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Gene Ween | 01.16.10 | Philadelphia

January 23rd, 2010 | No Comments

Words & Images by: Jake Krolick

Gene Ween :: 01.16.09 :: World Cafe Live :: Philadelphia, PA

Gene Ween :: 01.16 :: Philadelphia

If you’re a Ween fan, then the Gene Ween show at the World Cafe Live would have been your fantasy. Call it what you want, but a slightly grayer haired Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman smiling in his tube socks, playing an acoustic guitar alone onstage was a night of excitement any way you cut it.

Gene’s stripped down takes on some classic Ween fare were just what the good doctor Daniels prescribed. It took a setting like this to help show just why Gene Ween is one of the top songwriters of our time, able to piece together tidbits of odd, funny lyrics into songs that can actually be thoughtful. Plus, kudos to the World Cafe Live for hosting a two-hour pre-show mixer that included an all-you-could-drink selection of 20 micro-brews and Belgian beers, all for a crisp Andrew Jackson ($20). After last year’s Gene Ween Band show (review here), I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who wondered how Gene was doing these days. My questions were answered before the first song was over – he’s looking and sounding better than ever! Sure, he was sporting a rooster’s plume of gray on his head, but his smile was immeasurable as he dusted off almost 20 songs near and dear to the Pennsylvania faithful.

If you didn’t love Gene Ween before you entered the World Cafe, well, you probably didn’t go. However, by the show’s close those that did attend loved him even more. His deconstruction and reworking of Ween standards showed a beautiful, yet still deeply eccentric side to the brown sound storyteller. As he wrapped his lips around “The Chancy Boys,” an oddly tender side of Gene Ween emerged. During a particularly strong cover of Neil Young‘s “I Am A Child” he pulled a clever switch on the lyrics and made Young’s line, “What is the color when black is brown?” This was Gene Ween the folk singer, just your friendly twisted version of Burl Ives and Shel Silverstein.

Gene Ween :: 01.16 :: Philadelphia

He was wonderfully vivid and brought to life Quebec‘s “Chocolate Town” and the younger Ween offering “Spiritwalker” off La Cucaracha. He started some of the songs by explaining their inspiration. He said, “This is a song I wrote at the beach,” before playing “Kite Flying Man.” He paused during the encore, “Buenos Tardes Amigos,” to tell us that the Spanish flavored oddity was created while watching Sesame Street. It was easy to see his role as a father has suited him well and I can’t begin to imagine the wonderful tales and songs he has sung to his children over the past years. The fact that we got a peek at a softer Gene Ween was a real treat.

With Gene’s family watching off on the side of the stage, he played his version of “Don’t Get to Close (To My Fantasy).” This was the turning point of the show as he contorted his face with as much ease as Bruce Bickford molded clay for Frank Zappa. He dug deep as he sang, “Don’t be afraid to clutch the hand of your creator/ Stare into the lion’s eyes/ and if you taste the candy you’ll get to the surprise!” The crowd was entirely with him and sung along as he retooled the track to include some humorous do-do-do’s instead of the whistled breakdown and they were right there helping him scream the end.

Our fascination with the aging troubadour bubbled up all evening in such little exchanges. Between cries of, “I love you, Gener,” the audience questioned his choice of footwear – white tube socks sans shoes? He tossed back, “My mom got these for me,” and “I only sing slow songs in my socks.” At some point after a darling version of “So Long Jerry,” his ode to Jerry Garcia, he misplaced his guitar capo under the music on his stand and the crowd shouted, “Maybe it’s in your socks!” His retort was a beautiful and very Beatles-eque version of The Pod‘s “Oh My Dear (Falling In Love).” Live, he accentuated one of the album’s lo-fi masterpieces in a way no recording can match.

Gene Ween :: 01.16 :: Philadelphia

The evening’s strongest point came during a back to back romp through “The Mollusk” and “Stallion Pt. 3.” Each was superb and made the night for most fans in the house. Gene Ween again deconstructed each song down to its bare bones form. During “The Mollusk,” he let the audience fill in the psychedelic keyboard sounds and electronic horns with their own vocal stylings as he strummed the refrain. He dug into “The Mollusk’s” crafty lyrics by lowering his voice a few octaves and furrowing his brow to sing the chorus before having some fun really dragging out the “Yes/ No” and story portions of the song. This was Gene Ween unbridled; the jester commanding his court with a wild tale of a sea creature stirred from the land. As if this wasn’t enough Boognish bliss he danced through “Stallion Pt. 3,” drawing more audience delight and participation on the “Hey, dude, he’s the stallion/ Yo, dude, he’s the stallion/ Dude, he’s the stallion” portion, where he uncorked his lowest vocal tones of the night.

After a short leave, he stepped back onstage for a one song encore, the aforementioned “Buenos Tardes Amigos,” which culminated in a barrage of socks tossed onto the stage by the crowd to close the show. Gene Ween, the fun-loving showman he is, retaliated by pulling off his own sweaty socks and tossing them into the audience.

Gene Ween tour dates available here.

Continue reading for more pics of Gene Ween in Philly…

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Food fight

July 13th, 2009 | No Comments

Mark Gregory
International business reporter, BBC World Service

harvesting wheat in Kansas

Food prices soared in 2007 and early 2008, throwing hundreds of millions of people around the world into poverty.

Rioting took place in Egypt, India, Indonesia and other countries over the rising cost of rice and wheat.

Since last year’s peak, trends in global food price have been more complex.

But despite this, the BBC’s own research suggests rising food costs remain a major problem for lots of people in lots of places.

In 2007 and early 2008, various factors were at work. There were poor harvests in grain producing countries. Rising oil prices led to increased transport and production costs.

At the same time, an increased use of biofuels meant less land was available for growing food.

Finally, there were increases in food demand in some emerging economies, notably China, coupled with changes in diets – meat uses more resources to produce than grain.

As a measure of the scale of these cost increases, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) food price index rose 82% over two years, reaching its highest level in June 2008.

This index measures the movement of wholesale prices of five basic food categories: meat, dairy, cereals, sugar and oils & fats.

What’s happened since

Since last year’s peak, some of the factors that caused food prices to shoot up so rapidly have gone into reverse.

vegetable seller, Bangalore, India

Poor harvests have given way to bumper crops. For example, the 2008 global wheat harvest was the best on record.

This year’s wheat harvest is likely to be the second best yet, despite crop failures in Argentina.

Recession in many countries has taken the pressure off demand for food products.

Oil prices have also dropped, lowering food transport and production

Concerns remain

Despite these trends, the BBC’s own research suggests rising food costs remain an issue for many people.

TAKING THE PULSE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

  • The BBC is Taking the Pulse of the Global Economy, looking at a range of subjects this summer
  • Food prices – which remain a concern particularly in many developing economies
  • Highly volatile energy prices – which have been a major issue in the past year
  • The plight of migrant workers – as the global recession takes hold in many economies
  • Housing markets – which have turned from boom to bust in many countries
  • Rising unemployment levels – as firms cut back because of falling orders

BBC World Food Price Index

Taking the pulse explained

For the last 12 monthsthe BBC Food Price Indexhas been tracking what shoppers pay for some basic foods in seven cities: Washington DC, Delhi, Jakarta, Brussels, Buenos Ares, Nairobi and Moscow.

Overall, prices have risen by a bit less than 5% over the period of the survey.

But there are some remarkable differences between cities.

In Nairobi, our index suggests food prices rose by nearly a third. In Buenos Aires, the increase was almost a fifth. Both these cities are in the developing world.

However, in the two wealthiest cities, Washington and Brussels, the cost of staple products actually fell sharply – by 17% in the US capital and by 10% in Europe’s hub.

Our survey is not comprehensive, but it may illustrate underlying trends.

Price puzzle

Other data suggests global food prices fell very sharply towards the end last year as many economies went into recession, but have since begun to climb again, although not to last year’s levels.

In May 2009, the FAO’s food price index was 29% below its peak in June 2008. However, the May figure was nearly 10% above the very lowest point reached in February 2009.

Customer ordering food in a McDonalds restaurant in China

The FAO points out that although international food prices have come down from record highs in 2008, they have yet to drop to their levels before the food crisis, and the risk of price volatility remains.

The organisation says the cost of basic staple foods in developing nations remain "stubbornly high" by past standards.

Another important point is that the current economic slowdown has cut many people’s purchasing power – they’ve lost their jobs or seen their incomes cut.

This means they may find it just as difficult to pay for food as they did last year when food prices were higher.

It is something of a puzzle to explain why food prices have started to rise again.

Many economies are in recession, which should mean less demand for food, and global crop yields are generally high.

Some commentators say the fact that food prices remain relatively high in these circumstances suggests there has been a structural shift in the balance of supply and demand for food.

It may be that long term factors such as population growth and increased meat consumption among the new middle class in emerging economies mean food prices will remain permanently higher than before the crisis of 2007/08.

Click here for more from BBC World Service on Taking the Pulse of the Global Economy
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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