Ween got their 2020 tour underway at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut on Thursday night. The band fit in a few rarities for opening night including a bust out of “Ode To Rene.”
Ween commenced with a classic opener, “Buckingham Green,” from the band’s iconic 1997 album The Mollusk. Gene Ween (Aaron Freeman) then led the band through some White Pepper (2000) material with the album’s opener “Exactly Where I’m At” and the crowd favorite “Bananas And Blow.” The stellar Quebec track “I Don’t Want It” came next followed by a run of rarities in “The Stallion Pt 1” for just the 43rd time, “Ode To Rene” for the first time since April 2017 and just the 37th time overall and “I Gots A Weasel” for just the 35th time. “Ode To Rene” doesn’t appear on an album but a studio version of the song is the B-side to “Push Th’ Little Daisies” from 1992’s Pure Guava, which Ween would play after “Learnin’ To Love.”
“The Golden Eel” saw some shredding from Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo) ahead of “Frank” and the 12 Golden Country Greats track “Help Me Scrape The Mucous Off My Brain.” A trio of classics in “The Mollusk,” “Tried And True” and “Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)” came next after which Gener took a break and Deaner led the band on the instrumental hard rocker “The Final Alarm” and “Pandy Fackler” before he and bassist Drew Dreiwitz took a breather leaving keyboardist Glenn McClelland and drummer Claude Coleman Jr. to do some jazzy jamming. The rest of the band retook the stage and Deaner once again led on “Sorry Charlie” ahead of “Light Me Up,” which made its first appearance in over a year.
The mystical “Did You See Me” followed ahead of “Homo Rainbow” and “Squelch The Weasel,” completing the double “Weasel” attack. The rarest songs of the night came in the form of “Don’t Laugh (I Love You)” for just the 27th time and the 33rd “Put The Coke On My Dick.” The sultry “Your Party” followed ahead of “Touch My Tooter” and a rollicking “You Fucked Up” to close out the set. “Fiesta,” the opening instrumental to Ween’s last studio album La Cucaracha, got the encore party started followed by the fan-favorite “Mr. Won’t You Please Help My Pony.” The searching, middle-eastern-tinged Chocolatte And Cheese track “Can’t Put My Finger On It” closed out the evening.
Watch the full show captured by DarWeen Meints and posted by The Stallion Mang below:
Setlist via Brownbase.org
Set One: Buckingham Green, Exactly Where I’m At, She Wanted to Leave, Bananas and Blow, I Don’t Want It, The Stallion pt 1, Nan, Ode to Rene, I Gots a Weasel, The Grobe, Tick, Learnin’ to Love, Push th’ Little Daisies, The Golden Eel, Frank, Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain, The Mollusk, Tried and True, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), The Final Alarm, Pandy Fackler, Sorry Charlie, Light Me Up, Did You See Me?, The Stallion pt 3, Homo Rainbow, Squelch the Weasel, Don’t Laugh (I Love You), Put the Coke on My Dick, Your Party, Touch My Tooter, You Fucked Up
Encore: Fiesta, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, I Can’t Put My Finger on It
