Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Brings Out Jon Shaw, Jonathan Goldberger & Stuart Bogie In New Orleans

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead kept the music flowing in New Orleans after Jazz Fest with a trio of shows at The Fillmore spanning Thursday, May 2 to Saturday, May 4. A trio of special guests joined JRAD during night two as Friday featured frequent collaborators Jon Shaw, Jonathan Goldberger and Stuart Bogie accompanying the band throughout much of the second set.

Friday’s JRAD concert saw drummer Joe Russo, keyboardist Marco Benevento, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and guitarists Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger kick off the first set with “Foolish Heart.” The opening set continued with “New Minglewood Blues,” followed by “Fire On The Mountain” tease leading into “Scarlet Begonias.” Flipping the typical script, JRAD then offered “I Know You Rider” into “China Cat Sunflower.”

The set ended with Metzger leading his bandmates through their debut live performance of “Fire And Brimstone” by legendary guitarist Link Wray. The first half ended with a run through “Viola Lee Blues.”

After set break, JRAD commenced the second set with “Reuben & Cerise” which segued into “Throwing Stones.” Stuart Bogie was then summoned to add saxophone to “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.” Jonathan Goldberger then emerged to add another guitar to the mix. Jon Shaw, who frequently plays with JRAD when Dreiwitz has conflicts with Ween, joined Benevento on keyboards at The Fillmore. The three auxiliary musicians, who along with Russo make up the Selcouth Quartet, joined JRAD on performances of “The Other One” and “Blues For Allah.”

The guests exited ahead of a set-closing presentation of “Terrapin Station.” JRAD capped the night with a cover of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves Of London.”

Audio Taped by Z-Man

Photos by Adam McCullough

Setlist (via Almost-Dead.net)

Set One: Foolish Heart > New Minglewood Blues, Scarlet Begonias > I Know You Rider > China Cat Sunflower > Fire And Brimstone > Viola Lee Blues

Set Two: Reuben and Cherise > Throwing Stones > Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodleloo [1] > The Other One [2] > Blues for Allah [2] > Terrapin Station

Encore: Werewolves of London

Notes:

• [1] with Stuart Bogie
• [2] with Stuart Bogie, Jon Shaw and Jonathan Goldberger