Full Show Audio: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead In Boston

On Friday and Saturday Grateful Dead tribute act Joe Russo’s Almost Dead performed before capacity crowds at The Paradise in Boston. Guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, drummer Joe Russo, keyboardist Marco Benevento and bassist Dave Dreiwitz weaved one Dead classic into another over the course of two jam-packed nights in New England.

Almost Dead kicked off Friday’s show with a Metzger-sung “Alligator” and smoothly segued into a short and loose “Slipknot!” before a euphoric “Franklin’s Tower.” “Greatest Story Ever Told” continues to shine given the JRAD treatment, while the pretty “Candyman” set the pace for a stellar “St. Stephen” > “The Eleven” > “St. Stephen” sequence. “Sugar Magnolia,” complete with its “Sunshine Daydream” conclusion, brought the first set of the weekend to a close.

The second set started with Hamilton on vocals for a “Row Jimmy” that somehow culminated in a “Truckin'” that featured “The Eleven” teases from Metzger. “Truckin'” led into a jam that seemed straight out of “Cassidy” and then a more bluesy bit of improv that gave way to “Tennessee Jed.” “Mr. Charlie” contained “Moby Dick” teases and jams before a delightful “Dancin’ In The Streets” which was one of the evening’s many highlights. “Brown-Eyed Women” served as set closer, while “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” > “And We Bid You Goodnight” ended the evening in the encore slot.

Saturday’s show began innocently enough with “Bertha” before Almost Dead used “Throwing Stones” as a launchpad for nearly 20 minutes of full band improvisation. Next up was the weekend’s lone debut, a cover of “The Weight” by The Band that saw Hamilton sing the first verse, Metzger sing the second, Marco the third and Tommy the fourth. All four vocalists teamed up with the final verse and choruses. Hamilton then led the band through the set-closing “Scarlet”/”Fire” combo.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead started the final set of the weekend with a jam they worked into “Here Comes Sunshine,” another song where they broke through the tune’s normal boundaries for an intense jam. Metzger then showed off just how good he is with Bobby’s vocals on “Feel Like A Stranger.” Next, the sold-out crowd got the “Help On The Way” and fuller version of “Slipknot!” that the previous evening’s “Franklin’s” foreshadowed. “Jack-A-Roe” came out of “Slipknot!” and was followed by a “Cumberland Blues” with a duo jam between Marco and Joe and the set-closing “One More Saturday Night.” A “Shakedown Street” encore brought the show and weekend to a close. Almost Dead heads West next for shows in Las Vegas (December 11) and Oakland (December 12).

Audio (Taped by Andy Murray via Archive.org)

Friday, November 27

Saturday, November 28

Setlists (Compiled by Pete Costello)

Friday, November 27

Set One: Alligator (SM) -> Slipknot % -> Franklin’s Tower (TH) -> Greatest Story Ever Told @ (SM) -> Candyman (TH) > St. Stephen (All) -> The Eleven # (All) -> St. Stephen Reprise $ (All) > Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream (SM)

Set Two: Row Jimmy (TH) -> Truckin’ ^ (SM) -> Cassidy Jam -> Jam -> Tennessee Jed (TH)-> Mr Charlie & (SM) -> Dancin’ In The Streets (SM) -> Drums (JR & TH) -> Dancin’ Reprise -> Estimated Jam -> Brown Eyed Women (TH)

Encore: Going Down The Road Feeling Bad * (All) -> We Bid You Good Night +

• % Very short & loose
• @ Unfinished
• # With a “Duo Jam”
• $ Sung in “11” time
• ^ With The Eleven Teases (SM)
• & With “Moby Dick” (Led Zeppelin) teases & Jams (MB, JR & TH)
• * With Cassidy Teases (TH)
• + Instrumental only

Saturday, November 28

Set One (9:31pm – 10:55pm ish): Bertha (TH) > Throwing Stones (SM) > Black Peter (TH) -> Estimated Prophet # (SM) -> The Weight $ (see notes) > Scarlet Begonias % (TH) -> Fire On The Mountain % (TH)

Set Two (11:22pm – 12:53am ish): Jam -> Here Comes Sunshine ^ (TH) -> Feel Like A Stranger & (SM) > Help On The Way (TH) -> Slipknot -> Jack A Roe (TH) -> Cumberland Blues & (All), One More Saturday Night (SM)

Encore: Shakedown Street* (TH)

• # With Shakedown Street Teases (Band)
• $ First Time Played, The Band original. TH sung verse 1, SM sung verse 2, MB sung verse 3, JR sung verse 4 & All sung verse 5 & the choruses.
• % With a China->Rider Transition Tease during the transition b/t Scarlet->Fire
• & With a Duo Jam
• * With Feel Like A Stranger Jams from MB & then TH

(As a refresher: use of a “>” means no pause between tunes, but no transitional jam between them either. For tunes with a jam at the foundation of the transition, I use “->” to note it.)