Monday April 10, 2006: At 3 PM I picked up Rollie, and headed toward AHS. We arrived just as school was letting out to pick up the brothers O'Neill. We sat in the 800 Building's parking lot for about 10 minutes waiting for all the 16-year-olds in the front of the exit line to grow some balls and pull out in front of on-coming traffic like they should. It didn't take me long to remember why I parked in the Band room's parking lot during my vehicle operating years as an AHS student.

As I recall, the drive to Atlanta was fairly uneventful; save the usual sitting, sweating, and cursing involved with driving in Atlanta during the afternoon.



Once we arrived at the Tabernacle, we had a lot of time to kill, so we started walking back towards Underground Atlanta. On the way we were greeted by a tall, well-kempt, black man wearing a backpack. We mentioned that we were here to see the show, and that we were looking for a place to eat. He told us that he'd show us where all the good places were, and to follow him. Having no reason to fear him, we followed him down the road. Upon reaching "the good places", he asked for $5 to go get himself a hamburger. What a tricky bastard, although, "tricky bastard" is in the job description of being a bum. I definitely prefer that to the, not so subtle, pleas of "Bud!... Psilocybin!... Spare Bullet!" that we got from the last Atlanta ne'er-do-well we dealt with. I guess we should've known he was a panhandler, but nothing could kill my fun at that point.

Noticing that cheeseburgers were featured on the menu displayed outside, we decided to eat at a place which featured a shrimp with a chicken's legs; something along the lines of "The Metropolitan Grill" or some other such nonsense. I'll give the food a B-. Not the best burger I've ever had... not even close, actually; but the fries, or "chips" as Eoghen said in his adorable vernacular, were not bad at all.



We walked back to the venue to discover a growing line near the entrance. I suppose we got there just in time because, within 10 minutes of our arrival, the line doubled in size.



There we were, trapped inbetween two large hoards of "Ween Kids". Now, make no mistake, I fucking love Ween. However, there is a huge distinction to be made between being a big fan of Ween and loving everything they've ever done, and being a "Ween Kid". Just look at them (above).



Realizing that I had another hour to wait, I took a seat.



That's when I noticed this beautiful piece of graffiti. Having never heard their music, I've now got two reasons to hate that band. I hate their stupid fucking name, and I hate the stupid fucking kid who wrote their stupid fucking name on the side of a bona fide institution. Fuck Death Cab For Cutie and their bullshit.

Anyway, after being seated, an incident unfolded in the streets below. A cop pulled over a young lady for doing something that I obviously missed. After a few moments, the crowd began chanting "Let her go. Let her Go". This probably didn't help the poor girl, because she definitely got a ticket after that; though, the cops did receive a rather thunderous booing after they issued the citation. As the last officer was getting into his car, somebody in the crowd yelled out: "There's someone getting mugged in the ghetto right now!" The cop gave him that asshole cop smirk, (you know what I'm talking about) then got into his car and rode away. Pretty entertaining overall, but still fairly anti-climactic (I was hoping to see a beating and I didn't care who got it).



Eoghen was pretty bummed too.

Passing by, literally, hundreds of people, Trent made his way up to where we were in the line. It was right about this time that the doors opened





We got inside, and ran for the front. Trent and I ended up leaning against a metal guard rail on the front row of stage left. Rollie, Conor, and Eoghen drifted farther to the right, and directly into what would become a very large mosh pit. Soon after, a random hippie unfurled his large, hand-painted, sign that said "Gravy". He got some cheers for it. Good for him.

Well, the show started and the magic of photography began. I ended up taking about 145 pictures. Here's the best of:










(What the fuck is that light coming from the crowd?)

















































In case you missed it the first time I posted about the show, here's what they played:

"Nan"
"Take Me Away"
"Freedom of '76"
"I'm Waving My Dick in the Wind"
"Even if You Don't"
"Buckingham Green"
"Albino Sunburned Girl" (With "Tear for Eddie" Tease Intro)
"Roses Are Free"
"She's Your Baby"
"Push the Little Daisies"
"Light Me Up"
"Leave Deaner Alone"
"Doctor Rock"
"Puerto Rican Power> Jam"
"Reggaejunkiejew"
"Powder Blue"
"Zoloft"
"You Were the Fool" (At the end, Deaner played the solo from "Blue Sky" by The Allman Brothers)
"Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)"
"The HIV Song (AIDS)"
"Frank"
"Ocean Man"
"Pumpin' 4 the Man"
"I'm in the Mood To Move"
"Gabrielle"
"You Fucked Up"
"Sketches of Winkle"
"Fat Lenny"

Encore:

"Licking the Palm for Guava"
"Mushroom Festival in Hell"
"Piss Up a Rope"
"Touch My Tooter"
"Poopship Destroyer"

They played from 9-11:45 PM.

Fucking incredible show, and now there's really good news:

You can see the entire show on You Tube. Just search for "Ween", and, a few clicks later, YOU'RE THERE! Oh, Boy!

I swear, man, between You Tube, SoulSeek, and Wikipedia, if I had a catheter and a colostomy bag, I'd never leave the house.



On the ride home, we stopped at a BP in Horse Apples, Georgia, and I got to try Coca-Cola Blak for the first time. Choosing not to believe MJ, I got it, and it was exactly as he described it. "There's a hole in the flavor where the Coke should be". Despite the taste, or lack thereof, I did feel a caffeine headrush, something I haven't felt... well, ever, truth-be-told. That was kind of scary, actually.

All-in-all, great show, great trip, had fun.