Photos & Review: Ween, Feb 13, 2016, 1st Bank Center, Broomfield, CO

“I’m Gene Ween, this is Dean Ween. And we are Ween!”

“We’ve got a good show for you tonight.” announced Gene Ween after introducing himself and his band Saturday night. “Especially good tonight.” added Dean Ween, setting the stage for night two of Ween’s sold out three night Colorado run at 1st Bank Center in Broomfield.

“We’ve got a good show for you tonight.”

Most bands don’t make such a claim before their set, but with Ween, it’s practically a guarantee.

In the week leading up to Ween’s first shows since 2011, the band promised a no-repeat weekend of nearly 100 songs over their three night Colorado run. Over their nearly three hour Saturday night set, the group ticked off 29 songs. The set opened with “Pork Roll Egg & Cheese” from The Pod, and leaned heavily on the 1991 release throughout the night.

Drawing inspiration from nearly every music genre imaginable, you get a bit of everything at a Ween show. Saturday night was no exception! For nearly three hours Dean and Gene Ween guided bandmates Claude Coleman Jr, Dave Dreiwitz, and Glenn McLelland on a journey through metal, space rock, country, soul, funk, weird, and straight up rock and roll. You get it all at a Ween show! Here’s a collection of my thoughts, observations, and photos from my first Ween show in nearly eleven years (11/29/2005).

The biggest reaction of the night came three songs in, when the band dropped into Quebec space rocker “Transdermal Celebration.” The place went absolutely bonkers before and after this song! The first big solo of the night from Dean.

“This has always been my favorite Ween song”

Chocolate & Cheese defined a spring break trip to Moab with friends, so of the vast Ween catalog, “Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony” might hold the most personal history for me. Hearing Dean say it’s his favorite Ween song just adds to my Ween experience that much more.

“I’ve been waiting to sing that one for a long time”

Deaner had a shit-eating grin on his face most of the night, visibly in awe of the welcoming vibe from the packed crowd and serving up plenty of soaring guitar solos throughout the set.

The middle of the set mellowed out a bit, with Dean and Gene on acoustic guitars, working their way through a live debut of “Kim Smoltz” from The Mollusk sessions, another Dean Ween favorite, “Tried and True”, “Baby Bitch”, “Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain”, Chocolate & Cheese classic “Joppa Road”, and “I Don’t Want It.”

“Frank” and “She Fucks Me” put an exclamation point on the fact that this was a night of The Pod weirdness.

“Poop Ship Destroyer!” Nuff said.

Shinola (Vol 1) is an under appreciated gem. “Transitions” (first time played live) is a prime example.

“We’ve lost a lot of good ones lately. This one’s for Lemmy.”

Deep in the set, the band served up a smoking take on the Motörhead classic, “Ace of Spades”, turning out, surprisingly, to be the only cover of the weekend.

If nothing else does, “Zoloft” following “Ace of Spades” sums up a Ween show. My favorite song from Quebec, and a selection on our 12 Golden Ween Greats playlist.

I called for a “Dr. Rock” opener. It was a smoker of a set closer. I couldn’t have asked for more!

The room remained packed all the way to the end. A two song encore of The Pod classics “Pollo Asado” (played live only three other times by Ween) and “Demon Sweat” capped a loud, wild, weird night of Ween!

$16.07 is your change.

Without a doubt, Ween painted Colorado brown!

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