Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Debuts Bob Dylan Cover In Brooklyn

Last night Joe Russo’s Almost Dead played their second in a series of six “Fall Ball” performances at their home away from home Brooklyn Bowl in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The five-piece band offered up a pair of Bob Dylan covers, which included a debut, as a part of their two sets of high-octane, jam-filled Grateful Dead music.

Drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Marco Benevento and bassist Dave Dreiwitz got the night going with their first of two Bob Dylan covers performing “Shelter From The Storm,” from Zimmy’s 1975 release Blood On The Tracks. The band next settled into a jam that eventually found it’s way into The Rascals’ 1966 number hit “Good Lovin.'” “Touch Of Grey” followed, which worked it’s way into “Fire On The Mountain.” “Cassidy” came next, the unfinished take on the Bob Weir tune saw the group work in teases of both “St. Stephen” and “China Cat Sunflower,” with the band closing out the first stanza with the pairing of “Cumberland Blues” > “He’s Gone.”

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead opened the second set by revisiting something they played in the opening one, as they dropped straight into the second verse of “Cumberland Blues” and took off from there. The wild “Cumberland Blues Reprise” moved into Pigpen territory with “Alligator,” from the Dead’s sophomore release Anthem Of The Sun. Next up, JRAD offered up their second Dylan cover of the night with their debut performance of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.” As a nod to the fact that Phil Lesh sang lead on the Dead’s versions of Highway 61 Revisited track, Dreiwitz handled the vocals last night. “Casey Jones” was up next, with the instrumental tune “King Solomon’s Marbles” seguing into a sequence of “The Eleven” > “Jam” > “Easy Wind” to close things out.

The five-piece act returned to the stage with a take on Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land” to bring night two of six a close.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returns to Brooklyn Bowl tonight. A webcast is available via nugs.tv.

Here’s pro-shot footage of from both sets, and check out the full setlist below:

[Good Lovin’]

[Cumberland Blues Reprise]

Setlist (Compiled by Peter Costello)

Set One: Shelter From The Storm, Jam -> Good Lovin’ -> Touch Of Grey -> Fire On The Mountain -> Cassidy @ -> Cumberland Blues # -> He’s Gone

Set Two: Cumberland Blues Reprise -> Alligator -> Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues $ (DD) > Casey Jones, King Solomon’s Marbles -> The Eleven -> Jam -> Easy Wind %

Encore: Promised Land

@ – With St. Stephen & China Cat Sunflower Teases, Unfinished

# – With a Hoedown” (Aaron Copeland) Tease (MB)

$ – Bob Dylan Cover, First Time Played By Almost Dead, with “Like A Rolling Stone” And/Or ”Positively 4th Street” (Bob Dylan) Teases (MB)

% – Opened with the final chorus sung first.