The latest installment of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead‘s Taper Tuesdays series features official audio of the band’s performance at The Depot in Salt Lake City on July 14. The night featured a slightly different lineup with former Fat Mama and current Leftover Salmon keyboardist Erik Deutsch subbing for Marco Benevento. The opening frame was highlighted by an expansive 25+ minute pairing of “Dancing In The Street” > “Eyes Of The World,” while the second set saw the quintet dig in on a meaty “Truckin’” and a memorable “Playing In The Band.”
The night got underway with ethereal jam that led straight into an explosive “Jack Straw.” An extremely funky take on Martha Reeves and the Vandellas’ “Dancing In The Street” followed with Deutsch getting a chance to shine early on with a standout solo. The Motown classic wound its way into a gorgeous “Eyes Of The World” with “He’s Gone” and a thunderous “The Other One” bringing the set to a close.
Some spacey-noodling that saw the band the incorporate elements of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” came ahead of a tender “Row Jimmy” at the start of the second set. The five-piece then offered up a “Truckin’” that saw them jam on some primordial Grateful Dead as they dropped into “Born Cross-Eyed” in its midst. After takes on “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” “Tennessee Jed” and “Box Of Rain,” Joe Russo & Co. delivered a set-closing version of “Playing In The Band.” The nearly 20-minute exploratory version saw them insert a jam in the middle and offer up a “Playing In The Band Reprise” for the first time in forty shows. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returns to the road this Thursday for a three-show run with Oteil Burbridge subbing for Dave Dreiwitz on bass. Listen to the official audio from July 14 thanks to Peter Costello and Eric McRoberts:
Setlist (Compiled by Peter Costello)
Set I: Jam > Jack Straw, Dancing In The Street # > Eyes Of The World > He’ Gone > The Other One
Set II: Jam > Row Jimmy, Truckin’$ > Born Cross-Eyed Jam > Truckin’ $ > Mississippi Half-Step % > Tennesse Jed, Box Of Rain, Playing In The Band > ’73 Changes (Eyes) Jam > Playing In The Band Reprise
Encore: Going Down The Road Feeling Band & > We Bid You Goodnight (instrumental)
@ – Entire Show with Erik Deutsch (Fat Mama, Hooteroll+ Plus, Leftover Salmon) on Keyboards, subbing for Marco Benevento, # – With an Erik Deutsch solo & a DD Solo, $ – With Bird Song Teases (TH), % – Contained elements of & some vocals from “In The Meantime” (Spacehog), ^ – Not played since 2017-07-21 – The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, a gap of 40 shows, & – Started with TH solo, & who was then joined by ED before the rest of the band joined in
