Joe Russo’s Almost Dead made its nigh-annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival after-party residency one to remember with a stellar three-night run at The Fillmore. With a who’s who of bands in town and thousands of fans looking for something to do each night after the last notes faded at the Festival grounds, drummer Joe Russo and his crew made it a point to give them a chance to enjoy their seriously impressive takes on the legendary Grateful Dead songbook.
As they continue moving into their second decade of existence, JRAD has become one of the highest regarded Dead-related acts. Russo himself was a member of Furthur and played extensively with original Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The cadre of multi-talented players Russo has assembled, including longtime partner-in-musical-crime Marco Benevento on all things with keys, Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) on bass, and Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger on both guitar and vocals, has made great strides in taking the storied tunes in fresh, varied, and often unexpected directions. This differentiation has led to their gaining a level of respect beyond that of more by-the-numbers cover acts and led to Joe Russo’s Almost Dead becoming a true powerhouse in their own regard.
Bennevento and Hamilton got the show started before the rest tentatively joined in with a fun and funky jam that coalesced into Martha and the Vandellas‘ classic “Dancing In The Streets” à la The Dead. Transitioning into another Motown record that Jerry Garcia and the boys used to regularly cover, Junior Walker & The All-Stars’ “I’m A Road Runner”, JRAD then smashed into an explosive “Greatest Story Ever Told”, which pumped the crowd into the stratosphere.
After finishing the tune with a melodic jam that flowed into a fierce “Franklin’s Tower”, the crowd was in free fall, with a nice “Candyman” > “Let It Grow” to help them all glide to a soft landing before set break.
The entire second set was one long, interconnected jam. The free-flowing nonstop set expertly demonstrated the many strengths that Joe Russo’s Almost Dead has in vast supply. After a quick down and dirty question mark from The Beatles in the form of their notorious “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”, which featured some incendiary blues guitar from Hamilton, Dreiwitz stepped forward and turned the boogie knob to “irresistible” on a disco-quality “Shakedown Street” bass line.
Metzger’s vocals and guitar mastery then made “Hell In A Bucket” a bluesy, unvarnished hit before a sweet “Bird Song’ flitted gently towards a hard-building, jam-packed “Jack Straw” finale. Through it all, the ever-flexible Russo kept things going like unrelenting groove machine, whatever the style, time signature, or tempo. From there, it was just a hop and an electric skip through Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” before things sadly drew to a close.
After the nonstop fun of Thursday, Russo and co didn’t waste a second as they opened Friday’s show with a short jam intro into “Foolish Heart”. The band entered into the heart of the first set firing on all cylinders, even managing to show a little humor while they were at it. The “Minglewood Blues” that came next dropped after Heart had such a full-on tease of “Fire On The Mountain” before sliding into “Scarlet Begonias”.
The wild abandon of “I Know You Rider” followed and barreled full tilt into a beatific “China Cat Sunflower” before embracing Link Wray’s “Fire & Brimstone”. JRAD closed out the set with a with an expansive “Viola Lee Blues”.
Again only stopping the fun to catch their breath at set break, JRAD returned with one of the more predictable choices of the weekend, Jerry Garcia Band’s New Orleans Carnivale/Mardi Gras-based “Reuben And Cherise”, before they delved deep into set two with “Throwing Stones”.
As the subsequent “Mississippi Half-Step, Uptown Toodeloo” started winding down, the first and only special guests of the weekend arrived. A flurry of activity to Metzger’s left saw a pair of Russo’s latest project Selcouth Quartet bandmates, saxophonist Stuart Bogie and guitarist Jonathan Goldberger, emerge while keyboardist Jon Shaw sidled up next to Benevento to help thicken the sound and make it a party. Properly reinforced, the now full-on sonic juggernaut marched through “That’s it for the Other One” and “Blues for Allah” before clearing out and letting Russo and the core Almost Dead band finish the second set with a delightful, crowd inspiring stop at “Terrapin Station”.
