Dubbed the “Unprecedented Friday Edition,” today, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead released the 45th edition of their Taper Tuesdays series, which the group uses to release free soundboards of their past shows. For this Taper Tuesday, the Grateful Dead-inspired ensemble released the audio from their 97th show at the Music Farm in Charleston, South Carolina. Back in January, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead was on a tear coming out of New Year’s, with a string of four shows in the middle of the month. Following their performance at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 12th, for the second night of the run, Almost Dead was South Carolina bound, with their one-off show in Charleston, ahead of two performances during Florida’s Sunshine Music Festival the next two nights.
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For their Music Farm performance, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead came out the gates swinging with a fiery non-stop first set. This first set saw the group expand upon their “Dancing In The Streets” jam, which was previously played for the first time at Winooski, Vermont’s Higher Ground though hadn’t been given the proper treatment until the group’s Charleston show. To end the set, coming out of “Uncle John’s Band,” Almost Dead used “The Wheel” as a major jam vehicle. The ensemble debuted their cover of Radiohead’s “National Anthem” coming out of their first “Wheel” jam ahead of the song itself, then debuted “Terrapin Flyer” as a standalone song ahead of the “The Wheel Reprise” that closed out this first set.
While the first set cycled through a number of upbeat, energized songs in frequently rapid succession, set two allowed the group to savor individual songs, with many of the songs hitting over the ten-minute mark and the final “Greatest Story Ever Told” that closed out the set ringing in at nearly fifteen minutes. In particular, the group’s “Row Jimmy” and “Greatest Story Ever Told” made for a soulful and spirited close to the set. To close out their show, the group returned with Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You,” a song that had been out of rotation since October of 2015, which then made its way into “Not Fade Away” featuring an “Iko Iko” jam to close things out for good.
You can listen to the audio from Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s performance at the Music Farm on January 13th, 2017, below, courtesy of McRoberts. You can also enjoy this pro-shot video of the group’s performance of “Eyes of the World” from their show at The Fox Theater in Oakland, California, on November 12th, 2016, which was released yesterday as the 98th edition of Rad Tracks Thursday.
[Photo: Emily Butler]
Setlist via Peter Costello: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Music Farm | Charleston, SC | 1/13/2017
Set 1 (9:20PM – 10:32PM): Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) (TH) -> Viola Lee Blues @ (All) -> Shakedown Street (TH) -> Dancing In The Streets Jam # -> Mr. Charlie $ (SM) -> Jam -> Candyman (TH) -> Uncle John’s Band % (All) -> The Wheel Jam -> National Anthem Jam ^ -> The Wheel (All) -> Terrapin Flyer & -> The Wheel Reprise (All)
Set 2 (11:01PM – 12:31AM): Loser (TH) -> Estimated Prophet (SM) -> Other One Jam * -> Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo (TH) -> Lost Sailor (SM) -> Saint Of Circumstance (SM), Row Jimmy (TH) -> Greatest Story Ever Told (SM)
Encore: Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You @@ (TH) > Not Fade Away ## (All) -> Iko Iko Jam $$ -> Not Fade Away Reprise %% (All)
@ – With an “I Will Follow” (U2) tease (TH)
# – First/Second time played. Also happened in the Higher Ground, Winooski, VT 2016-02-14, but was much shorter, so not a stand alone track
$ – Proceeded by a Shakedown Street Tease (Band)
% – With a Terrapin Flyer Jam (MB)
^ – Radiohead Cover, First Time Played by Almost Dead, very short
& – First Time Played by Almost Dead as a stand alone version
* – Played in a different Key
@@ – Not played since Suwannee Hulaween, Live Oak, FL 2015-10-2, a gap of 46 shows
## – With a Tennessee Jed Tease
$$ – First Time Played by Almost Dead, with an Unknown Tease – maybe James Booker? (MB)
%% – With an Unknown Tease – maybe an 80s song? (TH)
Joe Russo – Drums, Vocals
Tom Hamilton – Guitar, Vocals
Scott Metzger – Guitar, Vocals
Marco Benevento – Keyboards, Vocals
Dave Dreiwitz – Bass, Vocals