Today marked the release of La Cucaracha, the eleventh full-length album by the one and only Ween. Madison fans of the band got an even bigger treat last Friday, though, when Gene and Dean Ween performed with their bandmates in yet another massive concert at the Orpheum Theatre. Just like the band's last appearance in town on August 3, 2006, this show sold out many weeks in advance.
Ween didn't disappoint, playing nearly 30 songs in their main set -- both new releases and classics -- before returning with five more for their encore. On fan attending the concert was a stand-up comic who goes by the stage name of "Arthur Hinty," a Milwaukeean who underwent gastric bypass surgery last year after getting a helping hand from his friend Doug Stanhope.
While he reported that the show was enjoyable, Hinty focused on an encounter with Ween later that evening. "After the show, we walked a block away to have a drink at a bar with shitty music and dancing co-eds," he writes. "Before long Deaner and Glenn McLelland, the keyboard player, walked up next to us looking for a set of billiard balls to play pool. 'Closest bar to the tour bus,' said Glenn, showing off a cut under his left eye from a projectile thrown by some assfuck in the crowd. My friend talked to them for a second but they seemed to avoid me in my 2XL Boognish T-shirt. I let it slide."
Quite a bit of the concert is available for viewing online as shot by a few of the more ravenous fans. The first of these clips features Ween performing "What Deaner Was Talking About" from their 1994 album Chocolate and Cheese in the encore. This and a half-dozen others follow.