The cheers from “Terrapin” had only barely finished before the weary crowd found themselves howling along to Warren Zevon‘s “Werewolves of London”.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – “Foolish Heart” – 5/3/24
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – The Fillmore – New Orleans, LA – 5/3/24
Starting off with an instrumental preface that transitioned into a joyful and dense “Eyes Of The World”, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead busted into the band’s third and final night in NOLA with “It’s All Over Now”—the Bobby Womack/Shirley Womack tune The Rolling Stones discovered and quickly re-recorded in characteristic Stones style back in 1964—before segueing seamlessly into ”Cumberland Blues” and “Passenger”.
The first Saturday in May might mean that the ten day bacchanal of Jazz Fest is drawing to a close, but JRAD was only getting started, opening with the second JGB tune of the weekend, “It Must Have Been the Roses”. With a playful “Playing in the Band” serving as a set closer, the weekend was hurtling towards its inevitable conclusion with unstoppable speed.
A third JGB song, “Magnificent Sanctuary Band”, got the final stanza going strong before a subsequent trio of “Lost Sailor”, “Saint of Circumstance”, and the Dead’s rarely played “Till the Morning Comes”. From there, the audience fave “Truckin” filled the air, detouring through a quick though full-throated snippet of Allman Brothers Band’s beloved “Mountain Jam” before dropping back into “Truckin’”. JRAD tore through the last three songs of the second set, “Touch of Grey”, “Stella Blue”, and the obviously anticipated “One More Saturday Night” set closer, arriving at the encore, “Big Railroad Blues”, which gave the crowd one last chance to go for the gusto.
It’s a testament to the Grateful Dead songbook’s strength that bands like Joe Russo’s Almost Dead can even exist, much less find so many different takes and directions. Likewise, it’s a testament to the skills and musicianship of Russo’s crew that they can pull off a three-night, nearly nonstop run to the delight of a packed house of discerning fans. The best part of it all is knowing that not only does the spirit of the Grateful Dead endure, thanks to the example of bands like Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, the love will continue to grow for decades to come.
JRAD returns to the stage next week at Baltimore’s Pier Six Pavilion. For a full list of tour dates and ticketing information, visit the band’s website.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – “Eyes Of The World” – 5/4/24
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – The Fillmore – New Orleans, LA – 5/4/24
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Fillmore | New Orleans, LA | 5/2/24
Set 1: Dancing In The Street > (I’m A) Road Runner > Greatest Story Ever Told > Jam > Franklin’s Tower – Candyman > Let It Grow
Set 2: Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?(The Beatles) > Shakedown Street > Yazoo Street Scandal > Deal > Hell in a Bucket > Bird Song > Jack Straw
Encore: Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You (Bob Dylan)
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Fillmore | New Orleans, LA | 5/3/24
Jam > Foolish Heart > Minglewood Blues (w/Fire on the Mountain fake out) > Scarlet Begonias > I Know You Rider > China Cat Sunflower > Fire and Brimstone (the Bootleggers) > Viola Lee Blues
Set 2: Ruben & Cherise > Throwing Stones* > Allmans Inspired Mississippi 1/2 Step* > That’s it for the Other One* > Blues for Allah* > Terrapin Station
Encore: Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon)
*Jon Shaw on keys with Marco, Stuart D. Bogie on saxophone and Jonathan Goldberger on guitar from Selcouth Quartet
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Fillmore | New Orleans, LA | 5/4/24
Set 1: Jam > Eyes of the World > All Over Now (The Rolling Stones) > Cumberland Blues > Passenger, Musta Been the Roses > Playin’ in the Band
Set 2: Magnificent Sanctuary Band, Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance > Till the AM Comes > Truckin > Mountain Jam (Allman Brothers) > Truckin’, Touch of Grey > Stella Blue > One More Saturday Night
Encore: Big Railroad Blues
The post The Music Never Stopped: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Lets The Good Times Roll In New Orleans [Audio/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
