On Sunday night, Ween played their final concert of 2018 at Port Chester, NY’s historic rock palace, The Capitol Theatre. The five-piece rock act once again paid tribute to the late Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of beloved children’s cartoon SpongeBob Squarepants, and dusted off “Common Bitch” for the first time since February 14th, 2016.
Ween opened up their set with “Polka Dot Tail”, played for the first time ever in the opening slot. The quintet moved forward with “Chocolate Town”, “Big Jilm”, and “Happy Colorado Marbles”, before delivering a rocking take on fan favorite “Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)”. Ween then delivered “Captain Fantasy”, “Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)”, and “Touch My Tooter”, before shifting their focus to songs played less frequently live.
Ween – “Polka Dot Tail”
[Video: Jeremy Bierker]
Following “Touch My Tooter”, the five-piece dove headfirst into “Ooh Va La”, played for the ninth time since 2004. Other rarities included “Common Bitch”, which was dusted off for the first time since February 14th, 2016, “Hey There Fancypants”, and “Kim Smoltz”, played for the ninth time ever live.
Ween – “Common Bitch”
[Video: Jeremy Bierker]
After the band’s acoustic rendition of “Kim Smoltz”, Ween kept the acoustic instruments onstage to work through 2003’s “Tried and True”. A noteworthy take on “She Wanted To Leave” led to the band’s second tribute of the weekend to SpongeBob Squarepants creator Stephen Hillenberg, before Ween worked through “The Mollusk”, “Loop de Loop”, and “Ocean Man”. In addition to being inspired by Ween’s 1997 studio album The Mollusk and commissioning “Loop de Loop” for the show, Hillenburg and his team used Ween’s “Ocean Man” as the soundtrack for the closing credits of 2004’s The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie.
Ween – “Kim Smoltz”
[Video: Mathew Marsico]
Ween – “Loop de Loop”
[Video: Jeremy Bierker]
Ween – “Ocean Man”
[Video: Jeremy Bierker]
After taking a second to catch their breaths and regroup, Ween came back out to deliver a two-song encore offering of “Your Party” and “Birthday Boy”.
Listen to full-show audio of Ween’s final show of 2018 below:
Ween – 12/16/2018 (Full-Show Audio)
[Audio: Melissa Fry]
Setlist: Ween | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 12/16/2018
Set: Polka Dot Tail, Chocolate Town, Big Jilm, Happy Colored Marbles, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Captain Fantasy, Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy), Touch My Tooter, Ooh Va La, Woman and Man, Demon Sweat, Wayne’s Pet Youngin, Wayne’s Pet Youngin (tease), Take Me Away, Common Bitch, Did You See Me?, Hey There Fancypants, Now I’m Freaking Out, Don’t Sweat It, Kim Smoltz*, Tried and True*, She Wanted to Leave, The Mollusk, Loop de Loop, Ocean Man, The Grobe, Someday
Encore: Your Party, Birthday Boy
*acoustic
– first Polka Dot Tail opener
– Gene on keys for Demon Sweat
– The Mollusk, Loop de Loop and Ocean Man dedicated to Stephen Hillenburg