Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Covers Radiohead

While covering the Grateful Dead is certainly Joe Russo’s Almost Dead forte, they’ve always been open to throwing material from other artists into the mix. On Halloween the band debuted covers of Neil Young and Radiohead songs as part of their performance at The Ritz in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Joe Russo, Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger, Dave Dreiwitz and Tom Hamilton took the stage dressed as ’80s Bob Weir right down to the trademark jorts. The five-piece opened with “Promised Land” and then dug into “Playing In The Band.” Later in the first set, Almost Dead debuted their version of “Vampire Blues” by Neil Young just before a triumphant, 40+ minute “Throwing Stones” > “Terrapin Station” sequence.

The five-piece kicked off the second set with “St. Stephen” and quickly segued into the first of three Radiohead covers within the closing stanza – “The Bends.” Russo and his mates alternated expertly between GD and Radiohead songs as “Uncle John’s Band” led into “Killer Cars” and “Shakedown Street” gave way to “Myxomatosis.” For the encore, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead played the traditional Dead Halloween encore of “Werewolves Of London.”

Listen to Almost Dead Halloween thanks to Robbie Dunn via Archive.org:

Setlist

Set One: Promised Land, Playing In The Band > Reuben & Cerise > Vampire Blues > Throwing Stones > Terrapin Station

Set Two: St. Stephen > The Bends > The Wheel > Uncle John’s Band > Killer Cars > Shakedown Street > Myxomatosis > Cumberland Blues, One More Saturday Night

Encore: Werewolves Of London