Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Goes Tease, Jam & Reprise Heavy In Boulder: Photos, Videos & Setlist

Images by: Jeremy Williams

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead :: 12.16.16 :: Boulder Theater :: Boulder, CO

Grateful Dead tribute act Joe Russo’s Almost Dead continued a run through Colorado at the Boulder Theater on Friday night. Drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and keyboardist Marco Benevento treated a sold out crowd in Boulder to a show filled with fun and wild excursions. Hamilton and Metzger took turns trading off fronting the band throughout the first set with Tommy leading “Big Railroad Blues,” “Bird Song” and “Mississippi Half Step” and Scotty leading “Feel Like A Stranger,” “The Other One” and “Let It Grow.” One of the big surprises of the night came out of “Half Step,” when JRAD played a jam based on Joe Lukasik’s “Three Question Marks.”

The second set started with the five-piece’s first take on the Dead obscurity “Alice D. Millionaire” in 77 shows ahead of “I Know You Rider.” JRAD fit a jam on The Duo favorite “Becky” within “Tennessee Jed.” After returning to “Tennessee,” the quintet jammed on “The Wheel” and “Let It Grow” before properly running through “The Wheel.” The “They Love Each Other” that came next had plenty of teases within as did Metzger’s “Estimated Prophet” solo. For the encore, Almost Dead presented a wild “Dancing In The Streets,” which featured a take on “Pork & Slaw” from Scotty’s WOLF! project and a hefty jam on The Knack’s ’80s one-hit wonder “My Sharona” within. Check out a handful of photos from Jeremy Williams with more to come, followed by pro-shot videos:

Setlist (via Pete Costello)

Set One (9:18pm – 10:28pm): Big Railroad Blues (TH) > Feel Like A Stranger (SM), Bird Song @ (TH) -> The Other One # (SM), Mississippi Half Step $ (TH) -> Three Question Marks Jam % -> Let It Grow^ (SM)

Set Two (11:04pm – 12:44am): Alice D Millionaire & (SM) -> I Know You Rider (All), Tennessee Jed (TH) -> Becky Jam -> Tennessee Jed Reprise (TH) * -> The Wheel Jam + -> Let It Grow Jam -> The Wheel @@ (All) -> They Love Each Other ## (TH) -> Estimated Prophet $$ (SM) -> Touch Of Grey (TH)

Encore: Dancing In The Streets %% (SM) -> Pork & Slaw ^^ -> Dancing In The Streets (SM) -> My Sharona Jam && -> Dancing In The Streets Reprise ** (SM)

• @ – With Cryptical Teases x 2 (TH)
• # – With a “Hippie Dream” (Neil Young) Jam – may become a track, depending on length
• $ – With a “Walk on the Wild Side” (Lou Reed) Tease (DD)
• % – First Time Played by Almost Dead, Joe Lukasik Cover; not the entire song. Used to be covered by the Benevento Russo Duo.
• ^ – With an Other One Tease (Band), a Cryptical Tease (MB) & an Unknown Tease (MB)
• & – Not played by Almost Dead since Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY 2015-01-23, a gap of 77 shows
• * – Not played by Almost Dead since Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY 2015.10.3, a gap of 52 shows
• + – First Time Played By Almost Dead
• @@ – Unfinished, with a “”Moonlight Mile” (Rolling Stones) Jam – may become a track, depending on length
• ## – With a “Shortnin’ Bread” (James Whitcomb Riley) Tease, a “Hamp’s Hump” (Lou Donaldson) Tease (JR), a West LA Fade Away Tease (MB) and a “Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer” (Robert Lewis May) Tease (MB)
• $$ – With a Uncle John’s Band Tease (SM) & an “Inspector Gadget Theme” (Unknown) Tease (SM)
• %% – With a Feel Like a Stranger Tease (MB)
• ^^ – WOLF! cover, First Time Played by Almost Dead
• && – The Knack cover, First Time Played by Almost Dead
• ** – Not Played by Almost Dead since Summer Camp, Chillicothe, IL, 2015.05.23, a gap of 59 shows