Pigeons Playing Ping Pong began their performance at 8:30 sharp, the first of two openers set to lead the crowd toward the headlining set by Conspirator. A ton of fans lingered outside smoking cigarettes, some didn’t even show up until closer to the headlining set, and a majority of those that were congregated in Union Transfer bobbed along to the opening set quietly at the bar, drinking beer and warming up. The Flock of fans breaking it down on the dance floor was a bit subdued, The Pigeons were not.
The energy levels the Pigeons kept alive, permeating them around the room and through the audience’s feet was amazing considering it was not one of their bigger performances.
Seeing Pigeons play an hour set is like watching the first half of an Eagle’s game, you’re just hungry to see where it goes once the band is in full stride. None of these limitations were evident by the band’s playing or enthusiasm; they threw it down like it was the biggest show of the year, which kind of seems to be their style. High energy in every performance is a useful trait when you play more than enough shows to break or exhaust most bands. To be exact, lead guitarist Greg Ormont assured me Pigeons played exactly 194 shows in 2013; that’s about 50 more shows than Phish played in their longest year of touring. Impressed yet?
Just in case Union Transfer forgot what time it was, The Pigeons threw it into fifth gear on their opening tune, “Time to Ride”. What starts as a jazzed out funk riff starts to smell a little like Red Hot Chili Peppers, with Greg reminding us to, “Grab yourself a seat, it’s time to ride”. He’s spitting Anthony Kiedis-esque, rapped out verses on the audience with no remorse. I don’t think this band really understands any speed under 90 miles an hour, even playing an opening set in front of an audience smaller than they’re used to. “Time to Ride” is an appropriate opener, and it becomes clear early that this band carefully constructs a set list with flow in mind; they know what fits where and they pull songs together that can smoothly transition.
Next up is, “Whirled”, a song the boys broke out just this year. Greg Ormont and Jeremy Shcon trade licks on this original tune that fits somewhere between “Sand” and “Thriller”. Even on “Whirled”, with the guitars leaning on the spacier side, the rhythmic break downs between Ben Carrey’s bass and Dan Shawrtz’s drums keep things funky. No matter what genre Pigeons lean on, whether it be funk, electronic, psychedelic or reggae, they’re always seems to be a danceable disco vibe hidden somewhere between the bass and drums.
“Melting Lights” is a meat and potatoes sort of jam, lay it down in the middle of the set and fill everybody up with a hearty helping of hard rock and roll. Greg shows off his adaptability on vocals, often emphatically drawing out the last word of each line with his signature enthusiasm.
As a side note, really, find a clip on Youtube of a band that is having more fun than these guys, specifically Greg. Some top shelf jam-band vets talk about the importance of audience interaction; watching one fan pick up their attention and dance harder in time with the music actually inspires the musician to pick it up. It becomes a moment of full participation, a unified relationship between audience and band, and standing in front of Greg exemplified this perfectly. He would so clearly catch the eye of a frantic dancer, smile at them, dance himself, shift gears, and continue rolling out an absurd amount of facial expressions. I mention Greg, but Jeremy and Ben are doing the same exact thing; Dan too perks up from behind his kit to give you a reassuring smile and a nod. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong look like they are exactly where they’re meant to be. They are musicians, entertainers, communicators, and they fucking love it.
Back to “Melting Lights”, Gregg seamlessly drops down to play the rhythm and Jeremy goes off on lead. It’s always impressive when guitarists can switch roles on a dime, and it’s especially valuable when Greg needs to focus on vocals and minimize his playing to a simple chord progression. On lead, whether Jeremy crunches down on a few power chords or finds a perfect pocket of a few choice notes, the dude can shred. The band quickly drops this jam completely in unison, only to pick it back up a moment later on a cooled down, jazzier level. They build the peak after a few successive drops and then Jeremy runs away on a huge lead.
“Pop Off”, builds extreme anticipation through the introduction; it really shows patience for a band that normally fires on all cylinders. Jeremy keeps an electrified rift snaking through the audience with Ben riding closely alongside. As the drums escalade, climb the side of the mountain, Greg starts jumping, literally up and down, just exploding with energy as he picks up on a powerful chorus with the jam in full force. Jeremy and Ben can step up and support Greg vocally on the chorus while keeping the rhythm strong. The amount these guys play is so evident in their ability to stay on top of each jam and keep the time, impeccable rhythm and more energy than you can imagine.
