Joe Russo’s Almost Dead closed out its 2025 touring calendar over the weekend with a three-night, three-city Northeast run. The trio of concerts in Jim Thorpe, PA, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. saw JRAD debut a pointed Woody Guthrie cover at the D.C. closer and turn the mic over to bassist Dave Dreiwitz for a tribute to Phil Lesh in Philly.
The weekend started early on Thursday at Penn’s Peak in the small, Eastern PA town of Jim Thorpe. While the following nights would see the Grateful Dead tribute band open up its repertoire to covers from Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, and Allman Brothers Band, night one saw JRAD mostly stick to classics from the Band Beyond Description (following the Jerry Garcia-tinged “I Second That Emotion” opener).
Highlights of the first show included a nearly 40-minute sequence of “I Need A Miracle” > “Tennessee Jed” > “Let It Grow” to close the first frame. In set two, drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Marco Benevento, and Dreiwitz kept it classic, going deep on “Truckin'”, pairing up “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Brown-Eyed Women”, and Hamilton melting hearts on a “Stella Blue” set-closer.
Heading southeast by way of I-476, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead arrived at the ornate Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia on Friday. There would be no symphony that night at The Met; rather, it would host JRAD’s rock n’ roll circus, complete with The Stones’ “Street Fighting Man”. Friday would be a night of deep dives into the band’s Dead+ catalog, beginning with the opening “Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” (LTP 5/31/24) and the following “Let Me Sing Your Blues Away”, not played since the band’s last show of 2024 on December 7th, per Setlist.fm.
Grateful Dead — “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” (Grateful Dead) — Philadelphia, PA — 11/14/25
Local-boy-done-good Tom Hamilton commanded centerstage throughout Friday’s show, particularly on the first-set closing “Atlantic City” that turned into a full-crowd singalong. In the end, though, Dave Dreiwitz let his lovelight shine as he started the two-song encore with a reading of Robbie Robertson‘s “Broken Arrow”, a Lesh-sung cover the Dead introduced in 1993.
Finally, the Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Northeast run came to a close on Saturday at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. Just as the band had done in its last visit to the D.C. metro in June for All Good Now, JRAD used its proximity to the seat of U.S. government to deliver a sharp musical challenge to the administration.
While the band’s June appearance at Merriweather Post Pavilion for the revived All Good took a little more reading between the lines (with debuts of CCR Vietnam standard “Fortunate Son” and “Street Fighting Man”), Saturday’s show was about as direct as possible with the debut of Woody Guthrie’s “All You Fascists”. Metzger left little to the imagination as he spat over the rockabilly beat, “People of every color / Marching side to side / Marching ‘cross these fields / Where a thousand fascists die / You’re bound to lose / You fascists bound to lose!”
In the final set of the weekend, JRAD brought more of its high-intensity Grateful Dead translations, with an “Estimated Prophet” -> “Playing in the Band” -> “The Wheel” centerpiece. Before the band bid the year goodnight, Metzger still had some more outcry in him and channeled his rage into a shattering “Throwing Stones” to close the set. To finish off the show and the year, Hamilton took the reins once more as the credits rolled with an encore of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”.
Check out full audio from the Joe Russo’s Almost Dead year-ending Northeast run, along with select video highlights by monihampton. The band will get back at it in January for a three-night run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. Find tickets and tour dates here.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — “Six Days On The Road” (Paul Davis) — Jim Thorpe, PA — 11/13/25
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — Penn’s Peak — Jim Thorpe, PA — 11/13/25 — Full Audio
[Audio: Travitz12]
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Metropolitan Opera House — Philadelphia, PA — 11/14/25 — Full Audio
[Audio: Travitz12]
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Anthem — Washington, D.C. — 11/15/25 — Full Audio
[Audio: Travitz12]
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Penn’s Peak | Jim Thorpe, PA | 11/13/25
Set One: I Second That Emotion (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles), Scarlet Begonias, Six Days on the Road (Paul Davis), I Need A Miracle > Tennessee Jed > Let It Grow
Set Two: Touch of Grey, Truckin’, Hell in a Bucket, Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Brown-Eyed Women, Stella Blue
Encore: Going Down the Road Feeling Bad (Traditional)
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Metropolitan Opera House | Philadelphia, PA | 11/14/25
Set One: The Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion) [1], Let Me Sing Your Blues Away [2], The Music Never Stopped, Bertha > Cassidy > Street Fighting Man (The Rolling Stones) > Cassidy, Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen)
Set Two: Jack Straw > Foolish Heart > Man Smart, Woman Smarter (King Radio), Shakedown Street > The Other One > Terrapin Station
Encore: Broken Arrow (Robbie Robertson) [3] -> Not Fade Away (The Crickets)
[1] LTP 5/31/24
[1] LTP 12/7/24
[2] Dave Dreiwitz on vocals, LTP 8/10/23
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Anthem | Washington, D.C. | 11/15/25
Set One: Loser, Revival (Allman Brothers Band), Cats Under the Stars, All You Fascists (Woody Guthrie) [1], Mama Tried (Merle Haggard), Fire on the Mountain, Silvio (Bob Dylan)
Set Two: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Estimated Prophet -> Playing in the Band [2] -> The Wheel, Ramble on Rose, Throwing Stones [3]
Encore: Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen) [4]
[1] FTP
[2] w/ “Uncle John’s Band” tease
[3] w/ “Cocaine” (J.J. Cale) intro
[4] LTP 5/17/24