Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Overflow The Pour House: Photos + Highlights

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong once again filled up and sold out the Charleston Pour House this past Tuesday, February 5th. The Baltimore power funk quartet were coming in hot off of a handful of sold out shows, and they returned to sell out the Pour House for the 3rd time in the past three years. From open to close the PPPP energy overflowed PoHo with an electric joy that blew the doors off the place.

As soon as the doors opened, fans flocked in from both the front and back entrance to try and snag merch before Asheville’s The Fritz took to the stage. The Pour House opened their recently renovated garage door between the deck and the main stage for one of the nicest nights of the year so far. The Fritz came out jumping with their original “Unique History” off their 2018 Echo EP. They eventually worked from “Another Way” toward the Prince favorite “1999.” When lead singer Jamar Woods voiced the first verse lines, “the sky was purple,” the lights transitioned to a purple that captivated the crowd until Woods and Jamie Hendrickson bounced in tandem to a roaring peak. The Fritz went through the rest of the set playing originals until an unexpected “War Pigs” that left the crowd full of angst and ready for Pigeons to hit the stage.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong came out right on time with their hit “Time to Ride” off the 2014 fan-favorite Psychology. They followed up with an unreleased track they’ve been playing live since October 6th of 2018 titled “Overrun.” This potential jam vehicle has been making its way into more setlists than any other new song. “Walk Outside” came over right before the first sequence of the night, with “Bad For You” featuring a “Hyrule Castle” mashed in the middle. The popular banger “Somethin’ For Ya” off 2017’s Pizazz came next with Greg Ormont changing some lyrics to “I searched all of Chucktown” to feed the in house locale. An always playful “Penguins” came after leading into “Spacejam” led off by bassist Ben Carrey right into “The Hop” and a hard hitting “F.U.” to close out the high-octane set.

With less than a 10 minute set break, PPPP returned with “Fade Fast” that came to an eruptive end before lead singer Scrambled Greg voiced a high pitched and ethnic “Ayy papi!”, hinting at the upcoming “Yo Soy Fiesta.” Another Pizazz hit came next with “Henrietta” followed by “Melting Lights” proving PPPP were taking us on a ride throughout their whole discography and even more. The unreleased but seasoned 2013 “Drunk People” came next with an unexpected “Abracadabra” from Steve Miller Band tucked in the middle, reminiscent of their NYE show. Pigeons brought the sequence home by meshing the themes of both before heading into their final installments. “Poseidon” and “Live It Up” were the last two songs of the evening followed up by the immediate encore of “Ocean Flows”, paying tribute to their theme of filling up your cup and embracing the overflow.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong went through their tunes new and old, released and unreleased. Their hard work this tour is paying off as their Florida shows are all sold out. You can catch guitarist Jeremy Schon back in Charleston for this year’s installment of Everyone Orchestra on the weekend of Feb 28th to March 2nd. Tickets are still on sale but going fast! Get yours here. Thanks Pigeons for another great night in Charleston!

2.5.2019 Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Setlist @ Charleston Pour House:

Set one: Time To Ride, Overrun, Walk Outside, Bad For You > Hyrule Castle > Bad For You, Somethin’ For Ya > Penguins, Spacejam > The Hop > F.U.

Set two: Fade Fast, Yo Soy Fiesta, Henrietta, Melting Lights, Drunk People > Abracadabra > Drunk People, Poseidon, Live It Up, Ocean Flows

All photos by Ellison White @ellisonwhite89.