Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Closes Out Fall Ball Run With A Number Of Bust Outs

Last night Joe Russo’s Almost Dead closed out their six night Fall Ball run with their 24th show at Brooklyn Bowl. The five-piece act treated the sold-out crowd once again to two sets of their take on the music of the Grateful Dead, which included a handful of bust outs and teases galore for their finale in Brooklyn.

As has become the norm with this run Drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Marco Benevento and bassist Dave Dreiwitz opened the penultimate set of the Fall Ball with a “Jam” sequence, which saw them work in teases of Miles Davis’ “In A Silent Way,” before eventually finding their way into a Metzger-led take on “Let It Grow.” Another Wake Of The Flood song followed, as Hamilton stepped up to the mic to deliver “Row Jimmy.” A second “Jam” sequence flowed out of the Jerry Garcia ballad, which featured elements of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Mountain Jam,” a night after they had teased the song’s inspiration Donovan’s “There Is A Mountain.” JRAD eventually landed on “The Wheel,” another tune they had teased on Friday night, which stretched into an psychedelic-tinged “Space” segment returning back to Earth for a reprise of “The Wheel.” The traditional pairing of Bob Weir’s “Lost Sailor” > “Saint Of Circumstance” brought their 11th set of the run to a close.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead kicked off their final set with a boisterous “Shakedown Street,” as they continued on a run of tunes debuted by the Dead in the 1970s. Otis Redding’s “Hard To Handle,” which the Dead debuted in March of 1969, followed breaking the streak of ’70s songs, it also marked the first time JRAD had performed it since March of last year. Another bust out followed as they offered up an “Unbroken Chain Jam,” dusting off the complex Phil Lesh composition for the first time in 82 shows. Joe Russo & Co. dug in on a pair of old school psychedelic classics next, pairing “China Cat Sunflower” with “St. Stephen.” The band had one more bust out up their sleeve offering up a take on The Beatles’ “Hey Bulldog” for the first time in 50 shows. The Grateful Dead tribute act brought the 12th set of the memorable run to a end with one of the Dead’s oldest cover tunes and biggest jam vehicles “Viola Lee Blues.” The 2017 edition of the Fall Ball came to a close with a day-appropriate take on “One More Saturday Night.”

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returns to the road next month with a three-night California run that kicks off with a pair of shows at Los Angeles’ Telegram Ballroom on November 9. Watch pro-shot video of the openers from each set courtesy of nugs.tv, and check out the full setlist below.

[Jam > Let It Grow]

[Shakedown Street]

Setlist (Compiled by Pete Costello)

Set One: Jam @ -> Let It Grow # -> Row Jimmy $ > Jam % -> The Wheel ^ -> Space -> The Wheel Reprise -> Lost Sailor & -> Saint Of Circumstance *

Set Two: Shakedown Street + -> Hard To Handle @@ -> Unbroken Chain Jam ## -> China Cat Sunflower -> Saint Stephen $$ -> Hey Bulldog %% -> Viola Lee Blues

Encore: “Pete Shapiro Thanks The NYC Freaks”, One More Saturday Night

@ – With “In A Silent Way” (Joe Zawinul & Miles Davis) Teases (MB), # – With a Slipknot! Tease (JR & TH), $ – With a “Jet” (Paul McCartney and Wings) Tease (MB), % – With a “Mountain Jam” (Donovan/Allman Brothers Band) Tease (Band), ^ – With a “Riders On The Storm” (The Doors) Tease (MB), & – With a St. Stephen Tease (TH), * – With a Terrapin Station Tease (MB) & The Wheel Tease (Band), + – With a Feel Like A Stranger Tease (Band) and a Let It Grow Tease (Band). Unfinished., @@ – With Unbroken Chain Teases (TH) and Let It Grow Teases (Band). Not played by since 2016.03.25 at Brooklyn Bowl. Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 56 shows, ## – Not played since 2015-09-06 at Great North Festival, Last Breath Farm, Norridgewock, ME, a gap of 82 shows. With a Here Comes Sunshine Tease (Band), $$ – With multiple teases including Cosmic Charlie & I Know You Rider, I think, %% – Not played since 2016-07-02 at The Belly Up, Aspen, CO, a gap of 50 show