Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Keeps Songbook Growing With Diverse Cover Debuts At Capitol Theatre

While Joe Russo’s Almost Dead initially focused solely on the Grateful Dead‘s live repertoire, the five-piece’s catalog has grown well beyond that over the past decade. This past weekend alone they added songs by Screaming Trees, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top and Van Morrison to the mix during a three-night stand held at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

JRAD kicked off their latest visit to the historic rock palace in New York’s Westchester County on Friday with Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue” before working through GD classics “Cumberland Blues,” “Passenger,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Estimated Prophet” and “Loose Lucy” over the remainder of the first set. The Peter Monk and Phil Lesh co-write “Passenger” was previously played just once by the band back on December 30, 2016 at the same venue.

Namesake drummer Joe Russo along with keyboardist Marco Benevento, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton treated fans to a lengthy “Uncle John’s Band”/”Saint Of Circumstance” pairing that ran nearly 30 minutes to begin Friday’s second set. Almost Dead went on to fit their first-ever performance of Screaming Trees’ 1992 song “Nearly Lost You” into the slot typically held by “Franklin’s Tower” following “Help On The Way” and “Slipknot!” Tom Hamilton handled lead vocals on the tune featured on the Singles soundtrack.

Russo picked up the beat as the group landed on Johnny Cash’s “Big River” ahead of a well-jammed “Bird Song” that gave way to a debut cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Shattered” fronted by Dreiwitz that closed the frame. JRAD tacked on a “Ripple” encore for good measure.

A lengthy “Reuben & Cerise” was the choice to open on Saturday and led into a cover of Neil Young’s “Vampire Blues” helmed by Joe Russo. The latter bled into a rousing “Fire On The Mountain” before Metzger fronted the group on “Feel Like A Stranger.” JRAD ended Saturday’s first set with a pairing of GD favorites “Jack Straw” and “Bertha.”

Scott Metzger was back in the spotlight for the “Greatest Story Ever Told” that launched JRAD’s second set on Saturday. Hamilton then captained the band on the Bob Dylan classic “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” A potent trifecta of Grateful Dead gems “China Cat Sunflower,” “Throwing Stones” and “St. Stephen” was followed by the quintet’s premiere take on the 1973 ZZ Top hit “La Grange.” Metzger sang the cover debut and then threw it to Hamilton for a set-closing “Shakedown Street.” The weekend’s final premiere came as the encore on Saturday as Metzger belted out Van Morrison’s “Gloria,” a song originally released by the Northern Irish singer-songwriter’s Them band in 1964.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead stuck to the Grateful Dead live repertoire until the encore to close out the run last night. Blues standard “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” developed into “Let It Grow,” which found its way into the Hunter/Garcia-penned “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo” to start on Sunday. The six-song opening frame also included adventurous versions of “He’s Gone,” “Dancing In The Streets” and the “Franklin’s Tower” left unplayed on Friday.

The final set of the weekend was wrapped within Metzger-sung numbers “Playing In The Band” and “Samson & Delilah.” Scotty also fronted “Truckin'” and “Cassidy” during Sunday’s closing stanza, while Hamilton led his bandmates on “Brown Eyed Women,” “Althea” and “Eyes Of The World.” Joe Russo’s Almost Dead said farewell last night by offering their second-ever cover of Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down A Dream,” which was premiered and last played on October 5, 2017 at the original Brooklyn Bowl.

Watch more footage from this past weekend’s JRAD run shot by Monica Hampton below:

Photos by Adam McCullough

Setlists (via Almost-Dead.net) & Audio Recordings (Taped by Cam Keough)

Friday, January 12

Set One: Tangled Up In Blue > Cumberland Blues > Passenger, New Speedway Boogie > Estimated Prophet > Loose Lucy

Set Two: Uncle John’s Band > Saint Of Circumstance > Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Nearly Lost You* > Big River > Bird Song > Shattered**

Encore: Ripple

• * – First Time Played (Screaming Trees)
• ** – First Time Played (The Rolling Stones)

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Saturday, January 13

Set One: Reuben & Cerise > Vampire Blues > Fire On The Mountain, Feel Like A Stranger, Jack Straw > Bertha

Set Two: Greatest Story Ever Told, When I Paint My Masterpiece, China Cat Sunflower > Throwing Stones > St. Stephen, La Grange*, Shakedown Street

Encore: Gloria**

• * – First Time Played (ZZ Top)
• ** – First Time Played (Van Morrison/Them)

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Sunday, January 14

Set One: Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Let It Grow -> Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo -> He’s Gone -> Dancing In The Streets > Franklin’s Tower

Set Two: Playing In The Band, Brown-Eyed Women > Truckin’ -> Cassidy > Althea -> Eyes Of The World, Samson & Delilah

Encore: Runnin’ Down A Dream