Joe Russo’s Almost Dead was back in action on Thursday night with an outdoor performance at Chicago’s Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island. The performance marked first show from the popular Grateful Dead cover band since their appearance at New York’s Mountain Jam last month, and featured a notable sit-in by local drummer, Wilco‘s Glenn Kotche.
Related: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Full-Show Audio Recordings Arrive On Streaming Platforms
The first half of the concert began with the band jamming their way into “Brown Eyed Women” with some teases of Otis Redding‘s “Hard To Handle” along the way. Next came “Let It Grow”, followed by “St. Stephen”. Following the band’s rendition of “Blues for Allah”, they delivered a bust out cover of Wilco and Billy Bragg‘s “Hoodoo Voodoo”, their first performance of the song since May 5th, 2017. The opening set continued with “Playing in the Band” followed by “Althea”, with Glenn Kotche appearing on stage during the closing jam of the latter, and remained for a tribal-themed “Drums” jam alongside Joe Russo. “Drums” segued its way into “The Other One” to send the show into set break.
Watch the opening set performances of the band’s jam into “Brown Eyed Women”, in addition to Glenn Kotche’s sit-in below.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – Jam > “Brown Eyed Women” – 9/11/2019
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead with Glenn Kotche – “Drums” > “The Other One” – 7/11/2019
[Video: RonnieD312]
The second half of the show started with another jam, this time themed around The Beatles‘ “Dear Prudence” before continuing right into “Here Comes Sunshine” and then The Young Rascals‘ “Good Lovin'”. Another multi-song segue then followed with “New Speedway Boogie” into “Crazy Fingers” before turning to “Jack Straw” with a subtle return to “The Other One” during the jam between the last two. Following a set-closing performance of the Jerry Garcia ballad “Stella Blue” led by Tom Hamilton, the band returned to the stage for a one-song encore of “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”.
Watch the set two opening performance of their jam into “Here Comes Sunshine” below.
“Dear Prudence” Jam > “Here Comes Sunshine” – 9/11/2019
The band returns to action this weekend with their scheduled appearance at the Levitate Music and Arts Festival in Marshfield, MA. Head to JRAD’s website for upcoming tour and ticket info.
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island | Chicago, IL | 7/11/2019
Set One: Jam* > Brown Eyed Women, Let It Grow > St. Stephen, Blues for Allah, Hoodoo Voodoo (Billy Bragg & Wilco cover), Playing in the Band, Althea%, > Drums%, > The Other One
Set Two: Jam# > Here Comes Sunshine > Good Lovin’ (Young Rascals cover), New Speedway Boogie > Crazy Fingers$ > Jack Straw, Stella Blue
Encore: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
Notes:
* “Hard To Handle” tease
# “Dear Prudence” theme
% w/ Glenn Kotche
$ “The Other One” tease
[H/T JamBase]