On Saturday, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead made a stop at Cleveland, OH’s Masonic Auditorium, marking the quintet’s fourth and final show of the week.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead opened their first set with “St. Stephen”, which featured a tease of The Band‘s “Look Out Cleveland”. Guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton traded off firey hot solos out of the gates, backed by Joe Russo and Dave Dreiwitz holding down the rhythm section. The band moved forward with a full-throttle take on “Playing In The Band” before continuing with “Crazy Fingers”. With all eyes on Marco Benevento, the mastermind keyboardist treated the sold-out Masonic Auditorium crowd to an electrifying solo before the band brought the first set to a close with a monstrous pairing of “Scarlet Begonias” into “I Know You Rider”.
Following a brief set break, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead came back out to open their second set with “Shakedown Street”, which featured a “China>Rider Transition” tease initiated by Hamilton. Despite the tease, “China Cat Sunflower” never made an appearance in Cleveland and the five-piece jam powerhouse moved forward with “I Need A Miracle. Backed by Russo’s octopus-like moves behind the kit, JRAD smoothly segued into a jam on “The Other One”, with Dreiwitz flexing on his chops on the bass. “The Other One” jam made way for “Cryptical Envelopment”, last played at Brooklyn Bowl in October 2016. The band’s triumphant second set continued with a colossal rendition of “Eyes Of The World”, with Metzger teasing Archie Bell & The Drells‘ “Tighten Up”. Dreiwitz took another chance to rock the Cleveland crowd with a captivating bass solo before the band properly unveiled “The Other One”. Russo and Benevento locked in for a “Duo Jam” in “The Other One” before the band smoothly moved back into “Cryptical Envelopment”. The quintet finished off “Cryptical” properly and continued with a set-closing “Dancing In The Streets”, highlighted by the entire band locking into a “Loose Lucy” tease, with Tom Hamilton eventually taking the lead and teasing Phish‘s “First Tube”.
After teasing “Look Out Cleveland” in the first set, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returned to debut The Band tune in the first slot of their encore. Hamilton took the vocal lead on “Look Out Cleveland” before the band brought the Saturday night rock show to a close with “One More Saturday Night”.
Next up for Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is an appearance at Atlanta, GA’s SweetWater 420 Fest. For a full list of the band’s upcoming tour dates and ticketing information, head to their website.
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Masonic Auditorium | Cleveland, OH | 3/16/2019
Set One: St. Stephen @, Playing In The Band -> Crazy Fingers -> Marco Solo -> Cosmic Charlie -> Scarlet Begonias -> I Know You Rider
Set Two: Shakedown Street # > I Need A Miracle -> The Other One Jam -> Cryptical Envelopment $ -> Eyes Of The World % -> The Other One ^ -> Cryptical Envelopment $ -> Dancing In The Streets &
Encore: Look Out Cleveland * > One More Saturday Night
@ – With a “Look Out Cleveland” Tease (TH)
# – With a “China>Rider Transition” Tease (TH/Band)
$ – Not Played By Almost Dead Since 2016-10-07 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 105 shows
% – With a “Tighten Up” (Archie Bell & The Drells) Tease (SM), a DD Solo, and the “’73 Changes”
^ – With a “Duo Jam” and a Miracle Tease (TH)
& – With a Loose Lucy Jam (Band) and a “First Tube” (Phish) Tease (TH)
* – The Band Cover, First Time Played by Almost Dead, TH vocals