Dean and Gene Ween do their psychedelic New Hope pop legend thing at The Met Philadelphia on December 8 and 9.
Solo albums under their real names (Aaron Freeman, Mickey Melchiondo) and Billy Joel and Rod McKuen projects aside, these two New Hope-born and based songwriters and musicians will always best be known as Ween. And Ween – the expanded Ween with bassist Dave Dreiwitz, drummer Claude Coleman Jr. and keyboardist Glenn McClelland – will always be best served live, as they shall be this week at The Met Philadelphia on December 8 and 9.
A jam band before Phish ever started, a psychedelic dance-pop ensemble before Tame Impala was a twinkle in Kevin Parker’s eye, and a tape looping, cut-and-paste experimental duo before Matmos ever set their hands to a mixing console – to say nothing of their forays into country music, prog rock, and cheesy R&B – Ween was and is the original genre jumbling weirdo outfit. And one with a massive, jam band-like cult of devotees, a mob who has cheered Ween on ever since its 2017 reunion at events such as this August’s South Park 25th Anniversary Concert.
Considering that a decade ago, each Ween man was content to go their separate ways since having been together since 1984 (the days of naming themselves after wuss and penis, and their first home-made cassette releases), the fact that Gene and Dean have found a way to stay together for five years without incident is as bold as it is loud. Ween could stand to add more recordings to their catalog since its last, sinagle-only release “DC Won’t Do You No Good” came out in 2010. One Ween thing at a time.
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