It’s certainly a rare occasion for Joe Russo and Marco Benevento to reunite as a duo. While the Joe Russo’s Almost Dead bandmates have mostly dedicated their time to the Grateful Dead-inspired band, as Benevento tours his own band throughout the year, the drummer and keyboardist reunited for their fourth show this year after a six year hiatus on Friday night. Suwannee Hulaween served as the perfect setting for this reunion, even bringing former collaborator Mike Gordon to the stage for a set-closing “Scratchitti”.
The Benevento Russo Duo made an unexpected come-back when they played a surprise show at a small club in Brooklyn, NY at the Threes Brewing in 2016. Having not played since 2010, the show marked the first of four that would take place in the year since. While they were once a touring machine, bringing Mike Gordon along for the ride in 2005 and then Trey Anastasio in 2006, the Duo always remained the key ingredient of the special sauce.
During their performance at Suwannee Hulaween, the Benevento Russo Duo welcomed the Phish bassist for an appropriate “Scratchitti”–an original that’s been in rotation since the band’s inception in 2004, and the go-to for Mike Gordon sit-ins. As JamBase notes, the trio hadn’t shared the stage under this moniker since 2008, and with Mike Gordon’s band in 2009–though the end of this video indicates that it’s been eleven years since they’d played that together. All in all, the surprise sit-in was a huge success for all those in attendance.
Check out a full video of the Benevento Russo Duo and Mike Gordon performing “Scratchitti” below: