Ween Cast

Join us as we go back to February 7th, 2002, for an extraordinary evening with Ween at The Conduit in Trenton, New Jersey.  This is the kind of show that comes around once only in a great while, and like the moon landing or the Discovery explosion, those who witnessed this night would remember it forever.  This was Ween at the height of their powers: Glenn was back from a brief hiatus, and the band was ready to explode with new content from the still far off Quebec album, songs that would once again push boundaries, that would show yet another, perhaps darker, perhaps more mature, side of the band.

This was a show of firsts and rare moments.  Of exquisite solos and bounteous debuts. Debuts like virtually every major hit from Quebec: “Zoloft,” “Transdermal Celebration,” “If You Could Save Yourself,” to name just a few.  And if it wasn’t a debut, then it was a rarity: “You Were The Fool'' blew us out of the water, and “Sweet Texas Fire'' was like a raunchy sweet and spicy barbecue on a hot summer day. I would be remiss not to also mention that for the first time ever, Ween played a full acoustic set! "The Wood Set," as Deaner called it, allowed the guitars and keys to really shine, and the listener here is treated to some especially resplendent musicianship.

For this show we’re pulling out all the stops.  We couldn’t fit all the brownness into one episode so we made this a two-parter. Fred Moore and Reverend B’ill were there and shared with us a few soundbites of their recollections, and we’ve also got some fun fan stories of the evening to share.  We sprinkled some highlight clips on top, brought into a boil, and then simmered it low. Enjoy!!  Please join us at Patreon.com/weencastpodcast for tons more brown fun!

Join us as we stroll once again down memory lane, this time popping into Kintnersville for the 2001 summer tour opener.  Dubbed The Science Fair, Ween was the headliner for this little festival near the banks of the Delaware. Every Ween show is unique, and this show was no exception. Gener singing “Poopship” on a bullhorn during a power outage? Check. Substitute keyboardist on his maiden show? Check. First time ever playing “I’m in the Mood” in anticipation of a God Ween Satan rerelease? Check. Funkadelic Parliamentarian Michael Hampton guest guitar hero on LMLYP? Check. Raucous and fun, this outdoor extravaganza hit a lot of high points, even if it was a little rough around the edges. When the brown is town, party down! Check out the podcast for all the deets!

Join us, Weenheads, as we rundown our episodes from 2020! 2020 has been one upside down year for sure, with the pandemic, election anxieties, racial injustice and civil unrest, and so a third of the way through the year, we had no idea what to expect out of the podcast. Well, we both were fortunate to not get laid off or out of work as a result of the pandemic, and it turned out being stuck at home all this time provided plenty of time for remote podcasters such as ourselves to practice their craft.  So we are happy to look back, and see that we pulled off a hell of a year.  We produced more episodes in a year than ever before, had several amazingly awesome and unforeseen interviews, expanded our Patreon offerings patreon.com/weencastpodcast ,and had our highest listenership ever.  If 2020 was a bronco buck at a Wyoming rodeo, then we took the bull by the horns and rode it for all it was worth!

First and foremost, we want to say thank you to all our fans, patrons, and contributors. And thank you to Ween, without whom we wouldn’t be doing this podcast at all.  Extra super duper thank yous to: Claude Coleman, Mike Maronna, Fred Moore aka August Forming, The Reverend B’ill, Tomato Eleven, Kenny from Earfloss, Brian for the awesome digital artwork, and Travis at West Brandywine WoodWorks. Also, huge shoutouts and thank yous to the following patrons and contest participants: Mike, Miles, Daniel, Spencer, Dan, Corrine (Rin) aka Rin the Red, Cody, Michelle, Rich, Ben, Andre/Matter, Laura, Helen, Shawn, Rick, Sonya, Eli, and Jim.  Thank you and dog bless!

In 2020, we covered four ween shows: 5/27/2000, The Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA; 7/21/2000, Metropol, Pittsburgh, PA; 03/23/2001, The Tradewinds, Sea Bright, NJ, and 04/06/2001, The Norva, Norfolk, VA.  The first two were from a post White Pepper spring tour in 2000 featuring the quintet at the height of their powers, while the latter two were from a brief Glenn-free tour in 2000 that showcased the hard rocking, heavy metal side of Ween.

