Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Present Super Bowl-Themed Livestream Concert
By Scott Bernstein Feb 8, 2021 • 7:21 am PST
On Saturday, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong took the stage at a mostly empty Brooklyn Bowl in New York City for their first concert of 2021. “Super Bowl PPPPre-Party Halftime Hall Of Fame” was livestreamed via The Relix Channel on Twitch and featured a setlist mixing originals, sports-themed songs and covers of tunes played at iconic Super Bowl halftime performances.
The quartet kicked off their first of two sets by debuting a short take on “Wide Receiver,” an instrumental composed by John Williams used as the theme to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” Next up was a well-jammed “F.U.” that gave way to James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good).” Then, “Overrun” was followed by a standout rendition of “Poseidon” featuring the band’s first ever cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born To Run” within. The frame came to a close with Pigeons working a mashup of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” into their own “King Kong.”
A rare and fitting “Sports Theme” got the call to open Saturday’s second set. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong continued a lengthy run without any breaks by jamming into “Move Like That” and the Rob Gronkowski-inspired “Yo Soy Fiesta.” From there, the four-piece fit debut covers of NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” into their original “Couldn’t We All” before “The Liquid” ended the seamless sequence.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong didn’t only debut covers as the four-piece unveiled original “Twitch” in the middle of the second set. The band then debuted their rendition of Bruno Mars’ “Treasure” ahead of “Feelin’ Fine.” Saturday’s closing frame ended with a wild “Ocean Flows” sequence featuring Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion” as well as “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson within.
The quartet ended Saturday’s “Super Bowl PPPPre-Party Halftime Hall Of Fame” with an encore that saw PPPP leave “Walk Outside” unfinished. Instead, Pigeons played the end of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Longtime staple “Fun In Funk” brought the livestream concert to its conclusion.
Watch Pigeons open Saturday’s livestream with “Wide Receiver,” “F.U.” and “I Got You (I Feel Good)”:
Setlist (Via PPPP Facebook)
Set One: Wide Receiver (Sunday Night Football Theme)* > F.U. > I Got You (I Feel Food) [1], Overrun, Poseidon > Born To Run* [2] > Poseidon, Lightning > Give It Away [3] > Lightning, King Kong > Signed, Sealed, Satisfaction* [4] > King Kong
Set Two: Sports Theme > Move Like That > Yo Soy Fiesta > Couldn’t We All > Bye Bye Bye* [5] > Blinding Lights* [6] > Couldn’t We All > The Liquid, Twitch*^, Treasure* [7], Feelin’ Fine, Ocean Flows > Walk This Way* [8] > Sweet Emotion [8] > Billie Jean [9] > Ocean Flows
Encore: Walk Outside# > Purple Rain* [10] > Fun In Funk
Notes:
Super Bowl PPPPre-Party: “Halftime Hall of Fame”
- * First time played
- [1] James Brown
- [2] Bruce Springsteen
- [3] Red Hot Chili Peppers
- [4] Signed, Sealed, Delivered [Stevie Wonder] / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction [The Rolling Stones]
- [5] *NSYNC
- [6] The Weeknd
- ^ Original debut
- [7] Bruno Mars
- [8] Aerosmith
- [9] Michael Jackson
- # Unfinished, w/ “wardrobe malfunction”
- [10] Prince (ending only)