Last night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead completed the first half of their two-weekend, six-show residency at Brooklyn Bowl with a fantastic sold-out performance. Following their high quality performances from Thursday (the band’s milestone 100th gig) and Friday.
The band eased in an improv intro to kick things off before landing on “Cassidy,” which flowed through jams on “Let It Grow” and “Born Cross Eyed” (featuring teases of teases of Bob Dylan‘ “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35). From there, the band segued into “Tennessee Jed,” undoubtedly one of the highlights of the evening. Watch video of “Tennessee Jed” below via nugs.net and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, featuring an electrifying piano solo by Marco Benevento:
After the building erupted for Benevento’s Tennessee Jed solo, Joe Russo gave Benevento his due praise, remarking, “How bout a hand for the inventor of the ‘Marco-rita,’ Marco Benevento! He likes standing on stuff, and he also likes jumping off of stuff. And Marco-ritas.” For those who were not in attendance, frozen “Marco-ritas” were a special menu item being sold at the bar during the show [pro tip: those bad boys are strong]. From there, the band debuted “Chuckles,” an original by guitarist Scott Metzger‘s band WOLF!, which included a “Tequila” interlude, likely another nod to the aforementioned Marco-inspired cocktails.
From there, Metzger led the band through “Big River” before Russo took over vocal duties for a rendition of “Box of Rain.” Finally, set 1 came to a close with a top-notch “Althea” (featuring a Miles Davis “So What” tease as well as a full-band jam based on Led Zeppelin‘s “All of My Love) and a rip-roaring “Throwing Stones.”
The band returned for set two with “Deal” sung by Tom Hamilton, much to the delight of the sellout crowd. That segued into a particularly interesting “Good Lovin,” featuring Marco and Scott trading teases of jazz standards like Miles Davis’ “Four” and Sonny Rollins‘ “St. Thomas” before the whole band broke into a jam on “Summer Lovin’,” the duet made famous by John Travolta and Olivia Newton John in the classic movie-musical Grease. From there, the band found their way back to the “Good Lovin’” theme, before continuing the “love” theme by flowing into a full-band jam on Led Zeppelin‘s “Heartbreaker,” the bands first live rendition of the tune. Check out pro-shot video of the set-opening “Deal” below, via nugs.net and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead:
Entering the proverbial “fourth quarter,” the band was locked in and on fire as they all belted out the vocals to a surprisingly rocking “Cumberland Blues” (featuring a “Heartbreaker” tease and a “Slipknot!” jam). Finally, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead put an exclamation point on the weekend run with a fantastic “Terrapin” suite, injected with an energetic “The Other One” jam.
After an incredible show, the band returned for an appropriate “One More Saturday Night” encore to send fans home after a successful weekend of great music and good lovin’. But fret not, eager JRAD fans–the band returns to Brooklyn Bowl for three more shows next weekend, with the help of Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge! See you there!
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Brooklyn Bowl | Brooklyn, NY | 3/11/17 (via Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Facebook)
Set One (9:30PM – 10:46PM):
Jam @ ->
Cassidy # (SM) ->
Let It Grow Jam ->
Born Cross Eyed Jam $ ->
Tennessee Jed % (TH) ->
Jam %% ->
Chuckles ^ ->
Tequila & ->
Chuckles Reprise ^ ->
Big River (SM) >
Box Of Rain (JR)
Althea (TH) * >
Throwing Stones (SM)
Set Two (11:18PM – 12:41AM)
Deal (TH) >
Good Lovin + (SM) ->
Summer Nights Jam @@ ->
Good Lovin’ Reprise (SM) ->
Heartbreaker Jam ## ->
Cumberland Blues $$ (All) ->
Terrapin Station (TH) ->
The Other One Jam ->
Terrapin Suite (TH/JR) ^^
ENC:
One More Saturday Night (SM)
@ – With a China>Rider Transition Jam Tease (TH)
# – Unfinished
$ – With “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (Bob Dylan) Teases (Band)
% – With a Spoonful Tease (SM) & a lengthy Marco Solo that included “Chopsticks” that could become its own track
%% – With “Big River” teases
^ – WOLF!! Original, First Time Played By Almost Dead
& – The Champs Original, First Time Played By Almost Dead
* – With a “So What” (Miles Davis) Tease (SM) & a full band “All of my Love” (Led Zeppelin) Jam that could become its own track
+ – With a back & forth between Marco & Scott that teased numerous jazz standards including “St. Thomas” (Sonny Rollins) & “Four” (Miles Davis)
@@ – Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta / Grease Soundtrack Original, (AKA Summer Lovin’ – written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey). First Time Played By Almost Dead
## – Led Zeppelin Original, First Time Played By Almost Dead
$$ – With a “Heartbreaker” (Led Zeppelin) Tease (DD) & a Slipknot! Jam (Band)
^^ – This is probably the 1st “split” Terrapin Suite, making me think that I should reassess how I note the full version of the song, vs. when they just play the first part that the GD usually played live…
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