After kicking off its 40th anniversary year in Phoenix, Ween headed out to the California coast for two nights of fun in the sun in Del Mar. The Saturday-Sunday stand at The Sound saw brothers in Boognish Dean Ween and Gene Ween—Mickey Melchiondo Jr. and Aaron Freeman respectively—dig into their inconceivably dense back catalog for some seldom-seen fan favorites.
Saturday’s show was a ripper right from the get-go, with Ween charging out of the gate with “Buckingham Green”, “Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)”, and “Light Me Up”. From the outside looking in, this appeared to be a Deaner setlist as the band tackled the intense hard-rockers that the guitarist favors like “Polka Dot Tail”, “I Wuz Nothin’”, “Gabrielle”, “Marble Tulip Juicy Tree”, “The Final Alarm”, and more.
Since Ween’s glorious return to large-scale touring last year (praise Boognish), the band has kept its setlists largely consistent as the band travels from town to town each night rather than the deep-dive multi-night runs it previously favored since 2017. That’s why it was so gratifying to see the band dig a little deeper in the well of its gargantuan songbook, starting with “I Saw Gener Cryin’ In His Sleep”, not seen since August 1st, 2023 (14 shows ago). In the course of reciting the Pure Guava ditty, Deaner egged on and then tried to dispel a fight happening in the front of the crowd.
Between other classics like “Exactly Where I’m At”, “With My Own Bare Hands”, and a huge “A Tear For Eddie”, Ween also dug up Shinola (Vol. 1) gem “Monique the Freak”, not played since the band’s 2023 St. Patrick’s Day/Gener’s birthday run in Las Vegas. Immediately following Monique, drummer Claude Coleman Jr. stepped up to deliver the song that every drunk asshole at a Ween show always shouts out, “Put the Coke on My Dick” (LTP 8/4/23). After that, Ween sprinted across the finish line with torrential rockers “Stroker Ace”, “Doctor Rock”, a set-closing “The Argus” and a double-dose encore of “Touch My Tooter” and “You Fucked Up”.
Related: Ween Announces 12-Date Tour Celebrating 40th Anniversary
On Sunday, Ween toned things down a bit—at least by Ween standards. This setlist seemed to have Papa Gener’s fingerprints on it, starting with the first “I’m Dancing In The Show Tonight” in 16 shows (8/1/23). The well-balanced 33-song setlist oscillated between the raw power of songs like “Transdermal Celebration” and “The Grobe” and beloved singalongs “Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)” and “Even If You Don’t”.
The deep dives kept on coming with the spastic “Now I’m Freaking Out” (LTP 7/30/23), “I’ll Be Your Jonny The Spot” (LTP 8/5/23), “Can U Taste The Waste?” (LTP 8/1/23), the eight-ever “Mango Woman” since 1992 (LTP 8/4/23), The Pod trip “Right to the Ways and the Rules of the World” (LTP 8/1/23), before finally, celebrated Italian-American Mickey Melchiondo led the Irish pub shanty “The Blarney Stone” to close the set (LTP 7/30/23). Still not done, Ween returned to the stage and rocked the hell out of a three-song encore that started with La Cucaracha sleeper “Shamemaker”, hit its zenith with “Vallejo”, and rolled back with an extended “Fluffy” to finish the weekend run.
Check out the full setlists from the Ween California run along with full-show video and audio. The Boognish will go into hibernation until the band kicks off its proper 40th-anniversary tour on April 19th in Atlanta. For tickets and a full list of tour dates visit Ween’s website.
Ween – The Sound – Del Mar, CA – 2/17/24 – Full Video
[Video: The Stallion Mang]
Ween – The Sound – Del Mar, CA – 2/17/24 – Full Audio
[Audio: spitback]
Ween – The Sound – Del Mar, CA – 2/18/24 – Full Video
[Video: The Stallion Mang]
Ween – The Sound – Del Mar, CA – 2/18/24 – Full Audio
[Audio: spitback]
Setlist: Ween | The Sound | Del Mar, CA | 2/17/24
Set: Buckingham Green, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Light Me Up, Polka Dot Tail, I Wuz Nothin, The Mollusk, Waving My Dick in the Wind, Take Me Away, Falling Out, Gabrielle, I’ll Miss You, Chocolate Town, Roses Are Free, Albino Sunburned Girl, Piss Up a Rope, Marble Tulip Juicy Tree, You Were the Fool, The Final Alarm, I Saw Gener Cryin’ in His Sleep, Powder Blue, Exactly Where I’m At, Mutilated Lips, With My Own Bare Hands, A Tear For Eddie, The Stallion pt 3, Monique the Freak, Put the Coke on My Dick, Stroker Ace, Doctor Rock, The Argus
Encore: Touch My Tooter, You Fucked Up
Setlist: Ween | The Sound | Del Mar, CA | 2/18/24
Set: I’m Dancing in the Show Tonight, Nan, Transdermal Celebration, The Grobe, Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy), Even If You Don’t, She’s Your Baby, Voodoo Lady, Happy Colored Marbles, Baby Bitch, Now I’m Freaking Out, Bananas and Blow, The HIV Song, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, Frank, Your Party, Learnin’ to Love, Cornbread Red, I’ll Be Your Jonny on the Spot, Ode to Rene, The Stallion pt 5, Papa Zit, Can U Taste the Waste?, Tick, Mango Woman, The Golden Eel, Tried and True, Right to the Ways and the Rules of the World, How High Can You Fly?, The Blarney Stone
Encore: Shamemaker, Vallejo, Fluffy
The post Ween Dusts Off Rarities, Oddities, & Other Awesome Sounds For Doubleheader On The California Coast [Videos/Audio] appeared first on L4LM.
