Ween 2009.07.10 Portland, Maine

The sun was out, the air was cool, and we were going to see Ween. A long time fan, I was more than excited to see them back in the town in which I call home, Portland, Maine. I got out of work at 3pm and went straight home. Simone and I hung out in our yard, and consumed a few cold beers, which were delicious. We cabbed it into town where we got our tickets and ate at the dogfish head, which is a short walk away. We met up with my friend Mike, who drove up from Boston. We kept running into people we knew everywhere we went. It was fun. Upon entering the venue, I ran into two good friends who I don't see enough, at the same time. It was great to kind of talk to them. I have to admit, I was a little drunk at this point. After buying a sweet print of the poster from the show, we found our spot for the night- the VIP section near the front of the stage. Was it worth the extra $15 per ticket charge? 100%. Everyone up there was super cool. I even had one dude tell me not to slouch because he was tall enough to see over us. I had extremely high hopes for this show, and was not disappointed. The band took the stage about 10 minutes after we got up there and with a ferocity I had not been expecting, proceeded to rock the hell out of the joint for the next 2.5 hours.

Piss up a Rope was a perfect opener. Opening with a Dean song got the place pumped and it was clear how into the show everyone was going to be.
The Golden Eel is one of my favorite songs, and was played quite well.
Flutes of Chi was unexpected- in a good way, I love this tune and they don't play it enough.
Johnny on the Spot Captain Fantasy The Grobe - the trifecta of ball busting rock- was overwhelemed by the screaming solos that were truly inspiring. All played to the perfection of rock Ween is known for.
Zoloft was a nice breather, followed by
Sorry Charlie which is so much fun. I love this song. Another Deaner gem.
Learnin to Live was fun, and the first song off La Cucuracha. The crowd loved it.
Little Birdy AWESOME
Laura AWESOMER Can't say too much about this brown mess. other than it was very very sketchy. Gener had some really strange moments.
Even If You Don't was standard, but is a good song, and sounded great.
Wavin My Dick in the Wind pretty good, Claude was KILLING his solos.
Freedom of 76 was perfect. I have never seen this song live before, and was quite suprised how fucking awesome it was. I love it and was wondering what they were going to pull out next.
Woman & Man was possibly the high point of the show for me. I was completely zoned out to Deaner, and he was playing like his life depended on it. Just fucking tearing up the carpet with this one.
I Don't Want It was a welcome song after getting my face melted off.
Pork Roll Egg & Cheese - fun
Your Party also fun.
Roses are Free- crowd loved it, pretty standard version.
El Camino- I was not expecting this, but damn, was it ever awesome... followed by
Buenos Tardes- shit yeah! what double shot! Dos bier bitte.

At this point, i was pretty excited to hear just one more song, but we were treated to 6!

Encore:
HIV Buckingham were tight and sweet.
Honesty was strange and brown as shit. They played it twice, and then teased My Life.
Sketches of Winkle was ROCKING,
The Mollusk had some nice improvised talk from Gener that I would love to hear, cause I couldn't really understand. It was a great way to end on a happy note as we left into the world.

All in all, I don't think the show could have been much better.

I would say it's probably the best they have sounded. The club was perfect for them. This was my third show at the venue and by far the best. The first time I set foot in the place, I said to Simone, "Wow this place would be perfect for Ween to play, too bad they never will cause it's too small." Never have I been so happy to be proven wrong.

After the show, we hung out in the alley next to the venue and met Gene and Glen who both signed our sweet ass poster. Waited till about 130 for more of the band, but no one else came out. The staff could have let us in after an hour of waiting to get a signature, but they wouldn't.
Awesome Show!