Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Jams On Dylan & Radiohead In Charleston

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead‘s first run of 2017 continued on Friday night at The Music Farm in Charleston, South Carolina. The band gave the capacity crowd two lengthy sets chock full of Grateful Dead classics with a Bob Dylan cover and Radiohead jam thrown in for good measure.

Drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Marco Benevento and bassist Dave Dreiwitz opened the festivities with “Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion.” The seamless set continued with a “Viola Lee Blues” featuring a tease of U2’s “I Will Follow” and a Hamilton-sung “Shakedown Street.” Almost Dead worked “Shakedown” into a jam based on “Dancing In The Streets” before settling in on “Mr. Charlie.” A wild jam connected “Mr. Charlie” and “Candyman,” which in turn gave way to “Uncle John’s Band.” Once again JRAD took an adventurous approach to “Uncle John’s” as they jammed on “The Wheel” and Radiohead’s “National Anthem” ahead of fully engaging “The Wheel.” Within “The Wheel” came the band’s first standalone “Terrapin Flyer,” a segment of “Terrapin Station” they didn’t play the previous night.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s second set spanned 90 minutes and started with “Loser.” Metzger then stepped into the spotlight to lead an “Estimated Prophet” that included a jam on “The Other One.” From there, JRAD treated the capacity crowd to “Mississippi Half Step” and the “Lost Sailor” > “Saint Of Circumstance” pairing before ending the closing stanza with “Row Jimmy” and “Greatest Story Ever Told.” The encore started with Hamilton leading a rare cover of Bob Dylan’s “tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” and concluded with a “Not Fade Away” that featured an “Iko Iko” jam. JRAD now heads to Florida for appearances at the Sunshine Music Festival.

Full Show Audio (Taped by Chris Davis)

Setlist (Compiled by Peter Costello)

Set One: Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion (TH) -> Viola Lee Blues @ (All) -> Shakedown Street (TH) -> Dancin In The Streets Jam # -> Mr Charlie $ (SM) -> Jam -> Candyman (TH) -> Uncle John’s Band % (All) -> The Wheel Jam -> National Anthem Jam ^ -> The Wheel (All) -> Terrapin Flyer & -> The Wheel Reprise (All)

Set Two: Loser (TH) -> Estimated Prophet (SM) -> Other One Jam * -> Mississippi Half Step (TH) -> Lost Sailor (SM) -> Saint Of Circumstance (SM), Row Jimmy (TH) -> Greatest Story (SM)

Encore: Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You @@ (TH) > Not Fade Away ## (All) -> Iko Iko Jam $$ -> Not Fade Away Reprise %% (All)

@ – With an “I Will Follow” (U2) tease (TH)
• # – First/Second time played. Also happened in the Higher Ground, Winooski, VT 2016-02-14, but was much shorter, so not a stand alone track
• $ – Proceeded by a Shakedown Street Tease (Band)
• % – With a Terrapin Flyer Jam (MB)
• ^ – Radiohead Cover, First Time Played by Almost Dead, very short
• & – First Time Played by Almost Dead as a stand alone version…
• * – Played in a different Key
• @@ – Not played since Suwannee Hulaween, Live Oak, FL 2015-10-2, a gap of 46 shows
• ## – With a Tennessee Jed Tease
• $$ – First Time Played by Almost Dead