Ween returned to the road on Friday for the first time since early November for a brief three-show Northeast swing with a gig at The Met Philadelphia. Last night the quintet honored SpongeBob Squarepants creator Stephen Hillenburg during their encore by playing “Loop de Loop,” a tune they had contributed to the show for just the second time ever.
Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo, Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman, bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Glenn McClelland and drummer Claude Coleman Jr. opened up their night with “Pork Roll Egg And Cheese” from their sophomore studio album The Pod. From there, the New Hope, Pennsylvania-rockers would work their way through fan-favorites like “Freedom Of ’76,” “Waving My Dick In The Wind,” “Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?” and “Voodoo Lady.”
Near the midpoint of their 27-song main set, the five-piece would deliver a trio of lesser-played songs from their catalog offering up “The Argus,” “I Gots A Weasel” and “Boy’s Club.” The back half of the night was highlighted by “Take Me Away,” “Buckingham Green,” “Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)” along with the seventh “Albino Sun Burned Girl” since 2010. The biggest surprise of the night came during their encore as they unearthed “Loop de Loop” for the first time since April 2016 as a tribute to the late Hillenburg, who passed from complications from his battle with ALS earlier last month. The tune originally appeared on an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants from 2000, entitled Your Shoe’s Untied. Melchiondo detailed the origins of the song shortly after Hillenburg’s passing in a Facebook post calling it one of Ween’s proudest legacies. Watch video captured by Monica Hampton below:
Loop de Loop
The Argus
Albino Sunburned Girl
Wayne’s Pet Youngin
Setlist (via BrownBase)
Pork Roll Egg and Cheese, The HIV Song, Chocolate Town, Freedom of ’76, The Grobe, Waving My Dick in the Wind, Object, Nan, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, Don’t Shit Where You Eat, Voodoo Lady, The Argus, I Gots a Weasel, Boy’s Club, Never Squeal> Improvisation> Never Squeal, Zoloft, Take Me Away, Fiesta, Buckingham Green, Albino Sunburned Girl, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), With My Own Bare Hands, Happy Colored Marbles, Exactly Where I’m At, Wayne’s Pet Youngin, Touch My Tooter
Encore: Loop de Loop, Ocean Man, The Mollusk, Fluffy
