Les Claypool and Sean Lennon continued their The Claypool Lennon Delerium Tour Wednesday night at The Fillmore in Philadelphia. Featuring Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo as special guest for CLD’s main set, Dean Ween sang lead on the title track from Ween’s 1997 album The Mollusk. To promote the long awaited solo album of Dean Ween’s The Deaner Album, and CLD’s Monolith of Phobos, both artist projects collaborated to curate a fantastical performance that also payed homage to the late Gene Wilder. This performance was the first moment Dean returned the favor of sitting in with long time friend Les by performing Mollusk with CLD, followed by a solo. Fans were enthralled with the miscellaney of sound that occurred with the symbiotic collaboration that complemented both collectives.
Now nearly 4 years after the split of WEEN, Dean and Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman have announced a reunion tour. A perfect compliment to the succession of the CLD tour. Since the dissolution of WEEN, Gene also continued to produce music but with the intent to pursue a solo career under his own name. Unsure as to whether or not WEEN will continue to work together after the completion of the reunion shows, the Dean Ween Group will continue to grace our ears with the abstract, experimental psychedelia.
Two years since the inception of The Deaner Album’s concept and finalization of Moistboyz’ record, Dean was finally able to sit down and focus on his project without the distraction of side gigs. Although, with the occasional musical appearances it only refined Dean’s vocal and playing ability which is undisguised especially in the three tracks he produced himself. The album features tracks that occasionally find Dean playing every instrument, whilst others features notable musicians such as Mike “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton, legendary punk drummer Chuck Treece, Bill Fowler and many more.