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PHOTO BY SPENCER SLOAN
LIVE REVIEW!
WEEN
May 18,2000
The Roxy, Atlanta
Who would have thought a lew
years back that Ween—a pair of mush
room-gobbling grain silo studio
tweakers—would become talented
songwriters with more than just potty
mouth lyrics? At the gig at the Roxy, the
b'others Ween—Dean and Gene—and
their band delivered songs that were
catchy and infectious and fiad the crowd
undei a spell the entire time.
Flalliners) whose heady output swal
lowed the band whole twice and all but
choked those on the floor. Non-stop
requests, insults, questions and recipes
were hurled at the group in-between
each song for almost three-and-half
hours.
Reaching deep into its bag of
goodies. Ween dusted off some hyster
ical oldies and test drove most of the
latest album. White Pepper—a must-
have for anyone who enjoys listening to
things. Early in the show, the pure
genius coupling of botanical odes
■Roses Are Free* and ‘Push Th' Little
before launching into ‘Mr. Richard
Smoker,’ while The Cure moped the
house down the street at Lakewood.
By the time “Voodoo Lady" reared
its funky booty, Ween had already
worked its mojo lotion on the audience.
One couple hoisted themselves on
stage to ballroom dance uninterrupted
by security or band. Perhaps sensing
this relaxed atmosphere, another fan
performed vocal duties for 'Big Jim.’ It
was clear that every song was the one
song everybody wanted to hear the
most. Backstage pass-encrusted,
singer-songwriter Courtney Joyce bur
After apparently having been roused
from a nap by the looks of the "woke-
up-on-the-wrong-side-ol-the-van’ hair
and clothes, the band shuffled on-stage.
*We’re Ween. We're from Pennsylvania!’
Gene Ween declared with Zeus-like
thunder.
Well versed in the history of
amusing .n hindsight rock star antics,
the ‘brothers’ (actually. Gene is Aaron
Freeman and Dean is Mickey
Melchiondo] employed the help of a
Framplonish voice box, endless varia
tions on the art of guitar noodling and a
smoke machine (last seen on the set of
Daisies’ laid testament that this was no
haphazardly scripted setlist. Dean or
Gene (I get them confused) sauntered
about coddling the microphone as if his
stairway lay on the whispering wind for
more serious numbers such as "Don't
Get 2 Close{2 My Fantasy).’
The band was in top form, the
s^und was great, and I managed to
solicit equal amounts of energy for
every song. After a short break. Gene
told the sweaty masses that he'o like to
’introduce a special guest... Robert
Smith!', which was met with mixed
emotions until he added, ’just kidding"
bled. “Ween is the most belligerent yet
taienled band I know loday.’
I wasn't sure if Ween was actually
on-stage during the Iasi few songs dee
to the overwhelming number of young
ladies clad in tight, black pants who had
bum-rushed the stage and were eager to
gel their collective perve on for ail the
Roxy to see.
Ween was a guilty pleasure without
all that useless guilt. The show was not
unlike the plot of one of the many recent
teen flicks: it quickly introduced the
audience to a hip good-looking cast;
boy met girl, girl cared less, smoke
engulfed everything, poppy soundtrack
enslaved on contact, drunk guy
Karaoked, everyone danced at the prom,
and »he night wenl on and on and on
until the credits rolled and they made
you leave backstage because apparently
you’d had enough ol the beer and car
rots. 0^ a! least in my case.
Before I left, I managed to ask Dean
Ween how he thought the show went
He szid, ’I’m really tired. I’m really tired,
and !'m really fucked up. I don't know
how many shows we’ve just played.’ II
was only one show, but I knew what he
meant.
Spencer Sloan
Ween plays the at 40 Watt Club on
Wednesday. July 19.
NRBQ,
BARBARA CUE
June 1, 2000
Echo Lounge, Ationlo
From my college d2ys, l learned
that if you have a negative then you
must surround it with a positive. Pro
then Con then Pro. So here goes:
PRO: The Echo Lounge is a badass
place to see live music Atlanta's bar
band scene is spread out and weak.
Most of the places a.e like giant ash
trays with bad sound, bad lights or no
air conditioning The Echo does not
have these problems II is spacious with
friendly bartenders and a little bar sepa
rate from the stage if you'd prefer to
hang out and chat instead of listening to
live music If anyone even remotely cool
gets a gig down there, check it out
CON: The Echo Lounge caught
wind of all the folks coming to the show
and tacked up the price It said $12 on
the web site, and it was $15. Hmmm
They said Barbara Cue would he the
closer fin .act it was reported in the
Flagpole as such] Barbara Cue. in fact,
opened and lots ol folks missed the first
couple of songs But oh well that's what
you get for being disrespectful to the
almighty Q—the NRBQ. that is.
