Joe Russos Almost Dead Mixes It Up At Brooklyn Bowl

Words by: Scott Bernstein
Photos by: Andrew Blackstein

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead :: 1.24.15 :: Brooklyn Bowl :: Brooklyn, NY

On Saturday night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead completed a two-night stand at NYC’s Brooklyn Bowl with a show that featured more heavy-hitters from the Grateful Dead’s live repertoire than Friday night’s deep cut-heavy performance.

[Photo by Andrew Blackstein]

For the uninitiated, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead first came together nearly two years to the day at the same venue under the same circumstances -the Freaks Ball – an annual concert put together by members of the NYC Freaks community. The Freaks are a group of live music lovers in New York City that have been around for 15 years and this weekend’s Almost Dead shows were the 15th annual Freaks Ball concerts. Back in January of 2013, members of the NYC Freaks came up with the wonderful idea of having drummer Joe Russo put together a band to interpret Grateful Dead songs in their own way. Russo recruited his Bustle In Your Hedgerow mates Marco Benevento, Dave Dreiwitz and Scott Metzger, along with Brothers Past/American Babies front man Tom Hamilton to form Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.

The band’s 2013 debut won raves from many who were hoping a project that was first formed as a lark for a one-off performance would turn into a regular thing. It took nearly 12 months for Joe Russo’s Almost Dead to return (on December 27, 2013 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York), but 2014 saw 10 Almost Dead performances. The last three shows of 2014 featured Phil Lesh and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (minus Dreiwitz), a dream pairing no one could’ve expected coming into or out of that first Joe Russo’s Almost Dead show. Not only that, the band already has a big 2015 planned with a mix of headlining dates and festival appearances. To show the level of excitement around Russo’s outfit, the group was billed SECOND on the initial High Sierra 2015 lineup announcement.

Now that we’ve got the back story out of the way, let’s talk about Saturday night’s performance. Once again, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead brought an inventive and high-intensity approach to the Dead songbook. They also showed they won’t be a slave to any rules or pre-conceived notions about what to play or how to play it. For example, the quintet worked a cover of The Band’s “Ophelia” into the first set. There’s no real relationship between the tune and the Grateful Dead, but it’s a song the band members like and play well especially with Metzger’s on-point vocals. Scott also led the group through Waylon Jennings’ “Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line,” a song that Jerry Garcia played with New Riders of the Purple Sage in 1970 and 1971. Almost Dead will keep you guessing at every turn.

The other way Joe Russo’s Almost Dead will keep you guessing is where the improv will take place. Some of the band’s most expansive jamming on Saturday took place within “Jack-A-Roe” and “Cumberland Blues,” two tunes not exactly known for improv when the Grateful Dead played them. The group frequently breaks through song’s structures into interesting jam spaces that will have you saying “is this still [::song the jam came out of::]?” Then there’s the intriguing song sequences Russo dreams up. “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” yielded to “Shakedown Street” on Saturday night as part of an all-killer, no-filler second set that was relentless.

Now, while Joe Russo’s Almost Dead often crushes jams, they also do well with the more emotional songs in the GD canon. Hamilton doesn’t imitate Jerry Garcia’s voice, but he does sing from the heart as he showed during the tear-jerking rendition of “Morning Dew” that ended Saturday’s second set. Dave Dreiwitz has gotten even better at leading some jams with a lead bass style that uses Phil Lesh’s work as a guide and Marco Benevento’s organ/electric piano stylings add a jazzy and fresh feel to the potent performances.

We’re now 14 shows into Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s career and they haven’t let up yet. It’s also nice to see the huge smiles each member still sport throughout most of each show. These guys are as appreciative for the experience as the fans. All in all, Saturday’s show was barn-burner from start to finish and left many of us excited to see just where this band will be after a busy 2015. Furthermore, Almost Dead has just announced a gig at The Capitol Theatre on May 9 (via Jambands.com), so NYC area fans will have a chance to see them again soon.

More Photos From 1/23 By Andrew Blackstein

Videos By Paul Giza

Playlist (As Of 8:30 a.m. PT on 1/26): Jack A Roe, Bertha, The Music Never Stopped, Cumberland Blues, Cumberland Blues (end), Slipknot!, Shakedown Street, Brown Eyed Women

Cumberland Blues Audio (Head to NYCTaper to download whole show)

Setlist

Set One: Alligator (S) > Jack A Roe (T) > Uncle John’s Band, Ophelia (S), Ramble On Rose (T), Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line (S)> Bertha (T)

Set Two: Music Never Stopped (S) > Cumberland Blues (A), Help On The Way (T) > Slipknot! > Shakedown Street (T) > Truckin (S) > Morning Dew (T)

Encore: Brown Eyed Women

JamBase | Shakedown Street
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