Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Bust Out ‘Chariots Of Fire’ In Des Moines

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong played a sold-out concert at Wooly’s in Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday night. The funky four-piece dusted off their cover of the uplifting instrumental “Chariots Of Fire” for the first time in two and a half years, and just the second time overall, toward the end of their second set.

PPPP kicked things off with “Posideon” followed by “Havana.” “Around The World,” making its first appearance since May, led into “Distant Times.” “Landing” then segued into “Upfunk” before the band jammed into “Fortress.” “Fun In Funk” closed out the first frame.

The second set got underway with a continuous block of “Henrietta,” “Whirled,” “Horizon” (on which the band busted out their rubber ducks) and a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes Of The World” (for the first time since early 2019) before returning to “Horizon.” “King Kong” came next ahead of a “Zydeco” sandwich that contained “Chariots Of Fire” to close out the set. It marked the first time the band had played the famed Vangelis-composed soundtrack instrumental since debuting it on May 15, 2017 for a span of 223 shows. PPPP then delivered an encore of “Avalanche.”

Check out full-show audio below:

Setlist via PPPP Facebook:

Set One: Poseidon, Havana > Around The World > Distant Times, Upfunk, Landing > Jam > Fortress, Fun In Funk

Set Two: Henrietta > Whirled > Horizon* > Eyes of the World > Horizon, King Kong, Zydeko > Chariots of Fire > Zydeko

Encore: Avalanche

Notes:

* w/ rubber ducks