Ween and The Shit Creek Boys
It was just another intimate, extremely special, once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Ryman when reunited veteran freak-rock heroes Ween came through the Mother Church Tuesday night. (Well, it’ll be twice-in-a-lifetime for those who come Wednesday night as well.) Back in 1995, the spastic, genre-hopping duo of Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman and Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo made the very bold, very-un-’90s choice to release an album of relatively (with several asterisks) traditional country music as their fifth album. Producer Ben Vaughn recruited an all-star roster of Music Row session players, some of whom would tour with the group as The Shit Creek Boys, to create the 10-song cult classic 12 Golden Country Greats.
A colorful and eclectic crowd of nerds, weirdos, stoners and normies, who as best The Spin could tell hailed from all over the country, made for a packed house at the Ryman show. Their hysterical enthusiasm seemed mirrored by the equally spirited and diverse group on stage, who said as much at every opportunity.
Ween and The Shit Creek Boys
“It’s just too good,” said Deaner. “You can’t make this shit up.”
Fresh off the Florida Georgia Line Tour (named for the geography covered in its itinerary, with no relation to the be-muscled bro-country institution) Gener and Deaner took the stage with the band’s longtime touring band (Dave Dreiwitz, Claude Coleman Jr. and Glenn McClelland) and extra special bonus complement of The Shit Creek Boys in tow, featuring Bobby Ogdin on piano, Russ Hicks on pedal steel, Hank Singer on fiddle and guitarist Danny Parks. This nine-piece band was the most elaborate version of Ween we’ve seen in person over the course of two decades and a dozen shows.
Ween and The Shit Creek Boys
The show kicked off with Golden Country Greats fave “Japanese Cowboy” into the Chariots of Fire theme that it so closely resembles. That was followed by the Chocolate and Cheese deep cut “The HIV Song,” “Waving My Dick in the Wind” from The Mollusk and Pure Guava’s “Big Jilm,” quickly indicating that this was no play-through-the-album nostalgia set. The group jumped back into a run of Golden Country Greats’ better-known cuts (“Mister Richard Smoker,” “Piss Up a Rope,” “I Don’t Wanna Leave You on the Farm” and “You Were the Fool”) and then Ween’s trademark psychedelic tendencies began taking hold.
Leaping about the stage as he led the band, Melchiondo took full advantage of the A+ players behind him. Simple ditties like “I’ll Be Your Johnny on the spot” morphed into trippy, spontaneous desert-style jams. Heavier tunes were omitted in favor of ditties like “Pumpin’ 4 the Man” and “I Saw Gener Cryin’ in His Sleep,” on which the SCBs could really shine. Things got a little sentimental when “Stay Forever” was dedicated to the late pedal steel player (and O.G. touring Shit Creek Boy) Stu Basore.
Mind you, it wouldn’t be a Ween show if everything went off without a hitch. Melchiondo’s tease of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” bottomed out as soon as it started, and that was as close to one of the band’s famous covers as we’d get. The numbers at the tail-end of the set were the wooliest. Deaner walked the nonet through the opening chords of “Powder Blue,” and then into a soft and low-key jam that would have quickly fallen apart without these consummate professionals as a safety net. When the White Pepper tune “Pandy Fackler” came next, things were teetering on the brink of collapse. But then McClelland came in with his synth line from the Mollusk instrumental “Pink Eye (On My Leg),” bringing the band and the whole crowd back to life with a well-timed Easter egg of a riff.
Ween and The Shit Creek Boys
Almost no one makes a mess as beautiful as Ween can, but the arc of the drama practically demanded a strong ending. The familiar pounding and stomping to call for an encore brought the fellas out for one more: 12 Golden Country Greats closer and furry friend tribute “Fluffy.” Here, the band tightened back into a cohesive, heady unit, with everyone operating on the same wavelength. The 10-plus-minute ballad was a perfect closer to the first edge-of-your-pew night of Ween’s humble tribute to Music City.
See our slideshow for more photos.
In The Spin — the Scene's live review column — staffers and freelance contributors review concerts under a collective byline.
