Ween loaded their setlists with rarities and classics at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas over the course of a three-night stand spanning this past Friday, October 1 – Sunday, October 3. The quintet offered the debut of “Cornbread Red” on Friday, dusted off “Koko” for the first time since 2000 on Saturday and revived “I Was Nothin’” after more than two decades on the shelf last night.
The “March Mitzvah” run was scheduled for March 2020 and postponed until October 2020 before the dates were moved to last weekend due to the pandemic. Ween — consisting of guitarists Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo, keyboardist Glenn McClelland, drummer Claude Coleman Jr. and bassist Dave Dreiwitz — treated fans to over 100 different songs in Sin City.
Ween kicked off their first show at the venue since 2017 with “Don’t Shit Where You Eat” after Gener and Deaner pumped up the crowd. “We have a lot of songs for you the next three nights,” Melchiondo advised the audience before polling fans on whether they’d be attending all three concerts. “You did the right thing,” he added in response to many cheering in response to the question. The five-piece went heavy on material from 1994’s Chocolate And Cheese and 2000’s White Pepper on Friday with five songs a piece from the LPs making the setlist while four tracks each from 1990’s GodWeenSatan: The Oneness and 1997’s The Mollusk also played on opening night.
Friday’s concert featured the return of “I’ll Miss You,” a song Ween contributed to the soundtrack for the 1996 film Beautiful Girls. “I’ll Miss You” was last played on June 11, 2017 — a span of 56 shows — and was just the seventh live performance as per BrownBase. Additionally, “Get A Little Taste Of You” from Gener and Deaner’s Z-Rock Hawaii collaborative album members of The Boredoms saw action of Friday for the first time since April 14, 2016 and second since January 2, 2001.
Each Ween show in Las Vegas included an acoustic segment. The quintet went unplugged to cap Friday’s concert with an encore featuring “Birthday Boy,” “Cornbread Run,” “Drifter In The Dark” and “The Mollusk.” Deaner revealed “Cornbread Red” had never been performed live in the past but added the caveat, “maybe once” as the band discussed whether they had indeed played the B-side to the White Pepper single “Even If You Don’t” in the past.
Ween put the focus on staples to begin Saturday’s performance at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas “I’m Dancing In The Show Tonight” was followed by “Pork Roll Egg And Cheese,” “Big Jilm” and “Piss Up A Rope.” The first rarity of the evening came next as the latter’s B-side, “Sweet Texas Fire,” returned for the first time since June 5, 2018.
Later in the night, Ween went acoustic for a three-song run of “Chocolate Town,” “Kim Smoltz” and “Koko.” While “Chocolate Town” has been played fairly regularly over the years, “Kim Smoltz” was debuted live by the band during their “reunion” run at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado on February 13, 2016 and “Koko” was last performed on December 30, 2000. “Koko” was recorded by Ween during the sessions that yielded The Mollusk. The studio version was released in 2007 as part of The Mollusk Sessions outtake album.
Another huge surprise came during last night’s 33-song finale. Ween busted out The Pod outtake “I Wuz Nothin’” towards the middle of their main set. “I Wuz Nothin’” hadn’t been played since January 2, 2001 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, a performance that came two days after the song was debuted live in the band’s hometown of New Hope, Pennsylvania. Sunday’s acoustic segment saw Ween offer up “Tried And True,” “Sorry Charlie” and “Right To The Ways And The Rules Of The World.” The five-piece went on to end the concert and run with an encore featuring “Your Party” and “Buenas Tardes Amigo.”
Check out the setlists, pro-shot video featuring the start of each show and audience recordings from Friday and Saturday nights below:
Setlists (via BrownBase) / Pro-Shot Videos (via Relix) / Full-Show Audio (Taped by XQ & CPS)
Friday, October 1
Set: Don’t Shit Where You Eat, Exactly Where I’m At, Captain Fantasy, Tick, Puerto Rican Power, I Can’t Put My Finger on It, Mononucleosis, The Golden Eel, The Stallion pt 3, I’ll Miss You, Take Me Away, Fat Lenny, I Got to Put the Hammer Down, Roses Are Free, Flutes of the Chi, Springtheme, Get a Little Taste of You, Ice Castles, The Final Alarm, Awesome Sound, The Goin’ Gets Tough From the Getgo, Homo Rainbow, Papa Zit, Touch My Tooter, Wayne’s Pet Youngin, Even If You Don’t, Pandy Fackler, Ocean Man, The Blarney Stone
Encore: Birthday Boy*, Cornbread Red*, Drifter in the Dark*, The Mollusk*
* – Acoustic
Saturday, October 2
Set: I’m Dancing in the Show Tonight, Pork Roll Egg and Cheese, Big Jilm, Piss Up a Rope, Sweet Texas Fire, Waving My Dick in the Wind, The Stallion pt 1, Voodoo Lady, Albino Sunburned Girl, Baby Bitch, The HIV Song, How High Can You Fly?, Transdermal Celebration, Woman and Man, Demon Sweat, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, Seconds, Old Queen Cole, I Don’t Want It, Buckingham Green, The Argus, Transitions, Boy’s Club, Poopship Destroyer, She Fucks Me, Chocolate Town*, Kim Smoltz*, Koko*, Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain*, Never Squeal > Drums > Never Squeal
Encore: Nan, Up on the Hill, Israel, You Fucked Up, Puffy Cloud
* – Acoustic
Sunday, October 3
Setlist: She Wanted to Leave, Polka Dot Tail, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Happy Colored Marbles, She’s Your Baby, El Camino, With My Own Bare Hands, Object, Beacon Light, Learnin’ to Love, Frank, I Play It Off Legit, Bananas and Blow, Little Birdy, I Wuz Nothin, Did You See Me?, Push th’ Little Daisies, Stay Forever, The Grobe, Gabrielle, Stroker Ace, A Tear For Eddie, Mutilated Lips, Tried and True*, Sorry Charlie*, Right to the Ways and the Rules of the World*, Zoloft, Licking the Palm For Guava > Mushroom Festival in Hell, Someday, Fluffy
Encore: Your Party, Buenas Tardes Amigo
* – Acoustic
