On Friday, August 26, LOCKN’ patrons are in for a rare musical treat when Ween performs immediately before Phish. The saga starts Thursday, August 25, with fans hailing the great and powerful Boognish to end Thursday night. Festival co-founder, Peter Shapiro, recently told Rolling Stone that “Phish has headlined their own festivals many times, but they have rarely played festivals with other bands performing, so this is going to be a big moment for their fans. To get to see Ween play before Phish is the kind of unique musical moment that we created LOCKN’ for.” Here’s why having Phish and Ween at the same festival is such a big deal.
“Take a piece of tinsel and put it on the tree”
Phish debuted their cover of Ween’s “Roses Are Free” on December 11, 1997 in Rochester, New York. They wasted no time utilizing the song as an improvisational staple at live shows. Check out the performance from Bittersweet Motel, which includes snippets of the song’s pre-show backstage run-through.
“We’re all in this together”
“It’s the message I’m conveyin’ to ya”
During Phish’s tour stop last year at Blossom Music Center in Ohio, Trey Anastasio made a plea to both Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween) and Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman to reunite Ween. Whether Anastasio actually had anything to do with Ween’s decision to reunite after their 2012 breakup remains a mystery.