Audio | Joe Russo’s Almost Dead At Gathering Of The Vibes

We’re just three shows into the career of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and they are already among the most exciting Grateful Dead tribute acts around. If you’re unfamiliar, JRAD finds Furthur drummer Joe Russo joined by guitarists Scott Metzger and Tommy Hamilton, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and keyboardist Marco Benevento in honoring the Grateful Dead songbook with a raw, furious approach.

[Photo by Dino Perrucci]

JRAD’s third-ever performance took place at Gathering Of The Vibes in Bridgeport, CT on Friday afternoon. The band’s set included takes on such Grateful Dead classics as “St. Stephen,” “Eyes Of The World,” “Lazy Lightning” and “Uncle John’s Band” as well as a cover of Donny Hathaway’s “Magnificent Sanctuary Band” done JGB-style.

A few recordings of the set have surfaced thus far. There’s a soundboard matrix recorded by Ted Gakidis which you can download via bt.etree.org. Here’s a sample of “Eyes Of The World” from this source:

UPDATE: Ted’s soundboard matrix recording is now on Archive.org:

There’s also an an audience recording from Cam Keough that you can stream below: