Yesterday, in response to the proliferation of Phish-bashing taking place in the Facebook group Ween Appreciation Society (WAS), I created a sarcastic meme, which elicited a public statement from Ween guitarist Mickey Melchiondo aka Dean Ween. In his statement, Mechiondo addressed what seems to be a very vocal minority of Ween-ers who spend a good portion of their days bashing Vermont’s favorite sons, Phish, anytime the band is mentioned in the Ween forum.
He also admonished any group admins who exercise censorship and delete posts that mention Phish. Later on, that very meme post I created, and on which Mickey commented, was deleted, some say by Mickey himself. But of course, the screenshot always prevails.
In the post, addressing the haters, Mickey commented that “Phish are in this for the right reasons and will be around long after you quit whining about your dislike for them.” He continued, “If you wanna delete Phish posts, then you just got trolled.” Melchiondo, who is likely not a fan of Phish, has made statements that make clear his respect for Trey Anastasio and Phish, and for their longevity, commitment and artistry. “Dudes that go and play and spend our lives on our crafts, we’re all in it together… the eternal song…been going on forever and always will. We’re all a part of it.”
Mickey, who clearly gets it, has never been one to mince words, and has done his fair share of bashing in the past, but there’s nothing like age to bring things into a clearer perspective. On longevity, he expounded “You don’t get a 30-40 year career by having no talent and not working VERY hard. You make sacrifices for the love and conviction of what it is that you do…No musician, none, no one has the right to judge another musician’s music, no matter how awful it sounds to your ears, no exceptions, not even for Michael Bolton.”
On Phish’s fans and the hating he added, “Phish has a passionate fan base, so passionate that they will travel anywhere to see them, much like fans of Ween, albeit on a larger scale. Making fun of something is fun, I’m more guilty of it than anyone, but to dedicate a lot of time to a band you don’t like…well, then you are the weak one in that case, because rather than speak up about what it is that moves you, you are wasting your life and energy on hating. My 2 cents.”
So, the wash is out, and it’s hanging up. Clearly, there will always be a “connection” between these two bands, if only for the fact that Trey Anastasio’s favorite band is Ween, let alone the fact that Phish covers “Roses are Free” and promoted Ween to the phanbase early on in their career. I can accept that and I celebrate it, for along with the Dead, these are my favorite artists. As a matter of fact, for this satiated Jew, The Dead, Phish & Ween make for my Holy Trinity; The Father, the Son and the Holy Boognish. So the next time you see something you don’t like on Facebook, scroll on, and go censor yourself.
Now we know just “What Deaner Was Talking About.”