Joe Russo’s Almost Dead closed out its 2024 touring calendar in fine style Saturday night at St. Paul, MN’s Palace Theatre. After stops in other Midwestern stalwart cities Chicago and Milwaukee the two previous nights, it was time to bring some love to the Twin Cities. For longtime partners in crime keyboard maestro Marco Benevento and percussionist extraordinaire Joe Russo, it was yet another chapter in the merry musical friendship they have forged over decades of successful partnering.
A sparse, spacey opening jam allowed Benevento and Russo to play off each other as they have done countless times in the past. Almost inexorably, the opening of “Row Jimmy” took shape while the partnership of guitar virtuosos Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton became the well-deserved focus of attention. The acapella breakdown they collectively pulled off toward the tail end of the tune pushed an already impressive opener into classic status.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — “Row Jimmy” [Pro-Shot] — 12/7/24
Next up after a near seamless changeover was a psychedelic-tinged boogie blues take on Johnny Cash‘s “Big River” that saw more guitar pyrotechnics from Hamilton. Meanwhile, Metzger took the vocal lead, his gruff voice making for a deeply crushing emotional weight. Threading the boundaries of reality, bassist Dave Dreiwitz laid down some light-fingered scurrying bass lines that danced lightly across the suddenly infinite expansive backdrop his more melodic partners were painting.
To contrast an imperative, driven opening to “Let It Grow”, JRAD took the opportunity mid-song to open things up with another full-on interstellar journey. This particular flight of fancy was perhaps a little more jazzy than anything that had preceded it to this point, though the forward momentum never waned even when the song’s lyrical gravity slowed to a near standstill. It was an impressive showcasing of musical dexterity and control which are some of the best tools that Joe Russo’s Almost Dead keeps in its sonic shed.
A visit from the “Candyman” was the closest thing to a straight blues tune in the entire set. The first legitimate full stop of the night to recalibrate quickly gave way to another blues romp, Keith Godchaux‘s Wake of the Flood deep cut “Let Me Sing Your Blues Away”. Metzger, now back on vocals with his full-throated commitment to the song, gave it an earnestness and heart that benefited greatly from his pained and strained delivery. Clearly not in a mood to let his guitar work be outshone, Metzger put a bit of note-bending, soul-drenched extra English on each note he played. In turn, Benevento and Hamilton utilized all the strengths of their musical brothers-in-arms as they took the lead on an exuberant set-closing visit from “Bertha”.
The second set opener, “West L.A. Fadeaway”, featured some excellent bass breakdowns by Dreiwitz before neatly slipping into a lovely “China Cat Sunflower” that was lifting and crunchy in equal measure. One of the more iconic pairings in the Dead catalog, “Help On The Way” into “Slipknot!” made up the front half of the four-song run that would close out the second set. “Help”‘s many intricacies, while daunting to some, seemed to be as comfortable for JRAD as breathing comes to the rest of us. Hamilton delivered some razor-sharp guitar lines, cutting through the fog and Benevento’s beatific chord work on the organ.
The twisting, turning “Slipknot!” gave the crowd some of the most challenging listening of the night but, as is often the case, the more attention paid to the subject the higher the enjoyment of the piece was had by the listener.
From there it was time to visit “The Eleven”, with all five players equally hard at work riffing and nailing their respective roles, before flowing into a crescendo-laden “Throwing Stones” that had some of the fiercest instrumentation and crowd participation of the evening. In fact, the only few in the crowd not either singing along or dancing were a transfixed few who were so unmoving as to appear to be riveted to the spot on which they stood.
After an all too brief break for some hydration, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returned to the stage for another brief round of cheers before launching a lengthy, multi-leveled “Stella Blue”. Relying heavily on some ethereal piano work from Benevento and some of the lightest mic work of the evening by Hamilton it all came to a twinkling conclusion.
Russo took to the mic to thank the crowd and note that these last three shows, including this amazing performance in St. Paul, were the end of the year’s slate for JRAD. If the cheers and pleas for more were any indication, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead has plenty of love waiting for them in Minnesota and all around the country for next year and as far beyond as any can see or even envision. The band is already looking ahead to 2025 with a trio of newly announced shows in Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut in late May.
JRAD’s fearless approach to what is, for some, holy and inviolate territory speaks to not only their talents as individual performers but also their fearless nature as a band. The future looks mighty bright for the band, its fans, and the always-enduring catalog of masterpieces crafted by the Grateful Dead. As the Dead so often sang, ”Love is real, not fade away.”
Find full-show audio of Saturday’s JRAD show on Internet Archive and watch the entire concert on nugs. Not a nugs subscriber yet? Sign up for a seven-day free trial here. [Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your nugs subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the world of live music. Thank you for reading!].
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Palace Theatre | St.Paul, MN | 12/7/24
Set One: Row Jimmy, Big River (Johnny Cash) > Let It Grow, Candyman, Let Me Sing Your Blues Away, Bertha
Set Two: West L.A. Fadeaway> China Cat Sunflower, Beat It On Down the Line (Jesse Fuller), Help On The Way > Slipknot! > The Eleven > Throwing Stones
Encore: Stella Blue