PRO: NRBQ is a fabulous rock and
rol' bar band, a bunch of older guys
with tunny haircuts playing their hearts
out to some wacky songs. Some of the
songs are good, some of the songs are
funny, some of the songs are goofy. The
band's sense of humor comes through
when it performs, and I honestly don't
know if I've ever seen performers have
that much fun on-stage.
Seriously. There were some hard
core NRBQ fans—mostly older guys—
getting down. In fact most ol Barbara
Cue was in the audience getting down
to NRBQ William Tonks of Barbara was
about one fool from the stage dancing to
the music like he was an 18-year-old at
his first fraternity party. Barbara Cue is a
another great roc* and roll bar band. My
personal favorite was the Warren Zevon
cover ’Carmelita.’ You’d recognize the
song if you'd heard it. I think Linda
Rondstadt covered it in the ‘80s. I kept
wondering how cool the band must
have felt since it was started up as kinda
of an NRBQ "tribute band* and now they
are sharing the stage. It probably has
something to do with the pseudo-star
power of Todd Nance (of this little
Athens Dand called Widespread Panic)
and that in and of itself is pretty cool.
Now that Panic wields some influence,
its members can play with their heroes.
Nevermind the fact the Barbara Cue
brings together some standard local
music yokels and makes excellent alt-
country/rock and roll music
Nichole Jackson
BUBBAPAIOOZA
May 26-28,2000
The Star Bar, Atfanto
Trends come and go in this mercu
rial modern world, and this little fact
goes double for musical trends. Sure,
some pockets of resistance still exist,
but for the most part, the musical land
scape keeps on a-changin'. and the best
we poor music critics can do is try our
damnedest to ‘ eep up. Usually, though,
we show up about 15 minutes late. This
is part of the reason why Bubbapalooza
is so special. Started back in 1993 by
Atlanta music scene character Greg
Smalley, the annual Star Bar shindig
showcased the best Atlanta and sur
rounding environs had to otter in the
way of the new wave of bands some
called ‘alternative country.'' Atlanta
offered the ’Redneck Underground.’ a
loose collection ol performers, bands
and fans who liked a bit of twang in their
rock. The Star Bar is still a bastion lor
routs rockers, but also opens its doors
to ? variety of genres. Lollapalooza. the
rolling rock luggemaul Bubbapalooza
got its name from, has even gone the
way of the dodo. Yet. Bubbapalooza
remains and indeed flourishes. Now
both a showcase for twarigy outfits and
a tribute to its founder Smaliey—who
died from complications due to AIDS in
1996—Bubbapalooza is still one of the
highlights of the Atlanta music year. I
saw not only some of the best bands in
the region, but also some of the best
bands the whole alt-country thing had
to oiler. Having to miss Friday night and
arriving late Saturday, my party and I
arrived in time to catch the tail end of
Oklahoma's Billy Joe Winghead. They're
described as a gothic-tinged sleaze rock
outfit, but I didn’t see enough to form a
complete opinion other than they’re
awfully weird Why? Well, the first thing
I heard when I walked in the door was a
twisted version of that classic rock
nugget ’Freebird* with a theramin taxing
the place of the triple guitar attack. Dirt
Ball was a real treat, mixing an almost
Celtic folk sound with Neil Youngish
rockers, the band definitely made a solid
impression. Between lead singer Wes
Freed's whiskey-soaked voice, his wife
and back-up singer Jyl's inspired bock-
dancmg and the drummer’s manic
intensity, Dirt Ball definitely made a
positive impression with strong tunes
like ’Call Me Charity" and the charming
"Whiskey and Wi'd Women." Even more
charmingly, the band closed its set with
Glen Campbell's classic "Wichita
Lineman." Groovy. The band has a new
album out, Turn Up the Bam. and
should be hitting Athens soon. Check
'em out. After a few beers. I 'was graced
with the ever-pleasing sounds of our
own Star Room Boys. Dave Marr and
his boys were in fine form, running
through a set off their incredible debut
Why Do Lonely Men and Women Want
to Break Each Other's Hearts?and a
charming cover of Freddie Hart's "Easy
Lovin'.’ The Boys kicked off wha! turned
out to be a marathon session of straight
country, as New York's Steam Donkeys
and Chape! Hill's Two Dollar Pistols fol
lowed them Both bands are solid
country outfits with traditional, almost
BakersLeldesque sounds and are quite
entertaining. The Donkeys played some
originals, including the clever "Twelve
Stepping Out on Me," and both bands
did a number of well-chosen covers, the
highlight being the Pistols rockin' rendi
tion o! Merle Haggard’s ‘Rambling
Fever." Unfortunately, that sort of beer-
soaked balladry—and plenty of that
sweet amber liquid—puts me in a
downer mood. C'est la vie. That mood
was shot straight to hell with the timely
arrival of possibly Atlanta's best band,
the infamous Truckadelic. The boogie-
meislers took the stage and proceeded
PLR CP ole music director V
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ES FLAGPOLE JULY 5, 2000