Ween at Royal Oak Music Theatre
Royal Oak, Michigan, July 30, 2010
Friday night, among other things, was a Mollusk showcase. This is supposedly Gene Ween’s favorite Ween record, and I’ll have to say it’s mine, too. They kicked the night off with “The Golden Eel,” and the set included “Mutilated Lips,” “The Mollusk,” “Buckingham Green,” and “The Blarney Stone.” Christ, that’s like half the album right there.
But The Mollusk showcase wasn’t the only great thing about this show. For instance, there was a smoke machine involved. Who doesn’t love a smoke machine?
They also played the inspiring and funky “Freedom of ’76,” with a rich falsetto vocal from Gene. It has one of my favorite Ween lines: “Mannequin was filmed at Woolworth’s.” Remember that movie? That store? Just a simple statement of fact, nothing more. The line after that is “Boyz II Men still kicking out the beat.” That one’s more a question of opinion, and could certainly be debated.
Completely different security experience than the last time I was here. When I saw Gov’t Mule here in October, the security team seemed to be peopled by guys on a prison release program. I was, um, forcibly ejected from the venue by a few of these lugnuts—for no reasonable cause—but not before we shared some words and a little, shall we say, jostling. You know you’ve got trouble when security calls for back up. [You badass! -ed.]
Anyway, it was all peaches and cream this time. Friendly, mostly smiling professionals in red shirts just making sure nobody blocked the exits or bothered anybody. Great time. After a bouncy, sing-along version of “Bananas & Blow,” Gene let us know they were having a good time: “It’s been a while since we’ve been here. We should come back more.” Definitely. I hope Ween makes it back to Detroit again soon. I’ll be there when they do.
Ween: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki
All MP3s courtesy of the Live Music Archive. Donate. Photos by Mike V.
Two things – first, I was pissed at myself for missing this show. For how rarely Ween comes around, there’s no excuse for missing them. Second, it’s funny you mention getting kicked out of the ROMT because that’s exactly what happened to me the last time I was there, to see Spoon, in March…and I’d never been kicked out of anything. I was shocked and dismayed at how little it took to have that happen…so it’s good to hear they’ve lightened up on that front.
Hey G Pubah. The good news is you can listen to an audience recording of it, thanks to Ween’s liberal taping policy and the awesomeness that is the Live Music Archive. And thanks to GLONO, you’ve got pics to accompany the audio! :-)
I can’t believe you got booted from ROMT, too! For a music venue, that’s just bad business practice. I’ve got a few friends who have said they’ll never go back there b/c of stuff like that. They’ve either got to stop having bands like Ween, Gov’t Mule, and Spoon play there, or they’ve got to get their security to lighten up. If the Ween show was any indication, they’ve lightened up and seem to have hired a different security company entirely.
What did you get kicked out for at Mule?
I was at the ween show and also noticed that security was more at ease than in the past. I usually get in trouble for taking pictures and was once grabbed at a ani difranco show and the dude wouldn’t let go of my arm until I deleted the photo I took (though I wouldn’t delete the picture until he let go of me) But they didn’t seem to care at all at ween. My big problem is the sound is so shitty at ROMT. They need to invest in a new sound system. I am always disappointed in a show when I can’t hear the vocals. Great show though, that was hilarious when the girl on crutches got on stage and head banged for Fiesta, security didn’t know what to do cause you can’t force a disabled person off the stage. Nice pic’s BTW.
Joe, let’s just say it involved a series of unfortunate events revolving around a plant I think we’re all familiar with.
I can’t believe some ass clown security guy made you delete a picture! I imagine it wasn’t using a camera with telescopic lens or something, but a straight old point and shoot camera. Maybe even a camera phone? Everybody does that now! Seems like these security guys need to take a refresher course or something. It’s all ball bearings these days!
Thanks for compliment on the pics. It was really awesome being that close to the stage with one of my favorite bands playing. I could have reached out and touched them. But I’ve been told by “people in the know” that it’s inappropriate to do that. Who knew? ;-)