On Saturday night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead made their second of two appearances in New Orleans during Jazz Fest at the Mardi Gras World Ballroom. The show’s first set featured standout versions of “Let It Grow” (featuring teases of “Ten Years Gone” by Led Zeppelin), a jam that incorporated elements of “My Favorite Things” from Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music that flowed into an incredible “Bird Song”, and a down-and-dirty “Dancing In The Streets” set closer.
Set two saw the band take the blues heritage of New Orleans to heart with tried-and-true tunes like “Foolish Heart”, “New Minglewood Blues”, Bob Dylan‘s “Tell Me, Momma”, and a show-highlight jam which the band wove in and out of “Cumberland Blues” and “Big River” territory multiple times to exciting effect. The set came to a close with “Candy Man” and “The Music Never Stopped”.
For the encore, the band welcomed a special guest, guitarist Nick Bockrath of Cage The Elephant, who played the Fest fairgrounds earlier in the day. Bockrath stuck around for both “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” and “Franklin’s Tower”.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead will be back in action on June 16th at Founders Fest in Grand Rapids, MI. For a full list of JRAD’s upcoming dates, head to the band’s website.
You can watch a handful of clips of the show below via Instagram. More video/audio will be added as it surfaces online.
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Mardi Gras Ballroom | New Orleans, LA | 5/5/18
Set One (9:31PM – 10:52PM)
Casey Jones >
Let It Grow @ ->
Jam # ->
Bird Song $ ->
Greatest Story Ever Told >
Dancing In The Streets >
Set Two (11:28PM – 1:10AM)
Foolish Heart % ->
New Minglewood Blues ^ ->
Jam ->
China Cat Sunflower & ->
Tell Me Mama ->
Cumberland Blues Jam * -> Big River Jam I + -> Cumberland Blues -> Big River Jam II + -> Cumberland Blues -> Big River Refrain I + -> Cumberland Blues -> Big River Refrain + II -> Cumberland Blues Reprise @@
Candy Man ## >
Music Never Stopped
ENC:
Going Down The Road Feeling Bad $$ %% ->
Franklin’s Tower $$
@ – With a “Ten Years Gone” (Led Zeppelin) Tease (Band)
# – With elements of “My Favorite Things” (Rodgers and Hammerstein) and Teases of Let It Grow & Bird Song
$ – With a Marco Solo & a Duo Jam
% – With China->Rider Transition Teases (MB & TH)
^ – With a Throwing Stones Tease (TH)
& – With a Let It Grow (I think) Tease (TH)
* – With a Marco Solo, first time Cumberland has appeared as a Jam. Basically they started Cumberland, it morphed into a Marco Solo, which became a Big River Jam & then they sung the lyrics of Cumberland.
+ – Partial Instrumental & Refrain versions of a Johnny Cash Cover, First time Played in this style () by Almost Dead
@@ Not Played By Almost Dead since 2017-10-06 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 29 shows
## – With a “Revelry” (Traditional) Tease (SM)
$$ – With Nick Bockrath (Cage the Elephant) on guitar for both songs & vocals on GDTRFB
%% – Without the traditional instrumental We Bid You Goodnight ending. It segued directly into Franklin’s