Ween is one of those bands you just can’t ever get tired of. After twenty years of playing music together, Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known as Gene and Dean Ween, are still tearing up the musical landscape with some of the most colorful sounds and fun songs around. Over the years, these guys have tackled rock, pop, punk, jazz and techno and every genre in between with a sense of proficiency and style that belies their irreverent and sometimes arguably downright offensive lyrics and drugged-out attitudes.
The band, which has gained a stellar backup band since the early days of Gene and Dean making eight-track recordings in their bedrooms, was in top notch form at the Calvin Theater, the opening date of their fall tour to support their new album,
quebec. Ween is always digging deep into its bag of tricks to perform songs from all eras of their long career, and tonight was no different. Their songs touch on a variety of topics, ranging from the sensitive to the bizarre, and the crowd ate up every minute of it. “Transdermal Celebration,” one of the best songs off the new album, set the tone, and bassist Dave Dreiwitz was turned up so loud, for the whole show for that matter, that the audience was practically in a collective vibration. “Springtheme,” with it’s sinful qualities turned into a slow, appropriately dirty jam and soaring solo by Dean Ween. “Voodoo Lady,” one of the only Ween songs to ever get airplay, got the already ecstatic crowd dancing, before they dropped a nasty
calypso beat on “Bananas and Blow,” which regaled the virtues of being trapped in a Mexican town with only two ways to spend your time.
“I Don’t Want It,” also off quebec, brought the band back into somber territory. While many unfamiliar like to portray Ween as a joke band, songs like this one effectively demonstrate how able they are to be dead serious, conveying emotion that borderlines on gut wrenching. To add to the statement, Gene finished off with a beautiful solo. In fact, Gene played guitar on most songs this evening, much more so than he has in past concerts, giving the already sonic quality of the band even more texture.
“Roses Are Free,” more popular than ever since becoming a cover choice for Phish, was greeted with a frenetic crowd reaction, equally matched with complete swirling keyboard work. And when Gene asked for the lighting tech to make all of the lights blue, sure enough, they dove into “The Mollusk,” a wispy ode to a boy and his new aquatic pet. The theater was instantly transformed into an underwater paradise, with the crowd singing along to every word, and laughing with delight when Gene finished off the song by speaking through a bullhorn. Consequently, at the conclusion of “The Mollusk,” he asked for all red lights, and the band quickly changed the mood for “Reggaejunkiejew,” a fast paced ditty with mile-a-minute lyrics that mutated into a lengthy space-jam.
Coming out for an encore, they launched into the silly “Touch My Tooter,” and then went into the testosterone-laden “Dr. Rock,” to which the front audience answered with an energetic, but gentle mosh-pit. The only cover of the evening, Led Zeppelin’s “All of My Love” was pulled off without a hitch, particularly with Gene’s vocals fitting the Robert Plant, “sent from the gods” quality voice. Another mosh pit formed for the thrashy “Stroker Ace” before the band went into their traditional closing song, “Buenos Tardes,” an acoustic tune that would fit well into a Sam Peckinpah film. The audience knew every word, and they started to sway back and forth to the tale of a man who framed another for the murder of his brother.
The Ween cult following has grown ever-larger in the past few years. Perhaps someday, the rest of the world will catch on to their brilliance. Needless to say, their praises are long overdue.