In the category of rockumentary, we put out a double episode of our interview for the podcast Earfloss by Kenny, and as 2020 was the 20th anniversary of White Pepper, we also rocked out an episode covering the story of its creation, behind the scenes, influences, discussions of the songs, and the albums place in the annals of Ween.

We rarely actually plan interviews, but in 2020, interviews kind of fell in our lap.  We interviewed Fred Moore, aka August Forming, taper legend and member of Bill and Fred’s Excellent Adventure, Claude Coleman, who needs no introduction www.soundspaceavl.com, and Michael C. Maronna, former actor and huge Ween fan.  We are incredibly honored to have interviewed these guys.  Check them out, the episodes speak for themselves!

For the first time ever, we ran a contest and it concluded in our Summer Spectacular Fan Story Contest episode in September.  What a blast!  It was gratifying to have so many submissions that we actually had to be selective.  And it was awesome collaborating with West Brandywine WoodWorks to offer an amazing handcrafted, Boognish emblazoned cutting board to the winner.  Congratulations Helen, aka Ween Lebowski!

I guess that just about covers it.  What a crazy year.  Thanks again for listening.  Here’s to a great new year!  Stay brown my friends!

Ok sailors, its time to dock the carrier and jump into the hot tub for a Spring night at the Norva!  Make sure you have a pocket full of balls and give yourself plenty of time to get there, because this show will go on with or without you... or Glenn!  Thats right, this the final show of the "no Glenn" tour, but don't worry, because the rest of the boys have got us covered (and got a hot tub and sauna)!  Grab some road snacks and gas up the tank as Rory and Shane discuss the Ween show from April 6th 2001 at the Norva in Norfolk, Virginia!  Enjoy, and don't forget to join us on Patreon at patreon.com/weencastpodcast

The results are in!! Join Rory and Shane as they listen to the Ween fan stories submitted for the Weencast Podcast Summer Spectacular Ween Fan Story Contest, and of course crown a winner!! Rory and Shane have collected stories sent in all Summer long on any Ween topic that the listeners wanted to talk about, and since the leaves are starting to fall its time to review these gems. All of the stories are so good and so much fun, but alas, there must be a victor and to let the jealousy begin! The winner of this story contest is going to receive a beautiful hand made Boognish branded cutting board from West Brandywine Woodworks! Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/westbrandywinewoodworks/ or https://www.etsy.com/shop/WBrandywineWoodWorks?fbclid=IwAR2s3xdLJaZ5ypFdGl9s8GEG6uv61kAvz-zof56uBlMIdM-cJgGXVuaofWc Mention "Weencast" when ordering and receive 10% off your order and free shipping on cutting board orders $100 or more!

Rory and Shane are so pumped and honored to welcome long time Ween fan Michael C. Maronna to the show! You may have seen Mike in the teen comedy Slackers, the mega Nickelodeon hit Pete and Pete, or I don't know, maybe a little movie you may have seen pop up around Christmas time...Home Alone, maybe you've heard of it? Mike is co-host of the long running podcast "The Adventures of Danny and Mike" with his TV brother Danny Tamberelli. Among various Ween topics like how Mike got into Ween, his favorite albums and types of Ween songs, Shane and Rory also learn that Mike's first Ween show was literally the night before their first show on the 12 Golden Country Greats tour of 1996!! Kismet man!! Mike takes the guys on a mini Ween tour of the big apple and tells the tales of a couple shows he's been, with nice descriptions of the venues. Please sign up at www.patreon.com/weencastpodcast for more of this great conversation including memories from the Home Alone era, his thoughts on White Pepper and Quebec, and the highly sought after IMDB credit High School Confidential.

