Friday at Summer Camp Music Festival featured one of the more unexpected collaborations in the festival’s history as Gene Ween fronted Umphrey’s McGee for a set of covers from the Ween catalog as well as a take on Billy Joel’s “The Stranger,” which Freeman has been performing as a part of his Billy Joel tribute shows. 

All in all, it seems as if both parties thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Gener and UM certainly had some fun playing up the “God Boner” name as multiple times Freeman would take to the mic to say “I’m Gene Ween and this is The Boner,” drawing laughs from the stage and crowd. Musically, it’s everything you’d expect as the Ween catalog got put through the Umphrey’s McGee machine, leading to powerful versions of tunes like “The Grobe,” “Spinal Meningitis” and many others. “The Stranger” also worked out quite well thanks to (Billy) Joel Cummins taking the lead on keys. 

Watch the full set below including the preceding “Puppet String” and “JaJunk” prior to Freeman’s appearance. 

Set II: Puppet String, JaJunk, The Grobe, Even If You Don’t, Japanese Cowboy, Spinal Meningitis, Baby Bitch, Take Me Away, The Stranger, Voodoo Lady, Freedom of ’76, Transdermal Celebration