Friday nights at Brooklyn Bowl are special already, but adding Joe Russo’s Almost Dead for their fifth show of a six-night residency just turns the knob even higher. This weekend’s run features Oteil Burbridge on bass for all three nights, while Dave Dreiwitz is on tour with Ween. While the seamless energy between Joe Russo, Marco Benevento, Tom Hamilton, Scott Metzger, and Dreiwitz is impossible to deny perfection, Burbridge is filling the shoes quite beautifully – finding his own pockets of creativity and delivering stand-out moments throughout the night.

The night fittingly opened with “Sitting On Top Of The World,” before heading into a flipped version of “Easy Wind.” One of the night’s first stand-out highlights was “Eyes Of The World,” a song Burbridge has famously made his own through unforgettable bass solos with Dead & Company. This version included teases of Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On” and the Allman Brothers Band‘s “Jessica” mixed in. Toward the end of the set, the band went into a cover of The Doors‘ “LA Woman,” played through, though without lyrics, for the first time ever. The first set closed with a sing-a-long favorite, “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad.”

Check out the set-opening “Sitting On Top Of The World” below, courtesy of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead:

The second set opened with “Alligator,” in which Marco Benevento took the opportunity to surf the crowd, before heading into a partial version of David Bowie‘s “Fame.” As if the energy wasn’t already contagious, a “Brown Eyed Women” into “They Love Each Other” into “Brown Eyed Woman”  reprise, which hadn’t been played since Suwannee Hulaween on 10/29/15, brought the hearts back on the same level, as the celebration of the Grateful Dead continued.

Watch the second set-opening “Jam” > “Alligator” below, courtesy of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.

Oteil Burbridge took lead vocals on “Turn On Your Love Light,” another stand-out version for the newly added temporary member of the synergistically-charged band. “My Brother Essau” contained a “Flash’s Theme aka Flash” (Queen/Brian May) jam, before the band brought the energy through the roof with a “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire On The Mountain” set closer.

Friday night’s encore with The Band‘s “The Weight,” which featured verses sung by Tom Hamilton, Scott Metzger, Oteil Burbridge, Joe Russo, then closed with all five.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead will return to the Brooklyn Bowl with Oteil Burbridge tonight for their final night in NYC. Then, the band will be heading to Fool’s Paradise on March 31st and April 1st in St. Augustine, FL, with special guest keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. Oteil Burbridge will also be there as an artist-at-laref, making fans wonder if perhaps there is a Joe Russo’s Almost Dead & Company collaboration in the future. Burbridge will also be hosting an “Infinity Jam” with Eric Krasno, leaving no limits in question. The Grateful Dead enthusiasts will join hosts Lettuce and bands like The Floozies, The Motet, and The Main Squeeze. More information can be found here.

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Brooklyn Bowl NYC | 3/17/17

Set One (9:43PM – 10:51PM)
Sitting On Top Of The World (TH) ->
Easy Wind @ (SM)
Eyes Of The World # (TH) ->
Drums ->
Samson & Delilah (SM)
Mission In The Rain ** (TH) ->
Loser $ (TH) ->
LA Woman Jam % ->
Going Down The Road Feeling Bad ^ (All)
Set Two (11:31PM – 12:56AM)
Jam & ->
Alligator & * (SM) ->
Fame + (MB & TH) ->
Brown Eyed Women (TH) ->
They Love Each Other @@ (TH) ->
Brown Eyed Women Reprise ## (TH)
Not Fade Away $$ (All) ->
Turn On Your Love Light (OB)
Cream Puff War (TH) >
My Brother Esau %% (SM)
Scarlet Begonias (TH) >
Fire On the Mountain ^^(TH)
ENC:
The Weight && (All)
Dave Dreiwitz is on tour with Ween.
Entire show with Oteil Burbridge on Bass & Vocals.
OB is Oteil Burbridge Lead Vox.
Oteil played 4 string bass for the majority of the night,
but played 6 string bass on Eyes. (& I think that’s it.)
@ – “Flipped” Version – Opened with the last verse sung first. With a Black Throated Wind Tease (SM). Proceeded by blues jam connecting Sitting on Top with Easy Wind that probably included a “Vampire Blues” (Neil Young) Tease (Band)
# – With a “What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye) Tease (SM), a “Jessica” (Allman Brothers Band) Tease (TH) & an Oteil Bass Solo
** – Not played since 2016-03-24, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY 2016-03-24 a gap of 35 shows.
$ – With a Tennessee Jed Tease (MB)
% – Doors cover, first time played by Almost Dead (Has been teased before). No lyrics sung.
^ – With a “Duo Jam” & without the usual instrumental “We Bid You Good Night” ending
& – With Marco Crowd Surfing
* – With a Truckin’ tease (SM)
+ – David Bowie Cover, First Time Played By Almost Dead, Partial Version. (Has been teased before.)
@@ – Partial Version, 2 verses(?) sung
## – Not Played since 2015-10-29 at Suwannee Hulaween, Live Oak, FL, a gap of 53 shows
$$ – With a “Fat Mama” (Herbie Hancock) Tease (MB), China>Rider Transition Tease (TH), a “Fat Mama” (Herbie Hancock) Jam (MB), a “Hoedown” (Aaron Copeland) Tease (MB), an “I Want Candy” (Bow Wow Wow) Tease (MB) & probably more, including for sure an ‘80s tune by a female vocalist that I can’t quite place that’s driving me nuts. 🙂
%% – With a “Flash’s Theme aka Flash” (Queen/Brian May) Jam (MB)
^^ – With a “Borderline” (Madonna) Tease (MB)
&& – TH – Verse One (pulled into Nazareth), SM – Verse Two (picked up my bags), OB – Verse Three (Go down, Miss Moses), JR – Verse Four (Crazy Chester) & All – verse five (Catch the Cannonball)

Enjoy the full gallery below, courtesy of Steve Olker!