Today, for the 71st edition of Taper Tuesday, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead has released the soundboard audio for their stunning Midwest winter tour closer. The show, performed on February 18th at Madison, Wisconsin’s Orpheum Theatre, was near flawless, chockful of the band’s innovative improvisations. Perhaps the high point of the night, however, was the band’s second set, where they laid out a truly stunning rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Terrapin Suite”, ahead of the frame’s standout set-closing rendition of “Morning Dew”.

As previously reported, “Unlike the three previous shows, the band didn’t warm up with a long jam. Instead, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead took the stage, and guitarist Tom Hamilton immediately started picking the instantly identifiable notes to ‘Althea’.” The band’s take on “Althea” led into “Gonesville”, a song off Bob Weir‘s 2016 solo effort, Cold Mountain, which JRAD debuted in April during their spectacular arena debut at 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. From there, the band moved through “Cumberland Blues” and “Row Jimmy”, with each number housing a number of wild teases, before landing in the set-closing combination of “Jack Straw” and “Tennessee Jed”.

After set break, the band returned with a dark, set-opening rendition of “Let It Grow”, followed by a gorgeous performance of “Crazy Fingers”. A seamless transition into “Estimated Prophet” came next, which was used as a springboard for an extended transition led by bassist Dave Dreiwitz. To the delight of the crowd, the band next laid out a triumphant rendition of the multi-song composition, “Terrapin Suite”. “Lady With A Fan” and the “Terrapin Station” segments were arguably the evening’s best moments, with the two parts executed flawlessly. However, “At A Siding’ was similarly wonderful, though the band used it as a vehicle for a more spacey jam.

From there, the band moved out of the awe-worthy refrain of “Terrapin Suite”, landing in another fan-favorite,”Morning Dew”. As with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s goosebump-inducing take on the song during their rescheduled show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre last August, guitarist Tom Hamilton sang the first verse a capella to an eerily quiet and truly captivated audience. The song also saw an ethereal duet between Hamilton and keyboardist Marco Benevento, which served as a perfect sendoff for the audience ahead of the band’s encore of “Drums” into “Samson & Delilah”.

You can check out the setlist and stream Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s show at the Orpheum Theatre on February 18th, 2018, below, courtesy of Peter Costello and Eric McRoberts.

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Orpheum Theatre | Madison, WI | 2/18/2018

Set One (8:38PM – 9:56PM): Althea, Gonesville -> Cumberland Blues @, Row Jimmy -> St. Stephen Jam -> Jack Straw, Tennessee Jed

Set Two (10:26PM – 12:14AM?): Let It Grow -> Crazy Fingers -> Estimated Prophet -> Terrapin Station: Lady with a Fan -> Terrapin Station -> Terrapin -> Terrapin Transit -> At a Siding -> Terrapin Flyer -> Refrain > Morning Dew

Encore: Drums -> Samson & Delilah

@ – With Dark Star Teases (MB)
# – With Playing in the Band Teases (TH)