Freeman (Aaron Freeman a.k.a. Gene Ween) 
The Roxy 
Los Angeles, CA 
October 30, 2014 

ECM-909a/Edirol R-09HR/WAV/xACT/FLAC 

1. intro 
2. Cops Are Coming 
3. The English And Western Stallion 
4. All The Way To China 
5. Transitions 
6. Exactly Where I’m At 
7. Delicate Green 
8. Black Bush 
9. Your Party 
10. Demon Sweat 
11. El Shaddai 
12. Stay Forever 
13. Gimme One More 
14. Freedom Of ’76 
15. Happy Colored Marbles 
16. Golden Monkey 
17. For A While I Couldn’t Play My Guitar Like A Man 
18. encore break 
19. She Fucks Me 
20. Transdermal Celebration 
21. outro 

I came across this on my hard drive today and realized that I’d never shared it. Apologies, Ween fans — I guess I was unconsciously participating in that weird anti-Gener thing that was going around last year, and indeed might be still for all I know. 

However you feel about Ween’s breakup and the half-great shows being put on by Freeman and Melchiondo in their individual incarnations -- and it is a little like the famous conjoined circus twins, each rendered significantly less by their separation -- you can’t deny that Freeman, at least, has put out a tremendous eponymous record, and that his new shows are full of joy and songcraft and plenty of rock and roll. Here’s a fine example from last year in Los Angeles: the new tunes sound great, and the old tunes probably sound even better. To say this stuff would have sounded best of all with Dreiwitz and McClelland, and particularly with Coleman and Deaner, is perhaps to miss the point. Enjoy what we’ve got, folks -- we’re lucky to have it. 

This sounds not-great, but pretty good — it’s got some obnoxious crowd chatter, mostly limited to between-songs. Check the sample if you’re unsure, but I think you’ll dig it. Share, convert, post, do what you want -- but please support Gener when he comes around, and buy his records and his t-shirts and whatever else he’s putting out there. And cut him a break, please: he’s wonderful, and we love him, and we want him to be happy and healthy and churning out tremendous songs for us, with whatever band, for a long time to come. Enjoy!