I first saw Ween perform live in concert at Nimitz Hall in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 18, 1997 when they opened for Los Lobos. They played an impassioned and astonishing set non-stop for about 35 minutes before stopping to apologize for not being able to play longer. They could feel our pain. A good number of us had come to the show primarily to see Ween, no offense to the Wolves. Ween played a couple more quick numbers before sheepishly exiting the stage to the sound of us begging for more.
After ten plus years, my memories of the show are a bit blurred, I admit, but I do definitely remember it being significantly more spectacular than the average show. If it had been a longer performance, it would undoubtedly have become an instant favorite, but I put the minor disappointment behind me and moved on. If I had known I'd have to wait so long to see them again, I would have tried to do a better job of remembering.
For the last ten years, I waited eagerly, yet patiently to see them do a proper show. You could imagine my excitement when I visited their website a few months ago and noticed on their tour page that one of the first shows listed was a concert right here in Tucson, Arizona. The older I get, the longer it takes me to decide on whether to attend a concert or not, but my decision to see Ween took about 7 seconds. I would still have to wait a month or two to attend the show, but it would prove to be well worth the wait.
Who knew promptness was so chic? The day of the show finally arrived and I headed downtown to find a parking spot. After collecting my will call ticket at the box office, I made my way through a sea of diverse individuals and just as I set up camp to the right front of the stage area, Ween kicked of the show with a rousing rendition of "Friends", which can be found on their new album La Cucaracha. That was the shortest amount of time I'd ever had to wait for a concert to begin. I didn't know who had better timing, me or the band. The legion of thousands in attendance exploded immediately with the sweet sounds of joy and relief as the show was officially underway. For the next 2 plus hours, Gene, Dean, Claude, Dave, and Glenn would not disappoint for even a nanosecond.
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