WEEN

[walterfredo]

That's right, I said it.

[woodnymph]

That's right, I said it.

BUT DON'T FORGET TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT YOU PUT ON THE TREEEEEEEE!!!!!!  :o :o :o

[el_chode]

Maybe I'll sell you a cheecken

[walterfredo]

...weeth poison...interlaceds....weeth the meat.

[walterfredo]

dayum, a little worried about Friday's show in Oakland.  Apparently Gener was in rare form last night (and that's saying a lot).  Looks like he's lost 40 pounds since I saw last year, guess rehab went out the window...



http://www.straight.com/article-369810/vancouver/ween-completely-blows-it-bizarre-vancouver-show

At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Monday, January 24

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall of the Boognish's lair this morning.

Based on the complete shitshow that was Ween at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Monday, it's pretty much guaranteed that guitarist Mickey Melchiondo was weaving an impressive tapestry of profanity. And the object of his no doubt considerable ire? Well it wasn't Ween drummer Claude Coleman Jr., bassist Dave Dreiwitz, or keyboardist Glenn McClelland. Like Melchiondo (a.k.a. Dean Ween), they were all total pros, ripping through everything they tackled with devastating precision, whether it was an extra-eerie "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)" or a greased-lightening cover of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades".

No, the dude with some explaining to do would be one Aaron Freeman, better known to the good people of New Hope, Pennsylvania as Gene Ween. Freeman hitting the stage with a hairdo that was a bizarre combination of Edward Scissorhands and Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future was the first hint something was amiss. Clue number two came during the set-opening instrumental "Fiesta". As his bandmates nailed every stop-and-start note, Freeman stood there like a drunk simpleton who couldn't, despite his best efforts, figure out how to keep time on a tambourine.

Things didn't get any better when he stepped up to the mike. Early numbers like "Mister Richard Smoker" and "Transdermal Celebration" were advance warning that Freeman would be spending the night singing in a voice that was a weird, high-camp cross between Ethel Merman and the Heat Miser from A Year Without Santa Claus.

The ship was temporarily righted when Melchiondo commandeered the mike for the shitkicker classic "Piss Up a Rope", and the awesomely brown "Can U Taste the Waste" was just fucked up enough to make it seem like Ween was a fully functioning unit. Except, on this night, no such luck.

Things went from bad to beyond-weird quickly. To the visible dismay of Melchiondo, Freeman totally blew the lyrics right after the epic guitar solo in "Buckingham Green". And he decided it was easier to sit on the stage than to stand for "Mutilated Lips".

Halfway through the show, it was obvious that all was far from good in Ween land. At one point, as Freeman futilely attempted to tune a guitar, Melchionado turned the singer's amp down when he wasn't looking and then assumed vocal duties for "My Own Bare Hands."

An otherwise blistering "Reggaejunkiejew" was torpedoed when Freeman lay down on the stage mid-song, the other members of Ween subsequently getting their revenge with an extendo-instrumental version of the Carpenters' "Superstar".

It was after the latter number where things arguably came to a head. A completely out of it Freeman finally bounced up to slur "Sorry if your panties are in a bunch." He then proved himself utterly incapable of hitting almost every note during "Freedom of '76".

Obviously having had enough, the rest of Ween retreated to the back of the stage while Freeman again attempted to tune his guitar, a task he eventually abandoned. Subsequently, there was a certain irony to a watching a totally out-of-it waste case serenade the crowd with a solo "Birthday Boy", mostly because of the lyrics "Help me now, I'm going down/And I don't know if I'll be around." It was right around then that Melchiondo flat out up and left the stage with the other members of Ween.

What followed was funny, and sad, as Freeman finished up a sloppy, lone-wolf rendition of "Don't Sweat It" by looking over his shoulder and then slurring "Hey, where's the band?" Shortly thereafter, he walked off alone and the lights came up, leaving the audience angry and pissed.

As anyone lucky enough to have seen Ween at the Starfish Room on the Chocolate & Cheese tour knows full well, once upon a time, getting fucked up was a regular occurrence for Ween. But that was playing for 400 people in shitty dive bars. On this night, Freeman—and Freeman alone—blew it in front of nearly 3,000 fans who'd paid $50 a ticket. And you didn't have to be a fly on a wall to realize that the Boognish and the singer's bandmates weren't the only ones not amused.

[br00ke]

ugh, i was just reading that. no good  :( i saw them in central park this past september and it was the best ween show ever. get it together gener !!!

[walterfredo]

I've been sifting through the pages of the ween forum reading about last night.  What a mess.  Here's someone's post about the show last night...

That's exactly what I was thinking. Spectacle is the word my wife used too. I asked her if she wanted to leave, and she said, "No, I want to stay and see what happens." It started to go really bad around "Mutilated Lips." He sat down, but could barely play. I was worried what would happen when he tried to get up, and he did okay, but knocked over a mic. I think the band tried to give him some time to get his shit together, as they did a few instrumentals, and Deaner's "Bare Hands". But he just looked totally cracked out and like he had aged about 10 years since I saw him last summer. At one point he started riffing loudly and sloppily on the guitar for about 2 minutes, like he was going to start a song, and then Dean came over and turned down his amp. I'm not sure he even figured that out.

Eventually, the rest of the band just drifted away one by one. Claude and Glenn switched instruments on "I Don't Want it." The guitar tech started shutting off Dave and Dean's amps, and collected their gear while Gener warbled on. He was trying to play leads/solos during his little "set" at the end, and it was pretty brutal. I know some of the folks who may be bigger Gener fans than me were psyched to hear some of the obscure shit he was pulling out, and while I have always thought Gene was one of the weirder, more warped front men ever, he just looked, acted, and sounded fucking awful tonight. He kept wondering where the band went, and before the last song said, "I hope the band will come back out and join me for this one." They didn't. Really weird and uncomfortable night.

