Joe Russo’s Almost Dead unveiled a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue” during their concert on Wednesday night in Vail, Colorado. The quintet’s first of two nights at the scenic Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater began a run in Colorado that also includes their return to Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison on Friday.
Namesake drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and keyboardist Marco Benevento opened last night’s show with a short jam that paved the way for “Foolish Heart.” Hamilton handled lead vocals on “Foolish Heart” as he did on the “Tangled Up In Blue” JRAD debut that followed. Tommy also sings “Tangled Up In Blue” with Ghost Light. The band weaved “Foolish Heart” teases within the Dylan cover.
The seamless first set continued with “It Hurts Me Too” and “The Eleven.” From there, Metzger fronted JRAD on “Feel Like A Stranger,” which was connected to the set-closing “Candyman” by an expansive jam.
Joe Russo had a rare turn on lead vocals for the cover of Neil Young’s “Vampire Blues” that kicked off last night’s second set. Once again, JRAD went without any breaks in the music throughout the frame. “Vampire Blues” bled into “Easy Wind,” which gave way to a “Scarlet Begonias” featuring “Lost Sailor,” “Not Fade Away” and “The Eleven” teases. “Not Fade Away” eventually emerged out of “Scarlet” and took the band into an adventurous “Throwing Stones.” Metzger sang the Bob Weir classic with JRAD painting far outside of the song’s typical structure for a wild jam that included “I’m Your Captain,” “Here Comes Sunshine” and “Scarlet Begonias” teases.
The five-piece worked the “Throwing Stones” jam into JRAD’s third performance of “China Doll” to end last night’s second set. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead closed out Wednesday’s concert with a “Fire On The Mountain” encore complete with a Marco Benevento solo. The group returns to Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater tonight, Thursday, June 2. A livestream is available for nugs.net subscribers.
Stream an audience recording of last night’s concert taped by Jeff Travitz below (and uploading as of press time):
Watch pro-shot video featuring both set openers below thanks to nugs.net:
Setlist (via Almost-Dead.net)
Set One: Foolish Heart -> Tangled Up In Blue* > It Hurts Me Too -> The Eleven -> Feel Like A Stranger -> Candyman
Set Two: Vampire Blues -> Easy Wind > Scarlet Begonias -> Not Fade Away -> Throwing Stones -> China Doll
Encore: Fire On The Mountain
* – First Time Played (Bob Dylan)
