Branford Marsalis & Oteil Burbridge Join Joe Russo’s Almost Dead In Las Vegas

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead began their three-night stand at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas last night, preparing for their two upcoming Sphere after-shows with a blazing hot two-set affair augmented by legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis.

Marsalis has played with Almost Dead twice before, joining them at Newport Jazz Festival in 2023 and at Red Rocks in 2024, both of which were incredible in their own right – but last night felt like a different animal within the intimate confines of the 3,000-capacity room.

The night began with an open-ended jam, the sextet raging through several minutes of “Hell In A Bucket”-like space with early duelling guitar work from Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger before dropping on a dime into a pulsating funk groove that resolved into “Catfish John.”

Easing in with the Jerry Garcia Band staple, drummer Joe Russo kicked into a peppy “The Music Never Stopped,” as bassist Dave Dreiwitz dug into the groove with a typically-strong intro. Metzger handled lead vocals for the first of several amazing Bob Weir songs as he whipped the crowd into a frenzy. JRAD does tend to lean toward the jazzy in a lot of their improv anyway, but the addition of Marsalis’ fluid tenor and soprano saxophones throughout the show last night seemed to encourage that side of the band even more.

As I mentioned in my recap of last year’s Red Rocks show, Marsalis feels less like a featured guest and more like JRAD happens to have a sixth member for these shows. The saxophonist fits their playing like a glove and looked like he was having a ball up on stage.

Cooling things down with a patient “Candyman,” keyboardist Marco Benevento let loose waves of delayed Rhodes electric piano underneath Hamilton’s vocal to create a really cool psychedelic effect, before switching to church-like organ under the tender and melodic guitar solo.

“He’s not from Dead and Co., he’s from The Brothers,” remarked Russo as the band welcomed Oteil Burbridge to the stage to replace Dreiwitz for a song. Burbridge has subbed in with JRAD several times and as a member of Dead & Company (whose Las Vegas Sphere residency resumes tonight) of course is intimately familiar with the Grateful Dead catalog at this point, so felt like a natural fit for the expansive “Playing In The Band” that was tapped next.

Things dropped into a jazzy space almost immediately, Metzger unleashing some rapid-fire runs around Marsalis as the saxophone darted around each of the other musicians’ melodies, adding his own twist to each riff he latched onto.Russo made a double-time pivot and locked in with Burbridge, abandoning the jazzy zone in favour of a propulsive space with some duelling work from Metzger and Marsalis on stage left as Benevento laid down dizzying runs on piano.

Upping the intensity, the jam became a beautiful cacophony of sound, a sly “King Solomon’s Marbles” tease from Metzger moving things along – but the real star of this jam was Burbridge, whose nonstop propulsion and perfect harmony with Russo’s pocket will have you in awe with each fill.

Ear-to-ear grins covered the stage as the jam hit a Metzger-led peak, he and Marsalis continuing to duel with each other on lightning-fast riffs as Benevento soared alongside on organ. Utilizing some spontaneous hits, the band infused the high-octane jam into a perfectly-placed “Mountain Jam” tease initiated by the guitarists that was quickly locked onto by the rest of the band.

Hamilton hinted at some “Third Stone From the Sun” before Russo cued the band to drop down from the peak – though his drumming did not abate one bit for the next segment before he cued a beautiful and smooth return to “Playing,” augmented by some “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” teasing by Hamilton. Dreiwitz returned to the stage for a set-closing “Uncle John’s Band,” the band dipping back into jazzy territory for the succinct-yet-explosive jam.

Benevento took the lead on the second set-opening “Cats Under The Stars,” his slinky piano and Rhodes work propelling the late-night vibe of the JGB track before Metzger took another excellent guitar solo. Benevento then lit things up with a bright Rhodes solo, adding in some delightfully dissonant jazz runs.

Hamilton brought “Cats” to a blazing hot finish before the band segued perfectly into a rollicking “Big River,” keeping the energy high with more incredible Metzger/Marsalis interaction, getting things primed for the nonstop segment of music that would make up the remainder of the set.

Settling into an extended foray into spacey dissonance, Benevento took to his Rheem combo organ for some eerie volume-swell textures as Hamilton went into the spaceship portion of his rig for some wild tones. Russo began a gentle snare-tapping beat over the wild tones, Marsalis getting into the fray with some jazzy elements as each of the band members gradually began to hint at the forthcoming drop into “Estimated Prophet.”

One of the highest-energy moments of the show came next, Metzger’s exemplary vocal performance and Hamilton’s wildly energetic solo combining for an explosion from the crowd. Marsalis took a solo of his own, smooth soprano sax filling the room before JRAD continued to play with dynamics among the high peaks of the guitar solo and introspective vibe of “Estimated” itself.

Russo dropped out for a few minutes of spacey play, with the rest of the band opting for a more melodic and friendly space rather than the evil haze of the earlier foray. From there, the drummer kicked directly into the signature beat of “Dancing In The Streets,” the sextet taking their time before exploding in the song proper.

Benevento led the band through a slowed-down blues section where he was left alone with Russo, working piano, Rhodes, and organ for a cool section before the rest of the band jumped back in and continued to blaze the way forward. Giving way to a Marsalis solo, the rest of the band worked some aggressive “Hey Bulldog” teases into the groove before smashing through the ending of “Dancing” and patiently segueing into the long-awaited “Eyes of the World.”

Marsalis’ iconic sit-in with the Grateful Dead immortalized on Without A Net was, of course, top of the list for many fans attending his shows with JRAD, and “Eyes” had not been played at either the Newport or Red Rocks gigs previously. Cheers swept the room as the song became apparent, JRAD easing into the beautiful groove with more big smiles.

It was exactly as you’d expect: pure bliss. You could tell that Marsalis was more familiar with the structure of the song than some other Dead tunes, and he worked beautiful accents into the song proper ahead of a phenomenal solo.

Contrasting sharply with the beauty of “Eyes,” the band worked the bass solo outro into an aggressive “King Solomon’s Marbles,” the fast-paced instrumental composition perfectly augmented by Marsalis before a blazing hot “I Know You Rider” brought the 90-minute second set to a close.

Thanking the crowd profusely, Russo noted his excitement to be coming back for two more nights before JRAD brought the show to a close with “Big Railroad Blues,” another round of hot solos and a great burst of energy sending us all off into the Vegas night with a perfect show in the books.

Two JRAD concerts remain at Brooklyn Bowl, and Marsalis is back for tonight’s late-night show – livestreams are available exclusively to nugs.net subscribers.

For a perspective from the audience, listen to an audio recording and watch video footage of last night’s show in Vegas below:

Audio Taped by Jeff Travitz

Videos Posted by monihampton