick (Melt) on vocals, trumpet, and saxophone