Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Celebrates The Band In Philadelphia

On Saturday night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead concluded a run of two shows at The Fillmore Philadelphia. Drummer Joe Russo, keyboardist Marco Benevento, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton and bassist Dave Dreiwitz aren’t afraid to work in material by artists other than the Grateful Dead into their tribute mix and in Philly on Saturday they played three songs by The Band.

JRAD came out of the gates with a jam that eventually gave way to “Good Lovin’.” The five-piece worked over every segment of the tune before moving on to “Reuben & Cerise.” Almost Dead’s first set continued on with the pairing of “Bertha” and “I Need A Miracle” before they unveiled their first The Band cover of the evening, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Joe Russo’s Almost Dead last played one of Levon Helm’s signature songs to sing way back on January 1, 2016; though they did recently perform the cover at a public soundcheck. Saturday’s opening frame concluded with an adventurous “Truckin” that included a jam on “Born Cross-Eyed” and teases of “New Speedway Boogie,” “Black-Throated Wind” and “Easy Wind.”

Dave Dreiwitz began the second set with an unusual bass solo in which he used tones out of The Band keyboardist Garth Hudson’s book (Update: As commenter Greg Blass pointed out, Dreiwitz toyed with themes from “Sysyphus, Pt. 1” off Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma). The bassist had a few minutes in the spotlight before he led his mates into “The Music Never Stopped.” Next up was “They Love Each Other” which was followed by a jam that gave way to “Let It Grow.” Saturday’s “Let It Grow” featured jams on both Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” and The Beatles’ “Taxman.” From there, JRAD raged “New Speedway Boogie” and closed out the frame with their full-on, 30+ minute “Terrapin Station Suite.” Joe Russo’s Almost Dead had The Band on their mind when they returned for the encore. First up was “The Weight” with verses sung by Hamilton, Metzger, Benevento, Russo and then everyone. The finale was “Ophelia.” While “The Weight” was played earlier this year, “Ophelia” was a 2017 debut.

Watch pro-shot video of the set openers:

[Jam > Good Lovin’]

[Bass Solo > The Music Never Stopped]

Here’s more video courtesy of Monica Hampton:

[The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down]

[The Weight & Ophelia]

[Bertha]

[New Speedway Boogie]

Setlist (compiled by Peter Costello)

Set One: Jam -> Good Lovin’ > Ruben & Cerise -> Bertha > I Need A Miracle @ > The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down > Truckin # -> Space -> Truckin Reprise -> Born Cross Eyed Jam

Set Two: DD Solo -> The Music Never Stopped, They Love Each Other $, Jam -> Let It Grow % > New Speedway Boogie ^ -> Terrapin Suite

Encore: The Weight&, Ophelia

• @ – With New Speedway Boogie Teases (SM & then MB), a “Fearless” (Pink Floyd) Tease (MB), possibly a “Good Lovin’” (The Rascals) Tease (MB), a short Duo Jam and an “In with the In Crowd” (Ramsey Lewis) Tease (MB)
• # – With a New Speedway Boogie Tease (M), a Black Throated Wind Tease (SM) and an Easy Wind Tease (SM)
• $ – With a Ruben & Cerise Tease (TH)
• % – With “Do It Again” (Steely Dan) And “Taxman” (The Beatles) Jams
• ^ – With Let It Grow & Slipknot! Teases (Band)
• & – Verses in order: TH, SM, MB, JR & All
• One More Saturday Night was on the set list, but not played