Rory and Shane are humbled, excited and quite frankly, honored, to welcome “Jimmy Wilson” himself, Claude Coleman Jr., to the show!!  Claude is not only the amazing drummer and backbone of Ween, he is also an amazing writer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.  Over the past few years he has not only released another amazing record for his own project Amandla, amandlanet.net, but has started his own music rehearsal space business in Asheville North Carolina, Soundspace@Rabbit's. soundspaceavl.com  Soundspace@Rabbit's is a renovated, historical motel originally known as Rabbit's Tourist Court and was a popular stop among black artists on the 'Chitlin' Circuit' as it was black owned and part of the Green Book since the 1930’s.  Claude explains how he and his business partner and have worked tirelessly to obtain and renovate this once glorious property back to its original luster and then some.  When fully completed, Soundspace@Rabbit's will not only be a music rehearsal space, arts studio and mural gallery, but will also feature a re-created soul food kitchen (as Rabbit's Tourist Court originally had) headed by Chef Clarence Robinson. facebook.com/CookingComedyCatering/ Claude tells his story of moving to Asheville, the need he found for a functioning rehearsal space, learning the history of the property and how the project grew and changed from its inception to opening.  We also discuss the Black Lives Matter movement, issues surrounding intergenerational wealth throughout the black community, and about the feeling related to the statues and monuments of the South.  Claude and the guys also get into chatting about Donovan, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and the Rolling Thunder Revue documentary.  There is a part 2 to this conversation which is available on our Patreon at patreon.com/weencastpodcast where we discuss Amandla on vinyl, playing with Angelo Moore and Brand New Step, his take on switching from drums to bass, his approach to songwriting, one of his original bands “Skunk”, and how he joined Ween!

As if having one legendary drummer on this episode is not enough, we got two!!  Chris “Tomato 11” Harfenist checks in with us to tell us about the new Sound of Urchin Prescription Plan for 2020!  That’s right, all new Urchin tracks and never before heard archive tracks delivered right to your e-mail twice a month for the rest of the year!!  Go to soundofurchin.com for details and to sign up now!

Forget about "Gym, Tan, Laundry", this is more like "Sweat, Scream, and Rock!" when Ween hits the Jersey Shore for the start of the 2001 tour at "Tradewinds"!  Shane and Rory discuss the mayhem and chaos that was only Ween's third show of the year, and the start of a tour without...Glenn?  Unthinkable, yes, but it really did happen.  Ween return to their roots of hard punk rock for this down and dirty show in a small bar down the shore.  Located at practically the northernmost point of the Jersey Shore, Sea Bright was home to the "Tradewinds" beach bar and concert club (now defunct), but in the spring of 2001, this place was not only alive and kicking, it was packed with Ween heads for a raucous and rowdy show.  Grab your board and sunblock as we discuss the show from March 23rd, 2001.  Enjoy!

This is part 2.  If you haven’t listened to part 1, I suggest you do so before you listen to this one.  To some Ween fans, Fred Moore, aka August Forming, needs no introduction. But for those not in the know, let me tell you how it is.  Fred’s been taping Ween shows for more than twenty years, with his taping work reaching legendary status.  This guy’s been there, done that, and’s got the stories to prove it!  In part two, we continue to discuss the evolution of Fred’s own music, and how he finally broke the “Leave Deaner Alone” mantra to get up the gumption to ask Deaner if he’d jam.  The answer was, “I thought you’d never ask.”  It was awesome hearing Fred talk about actually recording and working with Deaner at his private studio, as well as playing live with Deaner, and his fly-on-the-wall experience with the production of the Dean Ween Group album (Fred’s pic made the album art!)  Of course, we also talked about WEEN: his favorite album, his experiences as a Ween taper, especially for rare shows like the Concert for Claude, and we waxed philosophical about what the future might hold for new Ween music.  You’ll want to hear what Fred had to say!  And for the true New Hope insider, we also discussed the history of the Invitational at John and Peter’s, (here is a link to Fred’s youtube page where he discusses the Invitational in depth) as well as temporary exile across the street to Mojito's.  We finished up by discussing Fred’s live streaming work during the pandemic, groundbreaking awesomeness for sure!  It was a blast chatting with Fred, and we hope you enjoy it!

To some Ween fans, Fred Moore, aka August Forming, needs no introduction. But for those not in the know, let me tell you how it is. Fred’s been taping Ween shows for more than twenty years, with his taping work reaching legendary status. Not to mention, he’s been to 194 Grateful Dead shows (but who’s counting?) among tons of other rock shows. This guy’s been there, done that, and’s got the stories to prove it! Shane and I are tickled brown to have gotten the chance to chat it up with Fred, it was a blast. We discussed taping in detail: how he got started, equipment, the scene at John and Peter’s, as well as other tales.  We also talked about Fred’s own music, especially Bill and Fred’s Excellent Adventure, a collaborative effort with the Reverend B’ill.  And we talked about WEEN: how he came to love Ween, taping for them over the years, his experiences at their shows, especially rarities like the Concert for Claude.  And did I tell you this guy’s jammed with Deaner?  Did I tell you we have the audio to prove it?  Enjoy!