Pro-Shot Video: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Continues Short Midwest Run In St. Louis

On Friday night Joe Russo’s Almost Dead continued their short Midwest run as they moved from the Music City to the Gateway to the West – St. Louis for a sold-out show at The Pageant. The five-piece band continued to honor the late John Perry Barlow playing three of his contributions to the Grateful Dead songbook, while teasing a fourth, during a show that was light on songs, heavy on jams.

Joe Russo & Co. opened up their night at the 2,3000 capacity theater with an open-ended “Jam” sequence that started with a jazzy groove as it eventually found its way into a Scott Metzger-led take on The Young Rascals’ 1966 number one hit “Good Lovin’.” Two-thirds of the traditional triumphant of “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower” followed, with the band just tackling the first two songs before diving head first into “Brown-Eyed Women.” Metzger once again got to shine this time on the set-closing pairing of John Perry Barlow’s “Lost Sailor,” that saw the band jam on War’s “World Is A Ghetto and “Saint Of Circumstance.”

The quintet got their second set of the night underway with their another open-ended “Jam,” which eventually found its way into “Greatest Story Ever Told.” This version of the Robert Hunter-penned track saw JRAD drop in a jam on Barlow’s “Let It Grow” before winding its way back into a “Great Story Ever Told Reprise.” “Scarlet Begonias” followed with a full band jam that devolved into a “Duo Jam” as Russo and keyboardist Marco Benevento locked in together before segueing into “Fire On The Mountain.” Joe Russo’s Almost Dead looked to Barlow one more time as they served up “The Music Never Stopped,” which first appeared on the Dead’s 1975 release Blues For Allah. The band closed out the night with “Box Of Rain” and “Deal,” playing the tune from Jerry Garcia’s 1972 solo debut for the first time since March of last year – a span of 38 shows. JRAD brought their 140th show together to a close with “Uncle John’s Band.”

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s Midwest tour continues tonight with a show at the Riveria Theater in Chicago. Watch pro-shot video of the openers from both sets and check out the fully annotated setlist below:

[Jam > Good Lovin’]

[Jam -> Greatest Story Ever Told]

Setlist (Compiled by Peter Costello)

Set One (8:18Pm – 9:25PM): Jam -> Good Lovin’, Help On The Way -> Slipknot! -> Brown Eyed Women, Lost Sailor @ -> Saint Of Circumstance #

Set Two (10:03PM – 11:34PM): Jam -> Greatest Story Ever Told -> Let It Grow Jam -> Greatest Story Ever Told Reprise, Scarlet Begonias -> Jam / Duo Jam -> Fire On The Mountain $, Music Never Stopped %, Box Of Rain, Deal ^

E: Uncle John’s Band &

@ – With a “World is a Ghetto” (War) Jam , # – With “Rocket Man” (Elton John) Teases (MB), $ – With a Marco Solo that included “Saturday Nights Alright (For Fighting)” (Elton John) Teases , % – With a Fire On The Mountain Jam ^ – Not played by Almost Dead since 2017-03-11, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 38 shows, & – With “9×9” (Benevento Russo Duo) Teases (MB)