The Royal Oak Music Theater rocked yet again on Tuesday
night when everyone’s favorite alt-rock jesters, Ween, triumphantly returned to
a welcoming audience of long-time fans, newcomers, and even a few children, who
seemed both out of place and at times disinterested in the 2.5 hour, 27-song concert.
Since Ween’s resurrection as a band two years ago, they have performed several
times in various cities across the country, and even Tuesday’s performance was
the band’s second in Royal Oak within the last 15 months. In spite of this, the
nearly-sold-out crowd arrived early and ready to support the band and to
worship at the altar of the Boognish!
The current incarnation of Ween, including Claude Coleman
Jr. on drums, Dave Dreiwitz on bass, and Glenn McClelland on keyboards, has been
supporting founders (and singer/guitarists) Dean and Gene Ween on the road for
over 20 years, so they are all very familiar with the band’s extensive catalog
and were ready to jump into any song at any moment. The bands vast list of
songs is rivaled only by long-lasting acts like They Might Be Giants or even
the legendary Bob Dylan, so many Ween fans are just as interested in hearing
deep cuts and B-sides as they are in hearing “the hits”. While the balance
between familiar and obscure made Tuesday night’s show flow very well, the band’s
previous Royal Oak show focused more on rarities, making for a different vibe
than concert-goers experienced this week. While rare tracks like, “Transitions”,
“Someday”, and “I Got to Put the Hammer Down” delighted hard-core followers in
the audience, Ween also included common crowd-pleasers like, “Spinal Meningitis”,
“Take Me Away”, and “Your Party” among other highlights from their 21st
century releases and deep cuts from their 2nd and 3rd
albums, in particular. At some point, familiarity with each song becomes
secondary to the experience, much like seeing a jam band in concert, and also
like a jam band, Ween attracts a loyal following of fans who are often willing
to travel to see them, and some who even follow the band on tour for several
shows in a row, knowing each performance is different and could include any
combination of their many, many songs.
For the past 10 years or so, when the band has been active,
they have toured without an opening act, instead offering the coveted, “An
Evening with Ween”, that allows them to perform more songs in a longer set with
shows often reaching between 2 hours and 20 minutes to 3 hours or more without a break
or intermission. On Tuesday, Ween took the stage just about an hour after doors
opened amid a sea of smoke from their reliable fog machine, slightly obscuring
the famous visage of The Boognish, the band-created deity often represented in
their songs and known by fans everywhere as the band’s logo. After discussing
the opening number for nearly 3 minutes before beginning to play, the first
notes of “Strap on That Jammypac”, from 1991’s, The Pod, were played, which was clearly a challenging song to
feature as an opener due to its bizarre, repetitious structure. Just after that song, Co-front man, Gene
Ween, quickly commented on “Tate, Tate, Tate”, referring to the trading of NFL
star, Golden Tate, from The Detroit Lions to The Philadelphia Eagles earlier that
day, followed by a performance of the song “The Golden Eel” further pressing
the issue. Guitarist/singer, Dean Ween, also wore a Super Bowl Champions
Philadelphia Eagles t-shirt, adding insult to the frustration of local sports
fans, but keeping very much with the band’s type of humor.
Two parts of Ween’s famous multi-song saga, “The Stallion”
were included (parts 3 and 1, respectively), and after a particularly
well-executed take on “Transdermal Celebration” from Quebec, Gene wondered aloud what
day it was, and when some in the audience yelled back, “It’s Tuesday”, other
fans also reminded him it was “pizza day”, in reference to a lyric from the B-side,
“Someday”, which the band added to the set on-the-spot to the delight of the
hard core followers in the crowd. Not all song selections were necessarily as
crowd-pleasing, such as only two songs from the band’s debut LP (and not the
most-notable or memorable ones, at that), and a block of tracks around the
halfway point of the show that settled firmly on songs from The Pod and 1992’s, Pure Guava, including “Captain Fantasy” and “Don’t Get 2 Close (2
my fantasy)”, back-to-back, and “Frank”, the less-inviting song that mentions
some of the same meal components as the much catchier, “Pork Roll Egg and
Cheese”, from later on the same LP. The most-challenging portion of the show included
a lengthy, psychedelic jam at the end of “Reggaejunkiejew” that included portions
of Jimi Hendrix’s “3rd Stone from the Sun” and extended the song to
nearly 12 minutes, followed by another jam, nearly as long, during the middle
of “Pandy Fackler”, most famously from 2000’s White Pepper, with only one track between the long jams.
It was clear Ween saved a handful of crowd-pleasers for
the end of the show, wrapping the main set with “Exactly Where I’m At” and
running through a spirited encore of fan favorites like, “What Deaner Was Talkin’
About”, “Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?” and finally closing the show
with “Buckingham Green” from 1998’s, TheMollusk, while bathed in bright green light across the stage. While other
favorites, such as, “Bananas and Blow”, “Roses are Free”, and even “Push Th’
Little Daisies”, may have made the concert a bit more engaging for the
uninitiated among the crowd, Ween’s presentation of a variety of their original
songs left most feeling more than satisfied and seems to become somehow progressively
normal the longer they continue to tour and perform. While they haven’t released
any new material in 10 years, perhaps Ween’s twisted, post-modern tunes have
caught up with the insanity of everyday life in 2018.
Ween Setlist (10-30-18/Royal Oak, MI)
Strap on That Jammypac
The Golden Eel
Spinal Meningitis (got me down)
The Stallion (pt.3)
With My Own Bare Hands
Take Me Away
Transitions
Transdermal Celebration
Someday
Object
Old Queen Cole
Wayne’s Pet Youngin’
Even If You Don’t
Captain Fantasy
Don’t Get 2 Close (2 my fantasy)
Frank
Sorry Charlie
The Stallion (pt.1)
I Got to Put the Hammer Down
Reggaejunkiejew/3rd Stone from the Sun (Hendrix)
Zoloft
Pandy Fackler
Your Party
Exactly Where I’m At
----------------------------------(encore
break)--------------
What Deaner Was Talkin’ About
Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?
Buckingham Green
---------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment