Joe Russo’s Almost Dead wrapped up their three-night run at the Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night, delivering yet another stand-out evening of Grateful Dead music that was nowhere near short of surprises. With multiple debut covers, endless teases, and sublime jamming, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead once again proved why they’re more than just a “cover band”.

Right off the bat, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead opened the first set with a debut cover of The Rolling Stones‘ “The Last Time”, with Scott Metzger on vocals. The jam led straight into an appropriate “Shakedown Street”, which featured teases of Radiohead‘s “Myxomatosis” and was left unfinished. Immediately from there, the Radiohead teases continued on “The Other One”, which also teased “Estimated Prophet”. As the band’s manager Peter Costello notes in the Box Score, this show had “a lot of ins and outs”, as the Grateful Dead-inspired quintet muscled their chops through to the finish line. Watch the first set opener below, courtesy of nugs.tv.

[Video: Nugs.tv]

The seamless jams continued from “The Other One” to “Mission in the Rain”, which had not been played by JRAD since the band’s 3/17/17 show at the same venue, a 41 show gap. “Crazy Fingers” came next with a stand-out jam between keyboardist Marco Benevento and guitarist Tom Hamilton. The band utilized the notes of a quick “Last Time” instrumental jam to bridge the gap between “Crazy Fingers” and “Truckin'”, before closing the first set with a short instrumental jam of “The Other One”, a trick not utilized by JRAD since their 3/11/17 show at the same venue, a 43 show gap.

After their break, the second set opened with a “Scarlet Begonias”-esque jam, which led into a short instrumental version of “Slipknot!”, before locking into the debut performance of “Foolish Heart”, sung by Tom Hamilton. “I Need A Miracle” came next, with unfamiliar teases coming from Hamilton, as well as a jam through WOLF‘s “Fastso’s Last Stand”. Watch the second set opener below.


[Video: Nugs.tv]

An energetic “Franklin’s Tower” followed, with full-band teases of “Foolish Heart” and “Throwing Stones”. Eventually, the song shifted into a full version of “Throwing Stones”, which thematically teased back “Franklin’s Tower” and “Foolish Heart”. The debut of Led Zeppelin‘s “Good Times Bad Times” came next as a full instrumental, before segueing back into “Throwing Stones”. Another debut followed, with a partial version of The Band‘s “Chest Fever”, as sung by drummer Joe Russo with some help from Tom Hamilton. Naturally, the second set concluded with a “Throwing Stones” reprise.

The evening came to a definitive end with a reliable “One More Saturday Night” to close Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s three-night run at the Brooklyn Bowl. Next up, the band heads to Syracuse’s Landmark Theatre and Portland’s State Theatre. Head to the band’s website for more information on upcoming shows.

Watch more videos from last night below, courtesy of Moni Hampton.

The Last Time / Shakedown Street

Mission in the Rain

Truckin

Slipknot

Foolish Heart

Throwing Stones

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Brooklyn Bowl | New York, NY | 3/10/2018 

Set One: The Last Time @ > Shakedown Street # -> The Other One -> Mission In The Rain % -> Crazy Fingers ^ -> Last Time Jam & -> Truckin’ -> The Other One Jam *

Set Two: Jam + -> Slipknot! @@ -> Foolish Heart ## -> Help On The Way -> Slipknot! $$ -> I Need A Miracle %% -> Franklin’s Tower ^^ -> Throwing Stones && -> Good Times Bad Times ** -> Throwing Stones -> Chest Fever ++ -> Throwing Stones Reprise

ENC: One More Saturday Night

@ – Rolling Stones Cover, First Time Played By Almost Dead, Sung by SM
# – Unfinished, With “Myxomatosis” (Radiohead) Teases (Band)
$ – With Myxomatosis” (Radiohead) Teases (Band) and an Estimated Prophet Tease (Band)
% – Not Played by Almost Dead since 2017-03-17 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 41 shows.
^ – With a MB/TH duo Jam
& – Short Instrumental version to connect Crazy Fingers to Trucking, First Time Played By Almost Dead
* – Short Instrumental version to end Truckin, Not Played by Almost Dead since 2017-03-11 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 43 shows.
+ – With a Scarlet Begonias Tease (Band)
@@ – Short Instrumental version to connect Jam to Foolish Heart
## – First Time Played By Almost Dead, Sung by TH
$$ – with a short Marco Solo, more “Myxomatosis” (Radiohead) Teases (Band), a DD Bass Solo and a “Havana” (Camila Cabello) jam
%% – With an Unknown Tease (TH) and a “Fastso’s Last Stand” (WOLF) Jam,
^^ – With Foolish Heart Teases (Band) and Throwing Stones Teases (Band)
&& – With a Franklin’s Tower Jam and Foolish Heart Teases (Band)
** – Led Zeppelin Cover, First Time Played by Almost Dead, done Bustle Style (instrumentally) with no lyrics song
++ – The Band Cover, Partial version – 1st & 2nd verse I think & 2 refrains, First Time Played by Almost Dead, sung by JR, with some help from TH
The whole show had numerous teases, jams & quick returns to Myxomatosis, Foolish Heart, Slipknot!, The Other One, Terrapin, Throwing Stones and probably a ton of other tunes I missed.