Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Present ‘Stop Making Cake’ Halloween Run

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong brought their “Stop Making Cake” tribute to the music of Cake and Talking Heads to Boston on Halloween, New York City on Friday and New Haven on Saturday. The quartet was joined by various guests throughout the run in which they dressed as chefs.

The Baltimore-based band kicked off the “Stop Making Cake” action at the House Of Blues in Boston on Thursday with their own “High Five” and “Somethin’ For Ya” before welcoming The Shake & Bake Horns for a debut cover of Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody).” The horns came back out after “Kiwi” to augment Pigeons on their first-ever rendition of “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake and remained on-stage for a “Distant Times” medley that included a cover debut of Talking Heads’ “Girlfriend Is Better” within. Pigeons closed out the first set of the run by teaming with Berklee School Of Music professor Tomo Fujita for “Couldn’t We All.”

PPPP opened their second set on Halloween with “Walk Outside” and then were joined by the horns for a mashup of “J-Town” and Cake’s version of “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. Next, the ensemble worked Talking Heads’ “Wild Wild Life” into a horn-less “Melting Lights” before The Shake & Bake Horns added to an “Offshoot” sandwich that included debut covers of “Never There” and “Take Me To The River” within. Then, “Paperboy” led into a set-closing sequence of Cake’s “Let Me Go” and Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” before PPPP wrapped the evening with an encore of “Doc” and “Yo Soy Fiesta.”

The run continued at the Playstation Theater in New York City on Friday with The West End Blend Horns providing the brass. Cake covers debuted in NYC were “Love You Madly,” “The Distance,” “Sheep Go To Heaven” and “Nugget.” The latter came as part of a medley with Pigeons’ “Say Cheese.” As for Talking Heads, PPPP debuted “The Great Curve” ahead of a wild “Upfunk” that featured a drum solo played with whisks, spatulas, spoons and mixing bowls in keeping with the theme. Pigeons then unveiled their take on “Nothing But Flowers” within “Julia” and were joined by the West End Blend Horns for “Naive Melody,” “Burning Down The House” and “Crosseyed & Painless” as part of the second frame. An “Ocean Flows” encore brought the night to a close.

The West End Blend Horns were back on hand for Saturday’s finale at College Street Music Hall in New Haven. PPPP and the horns covered Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” and “Hem Of Your Garment” as well as Talking Heads’ “And She Was” and “Making Flippy Floppy” during Saturday’s first set. After opening the second set with “Funk In Funk,” the horns joined the quartet for “I Will Survive,” vacated the stage for “Time To Ride,” and returned for a take on Talking Heads’ “Cities” and PPPP original “F.U.” Saturday’s “F.U.” included Pigeons’ debut cover of “Moon Rocks” by Talking Heads featuring West End Blend’s Michael Bafundo on vocals. Later in the second set, Peter Anspach of support act Goose added keys to a horn-driven cover of “Once In A Lifetime,” another PPPP debut. “Zydeko” closed the frame and “Schwanthem,” complete with horns, served as the encore.

Watch fan-shot video captured by Charlie Jenkins of Saturday’s “Once In A Lifetime” below:

Setlists (via PPPP FB)

October 31 @ House of Blues (Boston, MA)

Set One: High As Five, Somethin’ For Ya > Naive Melody*^ > Kiwi > Short Skirt / Long Jacket*^, Whoopie*, Distant Times* > Girlfriend Is Better*^ > Distant Times*, Couldn’t We All#

Set Two: Walk Outside, J-Town* > I Will Survive*^ > J-Town*, Wild Wild Life*^ > Melting Lights > Offshoot* > Never There*^ > Take Me To The River*^ > Offshoot*, Paperboy, Let Me Go*^ > Psycho Killer*

Encore: Doc, Yo Soy Fiesta

Notes:

• “Stop Making Cake” Halloween Night 1
• * w/ The Shake & Bake Horns
• ^ First time played
• # w/ Tomo Fujita on guitar

November 1 @ Playstation Theatre (New York, NY)

Set One: Too Long, Burning Up My Time > Love You Madly*^ > Burning Up My Time* > Sunny Day > The Distance*^~ > Sunny Day, The Liquid*, The Great Curve*^% > Upfunk > Drums+ > Upfunk, Julia > Nothing But Flowers*^ > Julia

Set Two: Henrietta, Naive Melody* > Porcupine > Burning Down The House* > Porcupine, Lightning* > Cheese Nugget*^# > Crosseyed And Painless* > Lightning*, Horizon > Sheep Go To Heaven*^ > Horizon

Encore: Ocean Flows

Notes:

• “Stop Making Cake” Halloween Night 2
• * w/ West End Blend(er) horns
• ^ First time played
• ~ Instrumental
• % Reggae style w/ Live Life intro and outro
• + Drum solo played with whisks, spatulas, spoons and mixing bowls
• # Nugget / Say Cheese mashup

November 2 @ College Street Music Hall (New Haven, CT)

Set One: Bad For You, Short Skirt / Long Jacket*, Water, Poseidon > And She Was*^ > Poseidon, White Night* > Making Flippy Floppy*^ > White Night*, Fortress*, Avalanche > Hem Of Your Garment*^ > Avalanche

Set Two: Fun In Funk, I Will Survive* > Time To Ride > Cities* > The Hop > F.U.* > Moon Rocks*^# > F.U.*, King Kong*, Zydeko > Once In A Lifetime*% > Zydeko

Encore: Schwanthem*

Notes:

• “Stop Making Cake” Halloween Night 3
• * w/ West End Blend(er) horns
• ^ First time played
• # w/ Michael Bafundo (West End Blend) on vocals
• % w/ Peter Anspach (Goose) on keys