On Thursday night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead made their way to New Haven, CT’s College Street Music Hall.

The Grateful Dead-inspired quintet opened the performance with a lengthy, gospel-tinged jam on “Blues For Allah” before moving into an unusually-placed early-show “Not Fade Away”. Out of “Not Fade Away”, the band segued smoothly into a rendition of “Feel Like A Stranger” complete with a full-band jam surrounding “Ruben & Cherise”.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – “Blues For Allah Jam” > “Not Fade Away” [Pro-Shot]

[Video: nugsnet]

“Candyman” was up next, followed by the classic Bob Weir pairing of “Lost Sailor” and “Saint of Circumstance”, the latter of which featured additional “Ruben & Cherise” teases in addition to notes of “Terrapin”. The band closed out the strong first set on a high note with an energetic “Bertha”.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returned to the stage for their second set with Neil Young‘s “Vampire Blues”, marking their first rendition of the song since 11/11/17 in Oakland (56 shows). The band segued from there into “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!”. The top-notch “Slipknot!” was infused with teases of Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs”, the Dead’s “Feel Like A Stranger”, and The Beatles‘ “Hey Bulldog”, and finally flowed into a full rendition of “Hey Bulldog”—the band’s first performance of the song since 10/14/17 (60 shows).

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – “Vampire Blues” [Pro-Shot]

[Video: nugsnet]

Next, the band moved into yet another “Blues” number with “New Minglewood Blues”, featuring still more teases of “Hey Bulldog” by keyboardist Marco Benevento for good measure. Next, the band delivered their first “Mission in the Rain” since 3/10/18 (41 shows) followed by “Samson & Delilah” before sliding into “Franklin’s Tower” (featuring more “Hey Bulldog” snippets) to close the customary “Help>Slip>Franklin’s” started earlier in the set.

JRAD had a few more surprises in store for the New Haven crowd when they stepped back onstage for their encore. First, the dove into the “Ruben & Cherise” they had heavily hinted at earlier in the night. From there, they moved smoothly into a free-form jam that found its way into “Terrapin”, and proceeded to fill out the remainder of the “Terrapin Suite” they had started the previous night at Penn’s Peak.

Below, you can check out a gallery of photos from the performance courtesy of photographer Vic Brazen.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead will continue their 4-night run with performances at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ tonight, Friday, March 15th, and at Masonic Auditorium in Cleveland, OH tomorrow, Saturday, March 16th. For a full list of upcoming JRAD shows, head to the band’s website here.

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | College Street Music Hall | New Haven, CT | 3/14/19

Set One (8:15PM – 9:37PM)
Blues For Allah Jam >
Not Fade Away ->
Feel Like A Stranger @
Candyman
Lost Sailor ->
Saint Of Circumstance #
Bertha

Set Two (10:07PM – 11:44PM)
Vampire Blues $ ->
Help On The Way ->
Slipknot! % ->
Hey Bulldog ^ ->
New Minglewood Blues &
Mission In The Rain *
Samson & Delilah >
Franklin’s Tower +

ENC:
Ruben & Cherise @@ -> Jam ->
Terrapin -> Terrapin Transit -> At a Siding -> Terrapin Flyer -> Refrain ##

@ – With a Ruben & Cherise Tease (MB) and Ruben & Cherise Jam (Band)
# – With Ruben & Cherise teases (TH, MB & Band) and Terrapin Teases (Band & MB)
$ – Not Played By Almost Dead Since 2017-11-11 Fox Theater, Oakland, CA, a gap of 56 shows
% – With “Hey Bulldog” (The Beatles) (MB, JR & DD), a “War Pigs” (Black Sabbath) Tease (TH) and a Feel Like A Stranger Tease (SM)
^ – Not Played By Almost Dead Since 2017-10-14 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 60 shows
& – With a “Hey Bulldog” (The Beatles) Tease (MB)
* – Not Played By Almost Dead Since 2018–03-10 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 41 shows
+ – With a “Hey Bulldog” (The Beatles) Tease (MB)
@@ With a Terrapin Tease (TH)
## – Finishes 2019-03-13 Version from Jim Thorpe, PA

View Setlist/Notes