Joe Russo’s Almost Dead recently played six nights at the Brooklyn Bowl in NYC. For their second weekend of residency, Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge played in place of Dave Dreiwitz while he was on tour with Ween. As part of this week’s Taper Tuesdays, soundboard audio from the 3/16/17 show is available for listen.
While the seamless energy between Joe Russo, Marco Benevento, Tom Hamilton, Scott Metzger, and Dreiwitz is impossible to deny perfection, Burbridge filled the shoes beautifully – finding his own pockets of creativity and delivering stand-out moments throughout the night. The two-set show also featured Antibalas’ Stuart Bogie on horns and percussion, impressively driving the band to another level of funk-tinged Grateful Dead music.
After a room opening “The Other One,” audience members were pleasantly surprised to see Burbridge step up to the microphone for “Dark Star.” The dark melody presented the opportunity for fans to joke amongst themselves that JRAD “Let Oteil Sing,” before the band went right into a rip-roaring “St. Stephen” to bring the room’s energy to its first high peak. The band debuted “Cinnamon & Lesbians” by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks before heading into a Hamilton/Russo-led “The Eleven.” Amidst the jam came a huge bass bomb from Burbridge and the stage erupted in what would become one of the funkiest “Shakedown Streets” to date.
The second set opened with “King Solomon’s Marbles.” When the introductory notes of “Black Throated Wind” began, Benevento found the opportunity to introduce pop favorite “Royals” by Lorde for the first time ever – and the crowd immediately joined in to sing, while the rest of the band let the keys master take charge of the song to our delight. “Black Throated Wind” returned and eventually led to “Jack Straw.” It was obvious the amount of fun that Oteil Burbridge was having while playing this music with these musicians. As if it were a pop quiz, the bassist was a prepared student to receive any hint of what Joe Russo’s Almost Dead might throw.
The second set ended on a complete high note, with a jammed-out “Touch of Grey” that went right into “Playing In The Band.” From “Wharf Rat” into a rip-roaring “Truckin,” the set ended with a “Born Cross Eyed” jam. Fans were not expecting the band to return to the stage with a Bruce Springsteen encore, but they did just that. It was the first time they’d played “Born to Run” since 12/31/15 at The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA.
Read this full interview with Burbridge about what it was like to play Grateful Dead music with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
Thanks to taper Eric McRoberts, you can listen to the soundboard audio below:
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Brooklyn Bowl NYC | 3/16/17
Set One (8:45PM – 9:57PM)
Jam @ ->
The Other One @& (SM) ->
Dark Star #& (OB) ->
St Stephen $ & (ALL) ->
Cinnamon & Lesbians %* (JR) ->
The Eleven @ (TH/JR) ->
Shakedown Street #+ (TH)
Set Two (10:31PM – 11:53PM)
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 is 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 by Steve Olker]