Over the weekend, Ween headed to the Pacific Northwest, performing their final two shows of the summer at Troutdale, Oregon’s McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater on Friday and Saturday. Marking the band’s debut at the venue, the five-piece pulled out all the stops, offering up rarities and a debut during their two-night stand. On Friday, the major highlight was the live debut of “The Rift”, off 2005’s Shinola Vol. 1 but that dates back to the recording sessions for 1992’s Chocolate And Cheese. On Saturday, the big surprises of the evening were a cover of Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman”, marking the first time the cover had been performed by the band since August 31st, 2001 or a gap of 367 shows, and an encore of just Gene Ween and Dean Ween, including a bust-out of “Puffy Cloud”, which hadn’t been performed since October of 2004 or a gap of 254 shows.

On Friday night, in addition to the live debut of “The Rift”, the group offered up a number of their most well-known tunes—”Piss Up A Rope”, “Buckingham Green”, “Take Me Away”,”Bananas And Blow” (which featured a tease of The Doobie Brothers‘ “Long Train Runnin'”, and others—in addition to more rare tracks, with “Albino Sunburned Girl” being performed for the sixth time since its bust-out in Las Vegas in early 2017 (69 total plays), “Wayne’s Pet Youngin” being performed for the tenth time since Ween’s return shows in Broomfield in 2016 (36 total plays), and “Seconds” being performed for the tenth time since 2017 after it was busted out for the first time since 2002 (28 total plays).

“The Rift”

[Video: monihampton]

Full Show Video

[Video: Tim Bartell]

Setlist: Ween | McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater | Troutdale, OR | 8/17/2018

Set: The HIV Song, The Golden Eel, The Rift, Object, Take Me Away, Transdermal Celebration, I Gots a Weasel, The Stallion pt 1, Wayne’s Pet Youngin, I Can’t Put My Finger on It, How High Can You Fly?, Frank, Albino Sunburned Girl, Piss Up a Rope, Chocolate Town, Buckingham Green, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, Seconds, Touch My Tooter, Japanese Cowboy, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Happy Colored Marbles, Back to Basom, Mutilated Lips, Bananas and Blow, Your Party

Encore: Ocean Man, Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy), Homo Rainbow

On Saturday night, in addition to more classic fare like “Voodoo Lady”, “Roses Are Free”, and “The Mollusk”, the band surprised the audience with two bust-outs across the evening. First was a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, marking the first time the song had been played since August 31st, 2001. The band used the tune to sandwich “You Fucked Up”, with Ween hitting a reprise of “Enter Sandman” after their take on the track off 1986’s The Crucial Squeegie Lip. Another highlight of the night was the band’s encore, with Gener and Deaner performing the night’s three-song encore as a duo. After opening with “Squelch The Weasel”, Gene and Dean offered up a bust-out of “Puffy Cloud”, marking its first play since 2004, before ending the show and the run in full with a performance of “Birthday Boy”.

“Enter Sandman”

[Video: monihampton]

Full Show Video

[Video: Tim Bartell]

Setlist: Ween | McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater | Troutdale, OR | 8/18/2018

Set: Captain Fantasy, Nan, She Fucks Me, The Grobe, Boy’s Club, Voodoo Lady, With My Own Bare Hands, The Stallion pt 3, Springtheme, It’s Gonna Be a Long Night, Puerto Rican Power, Licking the Palm For Guava> Mushroom Festival in Hell, Ice Castles> A Tear For Eddie, Zoloft> Pandy Fackler, Roses Are Free, Tried and True, I Don’t Want It, Enter Sandman> You Fucked Up> Enter Sandman (reprise), Kim Smoltz, Demon Sweat, The Mollusk

Encore: Squelch the Weasel, Puffy Cloud, Birthday Boy