Ween bring the weird to the UK

2007 saw alt-rock psychedelic randomists Ween release their latest album, La Cucaracha, after a four year hiatus. And now, finally, after an even longer wait, Dean and Gene Ween are returning to the UK for a few dates in the coming weeks.

Ween are that rarest of things in the music industry – a justified legend and true one-of-a-kind. Consistently pushing at the boundaries of music (their own and everyone else’s) and experimenting with new media and distribution methods way ahead of the corporate curve, they’ve carved out their own non-conformist niche in the hearts of music fans the world over.

Sadly there are only three chances to see Ween play a venue in the British Isles:

• 8th May – London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire
• 9th May – Camber Sands, All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival
• 17th May – Dublin, Village Venue

Looks to me like Ween have a big schedule gap there – but it’s too much to hope that they might crawl around the country playing local pubs and bars, I guess. Oh well.

But hey – for those of us who are geographically challenged when it comes to live shows, there’s always YouTube. Here’s some footage of Ween playing “Baby Bitch” at the 9:30 club in Washington DC back in 2000:

And naturally they have a rather funky Ween website, and the obligatory MySpace page too. Enjoy!