On November 11, 2018 Joe Russo’s Almost Dead opened their concert at the Fox Theater in Oakland with a first set featuring full performances of just two songs. JRAD has unveiled official recordings of both their Fox show and debut at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn from July 19, 2018 as the 100th installment of their Taper Thursdays live audio series.
The first set of JRAD’s instant classic November 11, 2018 performance in Oakland began with an expansive jam that eventually found its way into “Lady With A Fan.” Another adventurous bit of improv followed the opening segment of the Grateful Dead’s “Terrapin Station Suite.” Over 35 minutes after the set got underway, the quintet finally made a move into “The Other One.” A fairly straightforward take on the tune led into all five other sections of the “Terrapin Station Suite” to end the otherworldly frame.
Almost Dead’s second set at the Fox featured plenty of jamming as well as the band connected “Good Lovin’,” “Viola Lee Blues,” “Shakedown Street,” “Let It Grow” and “Morning Dew” into one seamless movement. The group fit a reprise of “Terrapin” between “Let It Grow” and the 21-minute “Morning Dew” set closer. For the encore, JRAD went with “Not Fade Away.”
The five-piece’s performance as part of the 2018 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival also contained a full “Terrapin Station Suite.” JRAD ended their second set with the sequence this time around. The concert began with a wild “Bertha”/”Throwing Stones” segment and then Joe Russo’s Almost Dead moved from the somber “Black Peter” into a “semi-flipped” version of “The Eleven” before ending the set with “Feel Like A Stranger” and “Franklin’s Tower.”
JRAD’s closing frame at the Prospect Park Bandshell got underway with a jam that led into a mashup of “Truckin’” and “The Other One.” Then, the group provided the “Help On The Way” and “Slipknot!” hinted at by “Franklin’s” earlier in the night. “Slipknot!” gave way to the Almost Dead debut of Spacehog’s “In The Meantime.” Keyboardist Marco Benevento played a solo that linked “In The Meantime” and the aforementioned “Terrapin Station Suite.” The band said farewell with a geographically-fitting debut cover of “Walking Through The Park” by Muddy Waters.
Audio (Taped by Peter Costello/Edited, Mixed & Mastered by Eric McRoberts)
November 11, 2018
July 19, 2018
Setlists
November 11, 2018
Set One: Jam > Lady With A Fan > Jam@ > Terrapin Station > The Other One# > Terrapin > Terrapin Transit > At A Siding > Terrapin Flyer > Refrain$
Set Two: Good Lovin’ > Viola Lee Blues% > Shakedown Street > Jam > Let It Grow^ > Jam > Let It Grow Reprise > Terrapin Jam > Morning Dew&
Encore: Not Fade Away*
- @ – Includes a “9×9” (Benevento Russo Duo) Jam
- # – With a DD Bass Solo
- $ – With “School’s Out” (Alice Cooper) teases / Jams (Band)
- % – Proceeded by a Shakedown Street Tease (Band), With a “Dancing in the Streets” (Marvin Gaye, William “Mickey” Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter) Teases (SM, Band & TH), “Hey Bulldog” (The Beatles) Teases (MB & Band), and multiple Let It Grow Teases (TH)
- ^ – With either a “Day Tripper” (The Beatles) or “Pretty Woman” (Roy Orbison) Tease (TH)
- & – With multiple “Spoonman” (Soundgarden) Teases (TH)
- * – With a Tennessee Jed Tease (TH)
July 19, 2018
Set One: Bertha @ > Throwing Stones, Black Peter -> The Eleven # > Feel Like A Stranger > Franklin’s Tower
Set Two+: Jam -> Truckin’ -> The Other One Jam -> Truckin Reprise -> The Other One -> Help On The Way -> Slipknot! $ -> In The Meantime % -> Marco Solo -> Lady With A Fan -> Terrapin Station -> Terrapin -> Terrapin Transit -> At a Siding & -> Terrapin Flyer & -> Refrain
Encore: SM Solo -> Walking Through The Park *
- @ – With brief elements of “Fearless” (Pink Floyd)
- # – Semi Flipped version – started & ended with the “intro”
- $ – With “Havana” (Camila Cabello) Teases (Band)
- % – Spacehog Cover, First Time Played By Almost Dead
- ^ – With a “Everything in Its Right Place” (Radiohead) Teases (MB)
- & – With a “59th Street Bridge Song / Feelin’ Groovy” (Simon & Garfunkel) Jam and and elements of “Becky” (Benevento Russo Duo)
- * – Muddy Waters Cover, First Time Played By Almost Dead
