Show Notes
New Jersey has a special place in the history of Ween. Hailing from just across the Delaware River, Ween basically got their start in Jersey, in now defunct but once iconic venues such as City Gardens in Trenton, and Court Tavern in New Brunswick. Before they were big, there was Jersey! Given this rich history, it might be surprising to learn that they hadn’t played in Jersey in 12 years. Damn, that’s a long time without Taylor Ham! But that all changed last month when Ween descended upon The Borgata in Atlantic City. Playing like they had house money, Ween rocked out yet another epic two-night stand. Weencast was there and we lived to tell the tale!
The second night started off loud and proud with a rock block that included You Fucked Up, Nan, and The Grobe. Nothing too rare here, but it was pretty cool because this was only the eighth time You Fucked Up was used as a set opener. After a hard rocking opening, they eased into the show with some jammed out commons from Chocolate and Cheese like Can’t Put My Finger On It and Roses are Free. Nothing too fancy, but some sweet bait for the less initiated fans among us.
Things started to really get brown when Ween laid out a trifecta of rarities: Oh My Dear (I Must Be Falling In Love), Stay Forever, and I Wuz Nuthin’. I think I’ve seen those live a grand total of 7 times, and in particular, Oh My Dear was played live for only the seventh time ever. It also featured Aaron with some superior solos on the guitar, and that is always a pleasure for sure!
Much like the previous night, Ween played music from all across their discography. Unlike the previous night, this night featured two songs from the Friends EP. Classic tunes that just don’t get too much airtime, if you ask me. Light Me Up, and then a little bit later Got To Put The Hammer Down, showed that the Friends EP is a force to be reckoned with. And I can’t be stopped when I break out my dueling hammers dance for Got To Put The Hammer Down! It’s smashing to say the least!
It was still early in the evening, after they finished off a slow and sombrous Albino Sunburned Girl, when they laid down one of the absolute highlights of the evening: Beacon Light with a ferocious 3-minute Deaner solo. Jammy pacs were strapped on and we were gone!
The evening was beginning to get a little late, when they once again blew our brains away with a trifecta of rarities: this time El Camino, Put The Coke On My Dick, and The Enabler. El Camino included some spontaneous Borgata related lyrics as well as a White Rabbit tease. Put The Coke On My Dick was hilarious, as you’ll hear about on our episode, because Claude had tons of family at the show and his moment to shine was all about coke and dicks and cocks. As he said, “It’s a living!” The Enabler is probably my favorite Ween cover and it is such an amazing and epic tune. I also love me some Dave, so it was a delight when he got to come up to mic.
In the lead up to the end of the main set, we were then treated to another amazing highlight: Claude on an epic 7-minute drum interlude for Never Squeal on the Pusher. At one point, he even dropped his stick, but just kept going bongo style. Rock on Claude, you legend!
Well, I don’t want to spill all the tea here because you should check out our episode! Saturday night was another big time throw down from Ween. Enjoy the episode and stay brown my friends!
More from Ween Cast
If you are a fan of the scene you are most likely going to come across this gentleman pretty soon upon hanging out for a bit, but unless you dive deep you won't know Chris. Talk about prolific, Chris Harford has been making amazing music since his high school days with no signs of stopping soon. Not only does he write, record and produce his own music, he also runs his own record label supporting other awesome independent artists and collaborators. You could keep digging into this guy's career all day and still not get to everything! For the sake of sanity, we stuck to a few points for this interview, and it will take us awhile to unpack all of these! We spoke with Chris about his early bands, including the cult favorite Three Colors, which he started in college with some fellow art students. The seminal album "Be Headed" that just happens to be the major label debut of some of our other musical friends being released in 1992. The independent record label "Soul Selects" that Chris and his friends started in the 80's and still run to this day. Living with Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain while the early Ween albums were being made, and Chris explains to everyone once and for all what the hell the "Zion House of Flesh" actually is!! Chris explains what it was like to be produced by Mickey and working on the Chocodog Records release of his record "Looking out for Number 6"; a true anomaly among the Chocodog and Schnitzel projects. We also talk about some of the really cool current projects that Chris has worked on within the last few years; like the Birdfeeder collaboration with Mark Mulcahy of Polaris and Miracle Legion. The very groovy instrumental record he made with the Philly based Jazz band Channel Collective, and his travels with Paul Muldoon and the rock-poetry group Rogue Oliphant. Please go to Soul Selects.com to see all of the available releases by the record label, and Chris Harford.com to download all of the catalog releases by Chris and his constantly evolving Band of Changes. Join us on Patreon.com for some more fun and exclusive material including the entire Chris interview where we discuss Chris' Dub project Blanc du Blanc, his thoughts on vinyl vs and download, and some other fun surprises! Also live is a new episode of Shane's Ween Vinyl featuring the Chris Album "Looking out for Number 6", its a cool mini-sode talking about the albums vinyl and some fun facts about the CD compared to the record. Thank You and Please enjoy!!!
Ep. 62: 4/28/2004, The Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall, Levittown, PA
Well, so far this has turned out to be a rough year for Ween fans. But what do we do when times are bad? We do what we always do, we come together as a family.
Well, its been over 20 years since the monumental 2nd to last Ween studio album launched into the heads of the unexpecting public. Songs from this record seem to keep popping up over the years since in some of the most unexpected places. Why? What is it about Quebec that keeps all of us heads coming back and screaming for after all these years? We dive into the time period, the songs, the credits, the live performances and stats, and of course, The Caesar Demos! This may be the only set of songs to accompany a studio release to come straight from the band. These included almost all of the songs from Quebec, plus a number of other amazing songs that made it into the Ween live show, and a few others that have latched onto the flam and have not let go. Please enjoy our full review and discussion of the Ween jewels that are Quebec, and the Caesar Demos.
Wow, New York City, just like I pictured it.... skyscrapers, and ...everything. Thats right, the big apple, the city so nice... all that jazz. Ween brings the funk and the punk for what we are deeming "The Live In Chicago Tour" of Fall 2003.