Today, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead has released the 85th edition of the group’s weekly Taper Tuesday series. This week, the Grateful Dead-inspired band has released the soundboard recording for their show at Boston’s Blue Hills Bank Pavilion earlier in the summer on July 20th, 2018. Notably, for the performance, guitarist Tom Hamilton played on Jerry Garcia‘s “Wolf Guitar,” the Grateful Dead icon’s go-to instrument for over two decades.

However, the performance marked the third time that Hamilton had gotten the opportunity to play the famed instrument. Garcia’s legendary Wolf guitar was auctioned off last June at the Brooklyn Bowl for a whopping $1.6M winning bid from Brian Halligan, the HubSpot CEO and co-author of Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From The Most Iconic Band in History. The guitar was auctioned off to benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center, with the previous owner matching the winning bid, making for a whopping $3.2M donation at the end of the night. The auction also served as the vehicle for an all-star performance billed as Joe Russo’s Friends With Benefits that saw Tom Hamilton, Neal Casal, Scott Metzger, and Cass McCombs all get the chance to play Wolf before it went to its new home.

With Tom Hamilton expertly wielding the Wolf, the energy of the performance was particularly high. Highlights of the show included a performance of “Shakedown Street”, marking the first time the tune had been played in 60 shows, and of “Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream”, marking the first time the encore pick was performed since a gap of 36 shows. Hamilton shined during stand-out solos during “Cumberland Blues” and “Morning Dew”, and the band captivated with the second set’s opening combination of “Althea” into “Gonesville”.

You can check out the soundboard from Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s performance at Boston’s Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in July 2018 below, courtesy of Peter Costello and Eric McRoberts.

 

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Blue Hills Bank Pavillion | Boston, MA | 7/20/18

Set One (7:38PM – 8:56PM): Good Lovin’, Iko Iko @, Cumberland Blues > Shakedown Street # -> The Wheel Jam -> Jam -> I Need a Miracle $ > Ramble On Rose

Set Two (9:22PM – 10:52AM): Althea, Gonesville, Uncle John’s Band % -> Space -> Morning Dew, China Cat Sunflower ^ -> I Know You Rider

Encore: Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream &

@ – With a Man Smart Woman Smarter Tease (MB), # – Unfinished, * – Not played since 2017-01-13 Music Farm, Charleston, SC, a gap of 60 shows, $ – With an Unknown Tease (TH), % – Unfinished, ^ – With a DD Bass Solo & The Wheel Teases (TH & Band), & – Not Played since 2017-10-05 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 36 Shows