I don't want to overreact too much, but I had to wonder how he'll be able to continue on the tour, and what the ramifications both inter-personally with the band, and business-wise will be if they have to cancel the whole thing.

This sucks.

[jones]

That is sad.

[ALady]

Oh no   :-\

[bluesky]

man

[walterfredo]

this isn't exactly uncommon behavior in the ween world, or at least it wasn't years ago.  But the last time things got this bad at a show, they canceled the tour and Gener went into rehab.  I'm really hoping this was just a one-off night, and he'll pull it back together.  I guess we'll see what happens tonight in Seattle.  I've been really looking forward to this friday in oakland. 

[Jon T.]

What's a good starting point with these guys?  I've never really listened to them because I thought they were just some kind of novelty act.  I know there are a lot of fans on the board so I'm assuming they're worth checking out.

[jones]

What's a good starting point with these guys?  I've never really listened to them because I thought they were just some kind of novelty act.  I know there are a lot of fans on the board so I'm assuming they're worth checking out.

White Pepper will change your life.

[el_chode]

What's a good starting point with these guys?  I've never really listened to them because I thought they were just some kind of novelty act.  I know there are a lot of fans on the board so I'm assuming they're worth checking out.

You'll definitely benefit by listening to their two most well-known live releases, which is Live at Stubbs from sometime back in 2000 and the Vic Theater official release from 2005 I believe (or 04?). The reason I say this is because you can get a good feel for their early stuff that can be extremely off-putting on the album because it's so damn lo fi/unprofessionally done.  Plus, like MMJ, they're just a stellar live act. Every last member knows how to be on stage and do their shit with legendary precision and energy.

=====

That's really sad about Gener. When I saw them a few years ago in '08, I think that was after yet another rehab stint. They played really well, but Gener looked off still. And he had this obvious square object under his tshirt. I don't know what it was, but I assumed it was medical.

EDIT:

Also, you can't go wrong with White Pepper, Chocolate and Cheese, and The Mollusk (in that order). I think you should hold off on the Mollusk until it's warm out though. One of the best "drinking in the summer" albums known to mankind.

[wolof7]

Sad but unfortunately a common reality with an addict.....That picture tells a huge story. He gained considerable wt in the past years and I would not normally asssume that it was due to meds(but he has been vocal about being on antidepressants in the past (sic. 'Zoloft')). Looks like he may have taken himself off and/or relapsed hard.

Let's hope the band and Gener has the good sense to stop the tour so he can get the help he needs both for addiction and mental health issues.

[Jon T.]

Thanks, guys.  Already listening to White Pepper.  They are not at all what I had expected.  I'm at work, so I can't give them a proper listenining, but I am liking what I'm hearing so far.

[el_chode]

I've always found it interesting at their dynamic too. Deaner just comes across in a totally different way, ya know?

There's a really good interview from a few years back in Relix that gives some insight into their mentality these days. It was made during the peak of Gener's bounce-back and La Cucaracha as well. They basically take a shit on hipsters and why they live in New Hope still and prefer the yuppies there. It's kinda funny.

Plus Deaner talks about Brownie fishing.

[wolof7]

I've always found it interesting at their dynamic too. Deaner just comes across in a totally different way, ya know?

There's a really good interview from a few years back in Relix that gives some insight into their mentality these days. It was made during the peak of Gener's bounce-back and La Cucaracha as well. They basically take a shit on hipsters and why they live in New Hope still and prefer the yuppies there. It's kinda funny.

Plus Deaner talks about Brownie fishing.

you'll find each album is completely different. They never embrace one genre, style or sound. White Pepper is probably their most straight-forward rock-pop album and it's f'ing great. The others are more varied between and within songs. It took me awhile to understand these guys and what they were going for but once that happened I found myself in allegience with the other devoted fans.

To hear the more varied stuff I'd suggest Chocolate and Cheese or Quebec.

[el_chode]

I've always found it interesting at their dynamic too. Deaner just comes across in a totally different way, ya know?

There's a really good interview from a few years back in Relix that gives some insight into their mentality these days. It was made during the peak of Gener's bounce-back and La Cucaracha as well. They basically take a shit on hipsters and why they live in New Hope still and prefer the yuppies there. It's kinda funny.

Plus Deaner talks about Brownie fishing.

you'll find each album is completely different. They never embrace one genre, style or sound. White Pepper is probably their most straight-forward rock-pop album and it's f'ing great. The others are more varied between and within songs. It took me awhile to understand these guys and what they were going for but once that happened I found myself in allegience with the other devoted fans.

To hear the more varied stuff I'd suggest Chocolate and Cheese or Quebec.

Yeah you really gotta approach them the right way. If you listen to the Pod or Pure Guava first you're really gonna hate the band, even though that Pure Guava will eventually have the highest concentration of "that song is FUCKING AWESOME!" moments once you're ready for it

[wolof7]

I've been sifting through the pages of the ween forum reading about last night.  What a mess.  Here's someone's post about the show last night...

That Ween forum is vicious. I have every album and have seen them around 8 times in the 5 years since I've been a devoted fan. I never understood why a lot of their fans would encourage this. The whole 'drug band' mystique loses it's novelty when it reaches these potentially dangerous levels. I've done my fair share of goodies in the past and choose to keep it simple and safe these days but why some of their 'dedicated fans' continually glorify something that is so unhealthy that it jepardizes the very existence of the band...this has always been beyond me. Makes me happy that I troll on a board where the fans actually respect the health and integrity of their musical heroes.