Ween takes ‘gong show’ to the ultimate level.
story & photos by: Tamara Lee
Drinking beer and jumping around the stage barefooted would certainly be par for the course for veteran good times band, Ween. But at the recent Vancouver show, these limits were pushed to a surprising level, even for these guys. Yes, there were bare feet and beers in a garage-jam style, but the non-presence level of good ol’ Gene Ween was clearly beyond the typical.
Either neglecting to sing or shrieking with all his might, standing around with a stupefied grin and eventually spending an entire song on his arse clinging to the bent mic were only a few of the clues that something had gone array. Even for those of us not familliar with the band started to clue in that something was up when band mate Dean Ween took over the vocals in obvious annoyance. And the grand finally was when the rest of the band had enough and Gene was abandoned on stage to carry out a gruelingly painful solo performance. He eventually abanonded this idea also, joined the rats and retreated off the sinking stage until there was no other thing to do but bring up the house lights at the Queen E.
Needless to say, there was no encore. The entire situation will be hard for Ween to out-do at their next visit but we suggest they can top this if they wheel in Gene via stretcher, already in the throws of a drug coma… or perhaps the next step is a rehab comeback? If anything, the next endeavor will surely be ripe with the irony and satire their fans know and love them for. (those left)
Pictures at Guttersnipe News here: