Joe Russo’s Almost Dead paid tribute to The Band with a moving cover of “The Weight” in Boston on Saturday. The classic song written by the late Robbie Robertson (who would have turned 81 on Friday the 9th) served as the encore at JRAD’s show at Leader Bank Pavilion, which capped a three-night, three-city run featuring prior shows in Maine and Vermont. The cover also arrived one day after the 87th birthday of multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson, The Band’s last surviving member.
Joe Russo, Tom Hamilton, Scott Metzger, Marco Benevento, and Jon Shaw (in for bassist Dave Dreiwitz who was—at the time—on tour with Ween) came in hot to Leader Bank Pavilion on August 3rd. Amid the “Days Between” Grateful Dead holiday celebrating the days between Jerry Garcia‘s birthday on August 1st and the anniversary of his death on the 9th, JRAD delivered two sets of classics from the Dead canon and beyond.
Hamilton opened the show with gusto as he spat out the engrossing narrative of Bob Dylan‘s “Tangled Up in Blue”, a favorite of the Jerry Garcia Band. Saturday’s first set went on to highlight some of the most beloved Grateful Dead staples including “Bertha”, “The Other One”, and “Jack Straw”. The band punctuated these classics with Scott Metzger‘s proficient Bob Weir channeling on “New Minglewood Blues” and a standalone “Saint of Circumstance”. Though not preceded by its typical partner “Lost Sailor”, the song did prove a vessel for the band to wade into some of the most uncharted and inhibited improvisation of the evening.
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For the second set, Bobby’s “Greatest Story Ever Told” was the springboard that sent the band through a bluesy, blissful jam that emerged on the other side as “Help on the Way”. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead has never shied away from breaking GD traditions and splitting up iconic song pairings, but the band did opt to keep “Help” and “Slipknot!” together before the instrumental gave way to the stomping introduction of “Shakedown Street”. A groove-heavy jam followed as the band embraced the song’s disco DNA before hitting the road for “Truckin’”, throwing it back to Primal Dead with “The Eleven”, and finally closing the set with “I Know You Rider”.
Returning to the stage to close out the group’s fifth career appearance at Leader Bank Pavilion, JRAD dropped into the iconic opening of “The Weight”, a song often borrowed by the Grateful Dead in the group’s later years. Tom Hamilton had plenty of support on the first verse as the audience came to life singing Robertson’s lyrics. Luckily, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead has the stable of strong singers required to handle the song’s vocal baton race, with Metzger taking the second verse. Though keyboardist Marco Benevento fronts his eponymous solo band and has a discography going back 16 years, his voice is seldom heard with the Grateful Dead tribute project. The pavilion accordingly roared with approval when Benevento chimed in for the third verse, though this was quickly overshadowed by Russo taking the mic for the fourth (and pulling off a pretty fair Rick Danko impression). All four vocalists then came together for the collaborative final verse to cap off the weekend.
This marked JRAD’s tenth career performance of “The Weight” in nine years and first since August 13th, 2023 at Cave Mountain Catskills Music Festival, per AlmostDead.net. Last year, when The Band’s songwriter passed away at age 80, JRAD honored him nightly with a string of covers including takes on “Ophelia” at Leader Bank Pavilion and a Basement Tapes deep cut during a rare acoustic show.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — “The Weight” (The Band) — 8/3/24
[Video: digidigit]
Listen to a full audio recording and check out a photo gallery from Joe Russo’s Almost Dead at Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston below courtesy of photographer Andrew Blackstein. The band will resurface next month in New York City for a two-night run at The Rooftop at Pier 17 on September 6th and 7th. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates on the band’s website.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — Leader Bank Pavilion — Boston, MA — 8/3/24 — Full Audio
[Audio: mgonnella]
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | Leader Bank Pavilion | Boston, MA | 8/3/24
Set One: Jam > Tangled Up in Blue (Bob Dylan) > New Minglewood Blues, Bertha > Saint of Circumstance > The Other One > Jack Straw
Set Two: Greatest Story Ever Told > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Shakedown Street > Truckin’ > The Eleven, I Know You Rider (Traditional)
Encore: The Weight (The Band)
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