“Pop Off”, builds around that solid, smooth as butter rift that could casually accompany a sports montage. It is strangely, vaguely familiar to “Eye of the Tiger” or the “Rocky Theme”. It’s a hard rocking, inspirational jam that finds solid ground in its simplicity. Disco drums glide behind another strong vocal performance from Greg; these guys write some unbelievably catchy choruses on their original tunes, with huge vocal explosions at the end.
“Offshoot” is well suited for a Conspirator crowd, the drum and bass get incredibly heavy, and a repetitive rift from the guitars builds for a few seconds, sneaks away on the last couple notes, and then starts again. It’s a head banger that is so solidly propelled by the rhythm section, Greg and Jeremy can deconstruct their own rifts adding minor changes and building the theme.
“Spacejam” is up next, and this one patiently builds around some slap-happy bass lines laid on by Ben. He is an incredibly unique player, not just because he’s hoping, flailing, bouncing, grooving around the stage, but he has a creative style on his four string. Often focusing on two simple notes, building them around the rest of the group, he does a good job of finding his pocket and staying there. Not one to overplay, as some bassists on five and six strings tend to do, he just adds enough rhythm to provide a backbone for the group. Three or four minutes in they move this jam into overdrive, literally in double time, evoking that disco funk flavor even more overtly.
It seamlessly transitions into “The Hop”, before closing out on a fan favorite, “FU”. This three song progression, which seems to close more than a few sets, shows the bands ability to segue from song to song. There is not a clear break between the jams, but the band is able to follow one member along a key change and begin another jam exactly where the last one left off. Segues as opposed to breaks between songs allows a giant space for the band to jam free form. Greg lets the bass lead as he eagerly lays on lead vocals in traditional fashion.
I could have thrown the exhaustion of four consecutive ten hours shifts at a new job right out the window if these guys had all night to play. They really picked up their stride completely by the end of the performance and had the crowd clearly engaged. It was a coverless set, which I think reflected a shortened time slot, a crowd that leaned toward the electronic-loving side, and a band that has seriously matured after six solid years of touring; no need to lean on jam classics when you have such a high-energy catalog of original songs.
If you do happen to catch Pigeons in a headlining slot, playing two eighty minute sets, look out for a ridiculous “Ghostbusters Theme” cover, some dirty takes on Phish’s, “Sand”, “YEM Jam”, “Down with Disease”, or strictly funkified Grateful Dead covers like “Shakedown Street” or “Help on the Way”. The incorporation of covers shows off the bands ability to blend tunes even more explicitly, like there, “Dead Phish Jam” where they mash up several tunes, switching keys effortlessly and moving forward with freakish speed and dexterity.
The only thing you can hope after seeing a band like Pigeons is that their genuinely as friendly and high on music as their performance suggests. That was the case when I caught up with Ben and Greg loading up their equipment after the show. They immediately shed any ounce of ego and spoke excitedly about the performance just as any jam-fan would. Ben began explaining the bands role as not just musicians and entertainers, but communicator’s dead set on bringing people together.
Asking about their clear influences, Ben explained that, “Bands like Phish, The Grateful Dead, Disco Biscuits, personally I think of them as Vibe Cultivators more than bands and musical experiences. The funk is what comes through, the bands I look up to and try and emulate are those that I feel can use music to harness a perfect storm of beautiful vibes, you see people coming together and beautiful things happen. Our most epic shows in the most epic areas, there’s just synchronicity out the wazoo, that’s what I try and push for.”
I asked if those vibes are more apparent when the band settles into a residency at the 8 x 10, their home court in Baltimore, or a recent two week residency at Phish’s old haunt, Nectar’s in Burlington. Ben said he did feel playing several shows over an extended period allows the group and audience to settle in and really soak up the energy, and expanded, “What I notice even more, is when successive bands are flowing in a way together, I’ll come on stage after a band or play before a band, and can tell that space has been altered, from then on. Even yesterday, we played the 9:30 Club. The bluegrass band that opened for us just got everything going, I could tell by how their set went that we could send it to the next level”.
