Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Shares Official Recording Of St. Patrick’s Day Show

The latest installment of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead‘s Taper Tuesdays series features official audio of the band’s stellar St. Patrick’s Day performance at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine. JRAD ended the night with their debut cover of Ween’s “Blarney Stone” sung by Ween (and Almost Dead) bassist Dave Dreiwitz, which was just one of the highlights from the evening.

Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton and drummer Joe Russo opened with a breathtaking jam that hinted at “The Wheel” before the band revved into “Playing In The Band.” JRAD channeled early ’70s Dead throughout an expansive “Playin'” that spanned over 16 minutes. The quintet then pulled off an impressive transition into a Hamilton-sung “Althea.” Almost Dead’s five-song, 90-minute opening set on March 17th continued with an otherworldly “Greatest Story Ever Told” that broke form for a jam with hints of “Dear Prudence.” Marco and Scott then shined on an “Eyes Of The World” featuring varied tempos ahead of the “Brown-Eyed Women” that closed the frame.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead also started the second set with a jam. This time around there were tastes of “Dancing In The Streets” before the band launched into the Martha Reeves & The Vandellas’ gem. The quintet worked through the verses and chorus at what seemed like hyperspeed and then was led into a dark and dirty jam space by Benevento. All told, “Dancin'” extended beyond the 20-minute mark and was followed by a fairly straight forward “New Minglewood Blues.” It was right back to open-ended jamming for a wild “Let It Grow” that included teases of “Boy” by Brothers Past, “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin and the Dead’s “Slipknot!” A pairing of “Loser” and “The Eleven” ended the second set before Dreiwitz sang “Blarney Stone” as the evening’s encore.

Listen to the official audio from March 17 thanks to Peter Costello and Eric McRoberts:

Setlist (Compliled by Peter Costello)

Set One: Jam -> Playing In The Band -> Althea -> Greatest Story Ever Told# -> Jam@ -> Greatest Story Ever Told Reprise -> Eyes Of The World$ -> Brown Eyed Women

Set Two: Jam -> Dancing In The Streets% -> New Minglewood Blues^, Let It Grow&, Loser > The Eleven

Encore: Blarney Stone*

• @ – with elements of “Dear Prudence” (The Beatles), “Dark Star” & “Playing In The Band”
• # – with a “Money For Nothing” (Dire Straits) Tease (TH?)
• $ – With a MB Solo & a DD Solo
• % – With Playing in The Band Teases (Band)
• ^ – With a Throwing Stones Tease (TH)
• & – With a “Boy” (Brothers Past) Tease (TH), a “Black Dog” (Led Zeppelin) Tease (?) & a “Slipknot!” Tease (Band)
• * – Ween Cover, First Time Played by Almost Dead, DD Lead Vocals