Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Debuts Allman Brothers Band Covers In Asbury Park & New Haven

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead held a concert Friday at The Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey and then played a show Saturday at Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. Both shows featured JRAD’s typical mix of Grateful Dead material as well as debut covers of songs by The Allman Brothers Band.

Friday’s performance in Asbury Park kicked off with the Dead’s “Row Jimmy” and “Greatest Story Ever Told.” JRAD then took up Jersey-native Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.” Next came “Hard To Handle,” the Otis Redding song also covered by the Dead.

A run through Jerry Garcia’s solo effort “Cats Under The Stars” teed up the set closer: “Les Brers in A Minor.” The instrumental Allman Brothers Band song that appeared on their 1972 album Each A Peach had not been played by JRAD prior to its Asbury Park appearance.

Set two mostly stuck to Grateful Dead live staples, with “Scarlet Begonias,” “Good Lovin’,” “It Hurts Me Too” and “Samson and Delilah.” JRAD also played “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider,” dropping The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hanging On” between “China” and “Rider.” The night in Jersey ended with “Promised Land.”

JRAD made their way over to New Haven for Saturday’s Westville Music Bowl show. Held on Bob Dylan’s 84th birthday, the concert started with Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.” The opening set continued with Grateful Dead favorites “The Music Never Stopped,” followed by “Help On The Way” into “Slipknot!” into “Feel Like A Stranger.” Set one ended with “Althea. “

Set two in New Haven started with “Cumberland Blues” and kept going with “Dancing In The Street.” The show progressed with “Cold Rain and Snow” and an expansive section built out of “Dark Star,” “Terrapin Station” and the closing “I Need A Miracle.”

When JRAD returned for the Westville Bowl encore, another new Allmans song surfaced in the form of “Black Hearted Woman,” sung by guitarist Tom Hamilton. Written by Gregg Allman, “Black Hearted Woman” was recorded by The Allman Brothers Band for their self-titled 1969 debut album. An instrumental “The Other One” provided the coda for the New Haven concert.

Scroll on for audience-captured videos of both Allmans covers and an audio recording of the Westville Bowl show.

Audio (Taped by Cam Keough)