Coming off a well-received festival set at Suwannee Hulaween and a wild Halloween night show at The Bomb Factory in Dallas featuring a debut cover of The Jimi Hendrix Experience‘s “Are You Experienced?”, weirdo rocker heroes Ween continued through the Lone Star State to the beloved Stubb’s BBQ for a two-night run marking their final shows of the year. 2017 has been a big one for the band: They’ve now gotten a sizable number of shows under their belts since their reunion, and they continue to turn in consistently stellar performances. The tour-closing Stubb’s shows proved to be no different.
On Thursday, the band served up several tunes that had not made appearances in their most recent Fall runs, like the opening “Marble Tulip Juicy Tree”, “She Wanted To Leave”, “Sorry Charlie”, and “Squelch The Weasel”, the last of which was performed as a duo by Gene and Dean Ween. Gener also got a laugh from the crowd when he started singing never-before-played Ween outtake “Put Your Boobs On”, offering just one line and a brief comment (“that’s a good one, huh?”) before beginning “Boy’s Club”. So no, they still haven’t played “Put Your Boobs On”, but they definitely haven’t forgotten about it either, so hey, there’s always a chance…
You can watch full-show crowd-shot video (starting 5 songs in) below thanks to YouTube user Terrence Henry:
Knowing full well that this was their final chance to rock on this trip around the Sun, Ween had a few extra surprises planned when they hit the stage at Stubb’s once again on Friday night. After beginning with the first “Strap on That Jammy Pac” since early June and a tasty “Pork Roll Egg and Cheese”, the band began “Voodoo Lady”, which would transition into and back out of a cover of Prince‘s “Kiss”, marking the cover’s first appearance at a Ween show since December 2011 (57 shows).
Watch a crowd-shot clip of the “Voodoo Lady”/”Kiss” segment below via YouTube user monihampton:
The show continued in thrilling fashion from there, as crowd pleasing versions of “Roses Are Free”, “What Deaner Was Talkin’ About”, and “Spinal Meningitis” ensued before special guest vocalist Sarah “Tricky” Jones took the reins for “Freedom of ’76”.
Watch a crowd-shot clip of the “Freedom of ’76” ft. Sarah Jones below via YouTube user monihampton:
Things were only getting started from there: What happened next was something nobody expected. The 5 individual pieces of Ween’s “The Stallion” saga are fairly common in their live shows, but they are never played as a full set, aside from one in-studio performance in 2003 immortalized through the album All Request Live. According to the official FAQ page on Ween.net: “[All Request Live was] an album released the latter half of 2003…Ween forumers got to vote on which songs they wanted to hear, and the band performed them. It’s the only time Ween has ever performed the ‘Stallion Suite’ in which all the Stallions pt.1 through 5 were played in order and at once. It will more than likely be the only time this will ever happen.” …Well, it looks like Ween.net needs to update their page: in their final show of 2017, Ween finally performed the complete Stallion Suite for their lucky Austin audience…and it was glorious, ‘mang.
You can watch Ween perform “The Stallion” suite (parts 1-5) live in its entirety for the first time ever below, courtesy of YouTube user monihampton:
At this point, this show was already one for this history books, and they could’ve just coasted to victory through the rest of the set, but the brownest band around had other plans. The “Your Party” that followed the “Stallion Suite” featured help from another special guest, Angelo Moore, on sax and background vocals, before the core quintet (Gene, Dean, bassist Dave Dreiwitz, drummer Claude Coleman Jr., and keyboardist Glenn McClelland) kept the party raging with fan favorite party tracks like “Bananas and Blow”, “You Were The Fool”, “Piss Up A Rope”, “I Gots A Weasel”, “Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?”, “Poopship Destroyer”, “Put The Coke On My Dick”, and a set-closing cover of Instant Death‘s The Enabler. Finally, they sent the audience home happy with a three-song encore (“Polka Dot Tail”, “Homo Rainbow”, “Someday”).
You can watch Ween perform “Your Party” with Angelo Moore below via YouTube user monihampton:
With two memorable Austin shows now in the rearview, the schedule is wide open for the band heading into 2018. Here’s hoping they had as much fun as we did with Ween in 2017, and have plans to keep the party going in the year to come!
Until then, you can get your Ween knowledge up with the newly re-vamped Brownbase.org (site looks great, guys!)…
SETLIST: Ween | Stubb’s BBQ | Austin, TX | Friday, 11/3/17
Strap on That Jammy Pac, Pork Roll Egg and Cheese, Voodoo Lady> Kiss> Voodoo Lady, Roses Are Free, What Deaner Was Talkin’ About, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Freedom of ’76, I’m in the Mood to Move, Take Me Away, The Stallion pt 1, The Stallion pt 2, The Stallion pt 3, The Stallion pt 4, The Stallion pt 5, Your Party, Bananas and Blow, Awesome Sound, You Were the Fool, Piss Up a Rope, I Gots a Weasel, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, Waving My Dick in the Wind, Japanese Cowboy, Zoloft> Poopship Destroyer, Tender Situation, Put the Coke on My Dick, The Enabler
Encore: Polka Dot Tail, Homo Rainbow, Someday
– Freedom of ’76 with Sarah “Tricky” Jones on lead vocals
– first complete five part Stallion played in front of a live audience at a single show
– Your Party with Angelo Moore on saxophone and backing vocals
SETLIST: Ween | Stubb’s BBQ | Austin, TX | Thursday, 11/2/17
Marble Tulip Juicy Tree, The HIV Song, Happy Colored Marbles, Light Me Up, She Wanted to Leave, Exactly Where I’m At, Mutilated Lips, Transdermal Celebration, Put Your Boobs On (tease), Boy’s Club, I’ll Be Your Jonny on the Spot, Seconds, Nan, Stroker Ace, Wayne’s Pet Youngin, Sweet Texas Fire, Big Jilm, Chocolate Town, The Final Alarm, The Argus, Don’t Shit Where You Eat, Frank, Ocean Man, The Grobe, Gabrielle, The Mollusk
Encore: Squelch the Weasel, Sorry Charlie, Buckingham Green
– soundcheck: Don’t Shit Where You Eat
– Gene and Dean only for Squelch the Weasel
[Cover photo via YouTube user monihampton]