For the first time since March of 2001, Ween returned to the Avalon in Boston. The last show at the venue was one of the better shows I've ever seen, so I suspected that it was going to be a non-stop-energy-laden-lunatic-fest on stage, and after a shaky start this evening with Ween was surely that.

It was general admission, so my spot was with the bulk of the audience on the floor. Before the show you got a feeling that you just don’t (or at least I don’t) quite get at other shows that camaraderie with other Ween fans, a sort of "we’re all in this together and we all love this music" type of feeling. In fact, you can bring up any song in Ween’s repertoire with another fan and the conversation will most likely lead to a personal diatribe about that song.

The first song was a little rickety. The sound still needed to be worked out so the beautiful melody of the instrumental "Ice Castles" was transformed into a muddled fiasco. This was the only low point, as the sound came together during the next song ("The Golden Eel") and did not falter for the rest of the concert. The band was as tight as it ever has been in the past and even when Deaner broke a string during "Voodoo Lady", he was quickly handed his backup guitar with an almost unnoticeable pause in the music.

The show featured songs from the new album Quebec while drifting away from the established fan favorites. Nonetheless, Ween executed its new material with such vigor that it kept the entire crowd moving. Between every song, the guy next to me kept yelling "F***ING WEEN" like they were playing exactly what he wanted to hear, pushing his buttons with the right dynamic and range of material. Even though the show was heavy on the newer songs, they still busted out old time favorites such as "Nan", "Pork Roll Egg and Cheese", and "Baby bitch" with the same aforementioned intensity while tying together the gaps between the old and the new.

Ween's return to the Avalon was everything I expected it to be. The crowd, the intensity, the dancing; it was all there. The only thing I wished for after this show is that Ween doesn't wait another 2 years before returning to Boston. F***ing Ween.