On Friday and Saturday, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead treated The Pageant in St. Louis, MO to a two-night run chock-full of their creative and crafty takes on Grateful Dead tunes and much more.

On Friday, Joe Russo and his compadres opened their show with a jam before moving into Jerry Garcia’s “Cats Under The Stars”. The five-piece then worked through a take on Bob Weir’s “Gonesville” off of his 2016 Blue Mountain solo release. Moving out of “Gonesville”, the band picked up the pace with a ripping take on “Cumberland Blues”, which included teases of “Black Throated Wind” and “Cats Under The Stars”. JRAD continued with the upbeat tempo as they smoothly segued into “Viola Lee Blues”. A soul rendition of “Crazy Fingers” came next, before Joe Russo’s Almost Dead brought the first set to a close with an electric “Let It Grow”, which featured a special “Duo” jam between Joe Russo and Marco Benevento.

Following a brief setbreak, JRAD opened up their second set with “Althea”, which was followed up by “I Need A Miracle”. Following “Ramble On Rose”, the JRAD boys jammed through the remainder of their set sans any pause, as they tore through “Jack Straw”, “Estimated Prophet”, and a set-closing take on “Tennessee Jed”. Friday night’s “Jed” contained a “Black Throated Wind” tease, as well as a jam on Duke Ellington’s “Take The A Train” initiated by Benevento. A cover of Three Dogs Night’s “Never Been To Spain” served as Friday night’s encore.

On Saturday, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead opened their first set with “Man Smart, Woman Smarter”, with Joe Russo quickly settling into a hard-hitting groove behind the kit. An exploratory take on “Eyes Of The World” was next before Russo and company moved forward with “The Wheel” and “Uncle John’s Band”. A smoking hot segue of “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider” brought Saturday’s first set to a close.

JRAD opened up their second set with “Easy Wind” before working through “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”. “Mississippi Hal-Step” eventually made way for a larger-than-life rendition of “Terrapin Station”, which was followed up by “The Other One”. “Morning Dew” brought the five-song second set to a halt. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead delivered a two-song encore on Saturday with “Brokedown Palace” and “Not Fade Away”.

Tonight, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is closing out their weekend run with a show at Madison, WI’s The Sylvee.

For ticketing information and a full list of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s upcoming tour dates, head to the band’s website.

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Pageant | St. Louis, MO | 2/15/19

Set One: Jam -> Cats Under The Stars -> Gonesville -> Cumberland Blues @ > Viola Lee Blues, Crazy Fingers > Let It Grow #

Set Two: Althea, I Need A Miracle > Ramble On Rose $, Jack Straw % -> Estimated Prophet > Tennessee Jed ^

Encore: Never Been To Spain

@ – With a Black Throated Wind Tease (SM) and a Cats Under The Stars Tease (TH)
# – With a Duo Jam
$ – With a I Need A Miracle Tease (TH)
% – With a Black Throated Wind Tease (MB)
^ – With a Black Throated Wind Tease (SM), a “Take The A Train” (Duke Ellington) Jam (MB) and a Marco Solo

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Pageant | St. Louis, MO | 2/16/19

Set One: Man Smart, Woman Smarter, Eyes of the World, The Wheel, Uncle John’s Band, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider

Set Two: Easy Wind, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Terrapin Station, The Other One, Morning Dew

Encore: Brokedown Palace, Not Fade Away