Yesterday, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead shared a special “Friday Edition” of their weekly “Rad Tracks Thursday” series. This week’s offering is a doozy: professional footage of one of the most memorable segments of music from the band’s three-night stint at Brooklyn Bowl with Oteil Burbridge subbing for Dave Dreiwitz, who was on Ween duty in Chicago. The 3/16/17 marked the Dead & Company bassist’s first shows with the highly regarded tribute outfit. Buzzing off the tone set by this performance, the lineup went on to light up Brooklyn Bowl together for two more nights before joining forces with Jeff Chimenti at Fool’s Paradise a couple weeks later for their exhilarating “Joe Russo’s Almost Dead & Company” set.
The video picks up on after the set-opening “King Solomon’s Marbles,” and sees the band make their way through a “Black Throated Wind” jam that featured an amusing infusion of Lorde‘s smash hit “Royals” from Marco Benevento. The band moves from “Royals” back into “Black Throated Wind,” which in turn bleeds into a “Jack Straw” jam–a possible nod to the other-worldly “Jack Straw” they had delivered the previous weekend. Finally, the segment comes to a climax as Russo and company move into a revelatory “Touch of Grey” with Stuart Bogie lending some brass textures on the saxophone. Check out the 8-camera pro-shot video below, shot and edited by Sean Smith (Foggy Notions Productions):
You can download the video here through Thursday, April 28th. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead will be back in action next Saturday, when they make their long-awaited appearance at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO.
SETLIST: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Brooklyn Bowl | Brooklyn, NY | 3/16/17
Set One: Jam @ -> The Other One @& (SM) -> Dark Star #& (OB) -> St Stephen $ & (ALL) -> Cinnamon & Lesbians %* (JR) -> The Eleven @ (TH/JR) -> Shakedown Street #+ (TH)
Set Two: King Solomon’s Marbles @, Black Throated Wind Jam % -> Royals Jam % @@ -> Black Throated Wind % (SM) -> Jack Straw Jam -> Touch Of Grey @ (TH) > Playing In The Band @ (SM) -> Wharf Rat ^ & ## (TH) > Truckin # & (SM) -> Born Cross Eyed Jam
E: Born To Run @ (TH)
Dave Dreiwitz was on tour with Ween.
Entire show with Oteil Burbridge on Bass & Vocals.
Entire show with Stuart Bogie on horns & percussion.
See below for specifics.
OB is Oteil Burbridge Lead Vox.
@ – With Stuart on Tenor Sax
# – With Stuart on Percussion & Tenor Sax
$ – With Stuart on Tenor Sax, Flute & Bari Sax
% – With Stuart on Bari Sax
^ – With Stuart on Tenor Sax & Flute
& – With Born Cross Eyed Teases (TH) – This may have happened even more.
* – Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Cover, First Time Played By Almost Dead
+ – With a “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” (Michael Jackson) Jam – I think (mostly MB), Dark Star Teases (TH) & Feel Like A Stranger Teases (Band)
@@ – Lorde Cover, First Time Played By Almost Dead (Mostly Marco & Stuart), crowd sung the lyrics
## – Also with Tennessee Jed Teases (TH)
$$ – Bruce Springsteen Cover, Not Played since 2015-12-31 at The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, a gap of 44 shows.
[Cover photo via Andrew Scott Blackstein]