Posted by It’s shocking to realize how much coaxing it took before I became a fan of Ween (thanks Charles!) but when I was finally bitten by the mighty Boognish I got swallowed up whole. As a new fan listening to the vast variety contained in their studio albums (mainly Chocolate & Cheese and The Mollusk) I could only conclude that Ween was a pastiche band who specialized and excelled in creating songs in the style of whoever they felt like emulating that day and as such they probably lacked for a sound to call their own.
On August 2nd, 1999 I was quite excited to discover that I was very wrong about that.
I was in British Columbia enjoying my first ever cross-Canada drive, a solo endeavour I undertook with no plans in mind except to traverse the nation and have fun doing it (check and check) and I was extra-pleased to find my random Vancouver visit with my Ween-loving friend Corey coincided with the band’s stop at the Vogue Theatre. I was about a year into my rest-of-lifelong Ween fandom and was really eager to find out what the band actually sounded like live.
Along with Corey and I was another old Ottawahead Dylan and maybe some of his friends or roommates. Regardless, we were a crew and we were seated near the front of the balcony in the near-regal old theatre well within sight of the large, intimidating security dudes who stood motionless at their stations with their arms sternly crossed and did absolutely nothing whilst we in the very liberal party crowd knocked our socks off.
The band was nothing short of amazing. They played forever – like hours and hours – and Dean and Gene got rip-roaring staggeringly silly drunk up on the stage throughout the set and seemed to be having even more fun than we were in the crowd, which took some doing. Behind them was a crackerjack band including a super-solid bass player, a great keyboard sideman, and a standout drummer, and those three were downright nurturing the boys along with a pocket that was equal parts crispy, showy, and supportive but really, at the time all I could really see were those two imaginary brothers sloshing about the stage like a pair of musical giants*.
And through the raised fists and excited jumping up and down I was struck with the group’s undeniable sound, a signature sonic stamp that was impossible to miss in a live setting and one that permeates the entirety of their catalogue. It’s odd that I had heard things so differently before seeing this show, for once I was exposed to the thread that runs through Ween’s soothing aggression I’ve since found that it gushes like a tidal wave through every one of their recorded tracks.
And what a gush, what a wave, what a stamp! Geez I love Ween.
(I had so much fun that I lost my ticket stub, which was somewhat heartbreaking.)
*It would take several Ween concerts before I numbed myself enough to the shock and awe of Dean and Gene’s greatness to be able to notice just how amazing their band was, and how integral those three sidemen are to the Ween sound.
Todd Man Out 