When the band in question is the unparalleled force that is WEEN, the answer is obvious:
HELL NO!!
The past couple years have brought very little goings on in the world of Ween, aside from a so-so release in 2007's La Cucaracha and vague rumblings of Gener spending time in rehab. So, quite surprised was I in June when I just happened to peruse over to Ween's site to find that they had actually scheduled a host of new tour dates. My initial reaction was disappointment not to find any Austin shows (no Stubbs!). However, as I glanced through the dates, one jumped out at me, Red Rocks on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and a brilliant plan began to piece itself together in the back of my brain.
That night I just so happened to be having beers with Ian, who also harbors a particular affinity for the Boys of Boognish. The prospect of driving up to catch Ween at Red Rocks was appealing, but initially not so much a realistic consideration. As we continued to discuss it, the potential of a Denver road trip seemed to get more and more attractive: neither of us had been to Denver before; the Denver area is loaded with good breweries worth checking out; the Rockies are in the thick of the Wildcard chase, and playing a series at home that weekend; and finally, my fellow Toolarmy compadre Bobage, who I know to be a huge Ween fan, happens to be a Denver resident and was also planning to hit the show. By the end of the night, this was no longer an interesting idea in the back of my head, it was a full-blown plan. We would make this trek to the mountains. We would enjoy the views and the brews. We would seek out and join forces with Bobage. And before it was all over, high above the city, upon the side of a mountain, we would ROCK.
The weekend of note arrived, to much anticipation. The drive up from Austin seemed easier than expected, and we spent the first day cruising around to various breweries and checking out their tap rooms. Major props in particular to Odell and Great Divide, not to mention the insane Silo Burger at Oskar Blues (A 1/2 lb. burger topped with lean pork, hot sauce, bacon and pepper Jack cheese. Burger brilliance.). The second day we hit the Rockies game in the early afternoon, which they won 13-5 in exactly the kind of slugfest you'd expect from that thin air up there at Coors Field. But the spectacle to go down that night was what we were really waiting for.
We headed out to the venue a couple hours before the show, to check the place out and meet up with Bobage for a pre-show beer or two. We parked, and after getting turned around and traversing a bit more rough terrain than ended up really being necessary, we found Bobage on the south side of the venue, hanging with a crew of what seemed like 50 people and rocking some Tecate's out of the tailgate of a mini-van. The anticipation of the show was really starting to kick in at this point, the beers were crisp, the mountain air was cool and fresh, and the Ween love vibe was coalescing around the masses.
Right about 7pm, we all made our way to the show. As we climbed the steps to the entrance, Bobage reminded me to take a second, to really let the moment sink in as I crossed the threshold into the amphitheater for the first time. Boy, was he right. As I walked in, I was struck by the absolute beauty of the venue. The towering striated rocks, the carved out stage, the majestic view of the city, the feeling of leaving the very Earth itself as we climbed higher, row-by-row....every detail of the environment felt enormous, yet simultaneously warm and intimate. As strongly as I ever had, at this moment, I felt like this was a place that is truly special. We snagged a couple rows just slightly behind the soundboard, and settled in for a night of good music.
Unlike any Ween show I had previously attended, this one actually had an opener, the Meat Puppets. I knew very little about the band beyond mere name recognition, and though I had nothing against the band itself, I was a bit bummed that having an opener at all may shorten Ween's set. As it was, I actually found them to be pretty enjoyable. They came on shortly after 8pm, and ended up playing for a little over an hour. As I am unfamiliar with the band, I'm unable to relate a full setlist, but I know they played the radio hit "Backwater", as well as a couple versions of "Lake Of Fire", which I actually hadn't realized was a Meat Puppets song. I would guess that they played about 8 or 9 songs total. Most of the tunes had a nicely accessible alt-rock/country-ish foundation that would then meander out into the weeds for some hearty guitar noodling and soaring solos. For a three-piece, they certainly sounded much larger, easily filling the space. I was impressed enough that I might actually look into their back catalog a bit. All in all, a nice warm-up.
After about a 20-minute break, Dean, Gene, and the gang came strolling out, to an absolutely thunderous Red Rocks welcome. After a quick hello, they started right in. Here is the set:
01. Pork Roll Egg And Cheese
02. Bananas And Blow
03. Now I'm Freaking Out
04. Learnin' To Love
05. My Own Bare Hands
06. Did You See Me?
07. Transdermal Celebration
08. Take Me Away
09. Don't Get 2 Close 2 My Fantasy
10. Woman And Man
11. Zoloft
12. Your Party
13. The Beacon Light
14. Stroker Ace
15. Voodoo Lady
16. Ice Castles
17. Final Alarm
18. Gabrielle
19. Touch My Tooter
20. Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?