Greg elaborated on the importance of the 8 x 10, which really allowed the band to stretch their legs outside of College Park, showcasing their music to a new audience while honing their chops on what would become their home court. Greg said Pigeons owed the 8 x 10, “so much, coming out of school, during school, we started playing in Baltimore, it was about 45 minutes from College Park and it was cool to get a venue to appreciate our music outside of College Park. To build a fan base there, it’s such an intimate, family oriented staff, it’s a really tight knit group, and we fortunately fit right in and started running with it”.
Developing a seriously extensive catalog of songs in those early years at the 8 x 10 brought Pigeons to the next level and allowed them to develop stamina and a repertoire deep enough to play just shy of 200 shows this year. “We keep really, really busy”, Greg said, “Ya know it’s pretty cool that we play more than Phish.” It’s impossible to hit 200 shows a year without a heavy run on the festival circuit, and few bands will be featured in more summer festivals than Pigeons. Ben said he had an absolutely killer time “Playing at Cosmic Campout in Virginia”, but said the best overall atmosphere took place at, “Dark Star Jubilee, which was also the first time I met Twiddle, that was really cool”. Greg pointed out that every festival had its own unique appeal, but admitted, “I had a tremendous time at Mantrabash and The Big What. We always have a great time at Camp Barefoot, and usually we take that weekend off just to hang around the fest”. Another highlight of the summer was, “Wormtown in Massachusetts, we did a four or five hour late night set in a cabin to close the festival, that was incredible.”
Playing festivals and shows all over the country has lead the band to meeting some pretty cool people. Greg really drove home the fact that, “You’ll find cool people in every state in this country, the coolest people in Indiana just as you find in Colorado or New York or Baltimore. I mean the thing about live music, it translates over any cultural difference, you’re gonna find your pocket of jamheads anywhere in this country, just as you have in your hometown.”
The band found fans across the United States who appreciate their music just as they’ve hooked up with a ton of musicians that they really admire. “Twice now we have jammed with John Kadlecik from Furthur”, Greg said of John, “He’s a real good, humble guy and a tremendous musician”. For those unfamiliar, John K is an absolute legend in the Dead scene, and his willingness to play with a group so young is an ode to Pigeons prowess and reputation. A few high quality videos can be found on Youtube of John K and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong ripping through a beautiful “Help on the Way”, “Slipknot”, “Sand”, “Dancing in the Streets” jam. Greg also mentioned the importance of, “Marc Brownstein from Conspirator and the Disco Biscuits, he’s just the sweetest dude, and to see people who have attained success and still stay grounded, we love Mark, we love John K.” Though it leads to shortened sets, the Pigeons association with Brownstein and their opening sets for Conspirator has allowed them to play some huge rooms and introduce their music to a new audience.
I didn’t feel right ending the interview without getting the band’s opinion on The Blockley, and Ben and I quickly drew the caparison between Philly’s favorite jam-band spot and Baltimore’s 8 x 10. Ben said of the Blockley, “It’s nice and long. It’s a family venue which I like, people are really down to go there. I like the lay out, you can go in there, order a drink and see the show and not bump into people. You can get to the front, it’s intimate and raging and awesome. It’s a completely different layout, but the vibes are the same [as the 8 x 10].
The Pigeons are currently trucking through a few shows in North Carolina, a date in Maryland, Morgantown, West Virginia, Leesburg, Virginia and Connecticut before finishing the year at the 8 x 10 on New Year’s Eve. I cannot imagine the energy levels present at a Pigeons New Year’s Show, especially one in front of their hometown crowd. The days of seeing Pigeons in intimate venues like the 8 x 10 and The Blockley might soon be behind us, so take the time to catch these guys while they’re still on the rise. I’ve had tickets to see Phish at MSG for New Year’s for a couple months now, but as I dance my ass off hundreds of feet from the Jam-Band giants of Phish, I know a part of me will wonder and wish I was standing right in front of Greg exchanging smiles and dance moves and brining in the New Year with the perpetually evolving Boy Wonders of the Jam-band community.
Review and Photography by Drew Russin
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