Joe Russo’s Almost Dead cut the chord for a rare acoustic performance on Friday in Atlantic City, NJ, where the Grateful Dead-adjacent act paid tribute to late The Band guitarist/songwriter Robbie Robertson. The special engagement at the Music Box at the Borgata hotel and spa marked the group’s first acoustic foray into acoustics since its tenth-anniversary celebration at The Capitol Theatre back in January.
The tribute came at the tail end of the first set when Marco Benevento took vocals on The Basement Tapes deep cut “Yazoo Street Scandal”. It was at that same time the band leaned into its jazz pedigree, as the entire ensemble began to experiment with meter and melody to create one of those unique JRAD jams. The group last played the Bob Dylan/The Band collaboration on March 4th in Atlanta, per Setlist.fm.
The rest of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s acoustic excursion featured nods to notable songwriters outside the Dead sphere, including the opening debut of Tom Petty‘s “Time To Move On”. The band also paid its respects to Garden State hero Bruce Springsteen as Tom Hamilton took over the keys and the stage for “Thunder Road” shortly after Scott Metzger‘s ride in Richard Thompson‘s “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”, also a first for JRAD.
Check out a gallery of images from the Joe Russo’s Almost Dead acoustic show in Atlantic City, NJ below courtesy of photographer Andrew Blackstein along with some videos and full-show audio.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – “Deal” (Jerry Garcia) – 8/11/23
[Video: monihampton]
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – Music Box – Atlantic City, NJ – 8/11/23
[Audio: Travitz12]
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Music Box At The Borgata | Atlantic City, NJ | 8/11/23
Set One: Lazy Lightning (Kingfish), Time To Move On (Tom Petty) [1], Let Me Sing Your Blues Away (Grateful Dead), Deal (Jerry Garcia), When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob Dylan), Restless Heart (American Babies) [1], Yazoo Street Scandal (Bob Dylan & The Band), 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (Richard Thompson) [1] [2]
Set Two: Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen) [1] [3], Gonesville (Bob Weir), It Must Have Been The Roses (Robert Hunter), Till The Morning Comes (Grateful Dead), Box of Rain (Grateful Dead), Help On The Way (Grateful Dead) > Slipknot! (Grateful Dead) > Franklin’s Tower (Grateful Dead)
Encore: The Monkey And The Engineer (Jesse Fuller) [1], Terrapin Station
[1] FTP
[2] Scott Metzger solo
[3] Tom Hamilton on piano and vocals, Marco Benevento on vibraphone
Note: acoustic show