21. Ocean Man
22. I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot
23. Spinal Meningitis
24. Buckingham Green
25. Doctor Rock
(break)
26. Fiesta
27. The Mollusk
28. Roses Are Free
Being my first foray into the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, I was particularly interested in how good the sound really is. Tales of the sound quality are legendary, and would seem to be supported by the plethora of live albums recorded there. However, before the show I was warned that sometimes, if the wind kicks up, the sound can waver a bit, getting blown around by the intermittent gusts. I was also worried that a lot of the sound may simply dissipate into the open space, which is a common problem for outdoor venues. As it turned out, there was little to worry about on either front. There was the occasional moment where I would catch a higher guitar note or vocal that was slightly affected by the wind, but overall the sound was absolutely pristine. The drums and bass rumbled nicely along the rock foundation, and the guitar and vocals were nicely contained by the towering rocks all around. In addition, the mix was pretty spot on the whole way through. I imagine an audio recording from the soundboard should sound pretty amazing. [And as a related side note, they had several video cameras around the place, filming from various angles. The band also included quite a bit more visual effects than I remember from their previous shows, so I'm crossing my fingers this ends up as Ween's next spectacular DVD release!]
As for the show itself, oh my god, they absolutely destroyed the place with that set! Starting in with oldie "Pork Roll Egg And Cheese" was a good choice to get a nice groove going, and following up with sing-along favorite "Bananas And Blow" was sheer genius, getting the crowd involved in the action early. They goofballed it up a bit with "Now I'm Freakin' Out" and "Learnin' To Love", and plowed through a gritty rendering of "My Own Bare Hands". But it was with the next offering, a scorchingly intense version of "Did You See Me?", that I fully realized what a night we were in for. The slow layered intro, smoothly morphing to Deaner's moody controlled shredding, dropping off to Gener's melancholy isolated vocals....the song was magnificently executed, and carried beautifully through the clear mountain air, reverberating off the rocks and striking with a true sense of purpose. The elated crowd seemed to understand: Ween was on a mission tonight.
From that point on, every song seemed to be a classic. There were a few nicely placed slower numbers, including "Ice Castles", "Zoloft", and a particularly good rendition of "The Mollusk". But, unlike the previous shows I had seen, there was no accoustic segment, or any kind of prolonged slowdown. The band maintained a high level of energy throughout the night, sliding effortlessly between proggy mind-benders and full-throttle rockers, showcasing their astounding breadth of material. As is always the case, this allowed plentiful opportunities for Deaner's classic brand of extended guitar shredding. He went particularly ballistic on "Woman And Man", "Voodoo Lady", "Final Alarm", and "I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot", taking each of those songs to glorious new heights for minutes at a time.
The crowd was in a constant state of frenzy the entire show, feeding off the energy Ween was delivering. Everywhere I looked, I could see the effect sweeping over the joyous masses: shouting along to the wait-this-is-kinda-creepy "Don't Get 2 Close 2 My Fantasy", bouncing around to the romping "Gabrielle", losing their minds to the frantic pace of "Stroker Ace", pumping their fists with every exclamation of "Doctor Rock!". The band, in turn, seemed to revel in the crowd's enthusiasm, cranking out one monstrous performance after another. At one point, as Deaner was laying down some nasty crunch during "Final Alarm", Bobage turned to me and said simply: "They're killing it tonight, man, they're totally killing it!" I couldn't argue with that.
And amidst all this rocking and shredding and handing of one's own ass, what arose more than anything throughout the venue was a feeling of total bliss, utter happy joyous bliss. No aggression, or anger, or angsty release, just good ol' fashioned honest-to-goodness happiness. Whatever it is about this band, their jocularity, their lack of pretense, not to mention their insane musical chops, a Ween show just makes you feel happy to be part of something good. And as the final soaring notes of "Roses Are Free" capped this particular night, we all knew we had just become part of something legendary.
And THAT is worth a lot more than 1050 miles.
Special thanks to Ian for making the trip, Bobage and his crew for the warm welcome, and of course my better half Sara for giving me the green light and bravely taking on a few days of solo toddler wrangling. It was a trip for the ages....
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