Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returned to the road on Thursday to kick off a weekend swing that began with a sold-out show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. The five-piece act delivered two sets of their turbo-charged take on the music of the Grateful Dead at the historic 2,600 capacity venue.
Drummer Joe Russo, keyboardist Marco Benevento, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton got the evening going with “The Music Never Stopped.” An open-ended freeform jam sequence followed as the band eventually worked their way into The Young Rascals’ 1966 No. 1 hit “Good Lovin’.” The band slowed things down a bit with a Hamilton-lead take on “Candyman.” The pairing of traditional jam-vehicle “St. Stephen” with The Band’s “Ophelia” followed as “It Must Have Been The Roses” was tapped to close out the opening frame.
JRAD looked to the Jerry Garcia Band staple “Reuben & Cerise” to open up the second set. The band then segued into “Throwing Stones” and the politically-charged rocker included a second nod to The Band as they worked in a tease of “Chest Fever.” “Scarlet Begonias” began an expansive jam-filled run as they dropped into “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” before making their way into “Fire On The Mountain.” Metzger stepped up for a stanza-closing take on “Greatest Told Ever Told.” Joe Russo’s Almost Dead offered up “Bertha” for the encore in the Peach State.
Watch pro-shot video of the opening song from each set courtesy of nugs.tv below:
The Music Never Stopped
Live from Atlanta, GA 2/14/19 Set I Opener
#COUCHTOUR ALERT We’re live tonight with set I Opener from The Tabernacle Atlanta! Order tonight’s webcast, or get a discounted 4 night pass at: https://2nu.gs/JRADnugstvDownload the nugs.net app to hear more live JRAD recordings: https://2nu.gs/JRADnugs
Posted by Joe Russo’s Almost Dead on Thursday, February 14, 2019
Ruben & Cherise
Live from Atlanta, GA 2/14/19 Set II Opener
We’re back with set II Opener from Tabernacle Atlanta! Order the full webcast, or get a discounted 4 night pass at: https://2nu.gs/JRADnugstvDownload the nugs.net app to hear more live JRAD recordings: https://2nu.gs/JRADnugs”
Posted by Joe Russo’s Almost Dead on Thursday, February 14, 2019
Setlist (Compiled by Peter Costello)
Set One: The Music Never Stopped, Jam -> Good Lovin’@, Candyman, St Stephen > Ophelia, It Must Have Been The Roses
Set Two: Reuben & Cerise -> Throwing Stones#, Scarlet Begonias$ -> Going Down The Road Feeling Bad% -> Fire On The Mountain^, Greatest Story Ever Told ^
Encore: Bertha
Notes:
- @ – With a Candyman Tease (Band)
- # – With Chest Fever Tease (MB)
- $ – With a Throwing Stones Tease (TH)
- % – With a Memphis, Tennessee (Johnny Rivers) Jam
- ^ – With a Marco Solo (in both songs)
