Ashton Freeman (@souperfruit) and Bugger (a.k.a. Michael Melchiondo @bugg.e.r), the progeny of Gene and Dean Ween, respectively, made headlines last week when they announced a performance on March 28th in Lambertville, New Jersey, at Soupçon Salon, a small art gallery and event space at the back of a coffee bar/ice cream shop and below a guitar shop. Naturally, this delighted thousands of Weenheads across the globe, catching most off guard; though on reflection, it feels like this was inevitable. The childhood friends had conceived of the project a mere two weeks prior to the show, and while they had never performed together as a duo, they immediately found that their different musical sensibilities complemented one another in ways that took them to experimental places they would never have found on their own. (The fact that this may sound familiar is not lost on them.)
Friends and fans from near and far showed up en masse to support the performers, which made for a sweet and loving vibe during the set. The gallery is small and narrow, smelling vaguely familiar and not unpleasant; paintings and music posters, including some bearing the names of the artists’ fathers, adorn the walls. Bugger manned his noise station, consisting of a mixer, drum machine, and various stomp boxes, while Freeman performed on an electric guitar, possibly for the first time. (In rehearsals, the pair found that its sound meshed better than with an acoustic guitar, Freeman’s typical weapon of choice.)
They opened with perhaps the first-ever cover of what you might call the title track of Ween’s Long Beach Island Tape: a bouncy, McCartney-style tune recorded around the time of White Pepper. The Tape has been a sore subject for the band since it was stolen and illicitly leaked 25 years ago, but this performance was every bit a loving tribute, making the cover fitting. (It somehow felt like they were winking at their dads and Disciples of Boognish.) They continued to play through a series of original tunes they’d rehearsed loosely, with Bugger improvising samples and loops and Freeman largely improvising the lyrics. This made for a special performance, the kind that they can only deliver so early in their collaboration before they’ve really figured out their style. To further engage the crowd — we didn’t need much encouragement! — they included the perfect singalong cover: Wesley Willis’ “Rock and Roll McDonalds.” And to close the show, Bugger transformed his noise station into something wearable, and he strapped it on, leaving the stage to deliver an improvised freakout in the middle of the crowd. The show was intimate and memorable, equal parts noisy and melodic, rehearsed and improvised.
Freeman said they have enjoyed treading new ground with Bugger, who says he’s loved building around Freeman’s guitar and vocals, which he also runs through his signal flow. Freeman just announced that they’re open to outreach for gigs, and it sounds as though that outreach has begun to come through in droves, which means we can expect more opportunities to get on the NOT WEEN train early. (They promise they’re going to come up with another name.)
The pair plan to continue to work together in parallel to their other music-related projects. Bugger hopes to release his debut album this year and also says he’s got an album’s worth of “Bugger and Deaner” tunes that he thinks could see the light of day this year.
Photo by Tony Lux (@themeatsmith)
2 Responses
🤘
Totally worth the slight detour.