Full Show Audio: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Shares Official Recording Of March Visit To Albany

On March 16, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead brought a short tour of the Northeast to the Palace Theatre in Albany, New York. The latest installment of the group’s Taper Thursdays series features official audio of the concert, which contained a number of Phish teases and jams.

Drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and keyboardist Marco Benevento opened their visit to Albany with “Feel Like A Stranger.” Next up was the familiar “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” pairing, though instead of moving towards “Franklin’s Tower” the band worked “Slip” into “The Wheel.” JRAD fit teases and jams on Phish’s “Bathtub Gin” in between verses of “The Wheel.” The group reprised “Bathtub” towards the end of “The Wheel” leading Russo to audibly laugh. The seamless frame continued on with adventurous takes on “Uncle John’s Band” and “Truckin’,” with the latter giving way to jams on “The Music Never Stopped” and “Born Cross-Eyed.” Hamilton brought back the theme of Phish teases by throwing a bit of “Chalk Dust Torture” into “Truckin’.”

Almost Dead kicked off their second set in Albany with a jam that gave way to “Reuben & Cerise,” which featured “Divided Sky” teases from Hamilton. Later in the night, Russo added a taste of “Cavern” to “Viola Lee Blues.” JRAD wasn’t done yet honoring the Vermont quartet as a segment that connected “Viola Lee Blues” and “Jack Straw” contained teases and jams on “Foam.” Joe and Marco were no strangers to the tune as they used to perform “Foam” with Mike Gordon in the mid ’00s including a 53-minute version in Athens. The evening’s final Phish tease came courtesy of Russo, who inserted the beat from “Llama” within an exploratory “Jack Straw.”

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead kept the evening’s second of two seamless sets flowing by transitioning from “Jack Straw” into “So Many Roads.” The five-piece then jammed the late era Dead classic into “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” and ended the closing stanza with an instrumental “And We Bid You Goodnight.” Finally, JRAD concluded the night with a cover of Dorsey Burnette’s “Magnificent Sanctuary Band” as the encore.

Stream or download an official recording of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s March 16th performance at the Palace Theatre in Albany put together by Eric McRoberts and Pete Costello:

Setlist (Compiled by Peter Costello)

Set One: Feel Like A Stranger > Help On The Way -> Slipknot! @ -> The Wheel # -> Uncle John’s Band $ -> Truckin’ % -> Music Never Stopped Reprise -> Born Cross-eyed Jam

Set Two: Jam -> Reuben & Cerise ^ -> Viola Lee Blues -> 9 to 5 Jam -> Viola Lee Blues Reprise + -> Jam & -> Jack Straw * -> So Many Roads -> Going Down The Road Feeling Bad -> We Bid You Goodnight (Instrumental)

Encore: Magnificent Sanctuary Band

• @ – With an MB Solo
• # – With “Bathtub Gin” (Phish) Teases & Jams
• $ – With a “Poison” (Bell Biv DeVoe) Tease (JR) & a “Mama, I’m Coming Home” (Ozzy Osbourne) Tease (TH)
• % – With a “Chalkdust Torture” (Phish) Tease (TH)
• ^ – With a “Divided Sky” (Phish) Tease (TH), a “Let My Love Open the Door” (Pete Townshend) Tease (TH) and a “Paradise City” (Guns N Roses) Tease (Band)
• + – With a Unknown Tease (SM) & a “Cavern” (Phish) Tease (JR)
• & – With “Foam” (Phish) Teases & Jams
• * – With a “Llama” (Phish) Tease (JR), Ruben & Cerise Teases & GDTRFB Teases (TH)