Joe Russo’s Almost Dead

Concert Review

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead

Brooklyn Bowl – January 24, 2015

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After Furthur decided to call it quits last year, Phil Lesh focused his efforts on continuing his main side project Phil and Friends. This past New Years, he invited some new friends to support him for his first New Year’s run on the East Coast since the Grateful Dead’s “Boston Tea Party” in 1969. These new friends were the members of the 2-year old Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (ALMOST DEAD), creating a collaboration that he dubbed as PhilRAD. The reviews coming out of those shows were spectacular; showing why Phil chose Almost Dead despite the fact that they had only played 9 shows up to that point. What Almost Dead brings is a high-energy intensity to each song that separates them from other Dead cover bands. This past weekend Almost Dead returned to the place it all started for them a few years ago, New York’s Brooklyn Bowl, for 2 sold-out shows. We caught the Saturday night show, and while Friday featured a shocking 15 Almost Dead debuts, Saturday turned out to be a barnburner filled with many fan favorites and a few surprises.

Almost Dead came out of the gates firing with a 15+ minute-long “Alligator” and thus proved they weren’t afraid to put their own spin on the Dead’s tunes. This jam also displayed their ability to break out of the song’s structure and fill the space with top-notch improvisation, a pattern that would last all night. They smoothly transitioned into “Jack-a-Roe” and took it for a ride highlighted by guitarist Scott Metzger’s (Bustle in Your Hedgerow) brilliant replication of Jerry’s western-style picking and Marco Benevento’s (Garage A Trois) soaring keyboard solos. A funk-driven “Uncle John’s Band” came next, bringing the energy to a climax before they launched into their debut of The Band’s “Ophelia”. This song choice certainly caught the audience off-guard, as the Dead surprisingly never covered “Ophelia”, but it ended up being perfectly placed while the energy was at a high and the crowd certainly dug it. A beautiful rendition of “Ramble On Rose” seemed to make everyone immediately shift from dancing like maniacs to soulfully belting lyrics with their best Jerry impressions. It would be a shame not to make note of Tom Hamilton’s (Brothers Past) guitar work in “Ramble”, making this rendition worthy of a re-listen. Almost Dead then surprised the audience with the country-rock hit “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line”, a Waylon Jennings song that was never played by the Dead, but was played by Jerry during his stints with the New Riders of the Purple Sage. The band closed out the set with “Bertha”, in which Marco Benevento again displayed his mastery of the keys with a roaring solo.

The second set got started with a “Music Never Stopped” that featured some very deep space, giving Hamilton the chance to fill the space wonderfully before building up to another great solo. Next came the highlight of the night, an 18-minute “Cumberland Blues”, which was never jammed out that long by the Dead (Almost Dead also played a 21-minute “Black Peter” on Friday). Bassist Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) and drummer Joe Russo (Furthur) provided an extraordinary background that allowed the others to take this song for a spin that included several “China Cat Sunflower” teases and open-ended improvisation. Performances like this give Almost Dead an original style that separates them from being “just another Dead cover band”. Its almost hard to believe that this band has only played 14 shows, as their phenomenal chemistry allows them to improvise like the best of them.

After a short break to thank the fans, the band continued on with a “Help on the Way / Slipknot!” that got delightfully weird. Russo shined in the instrumental “Slipknot!” section by slowing down the pace initially and gradually building it up to a thunderous climax. Almost Dead kept the crowd’s feet moving with yet another fan pleasing hit – “Shakedown Street”. While each member chipped in his own solo during the jam, Benevento’s keyboard work kept the energy flowing throughout this rendition. Again refusing to stick to any so-called rules about how the Dead’s music should be played, “Shakedown” eventually broke down into a very bluesy jam before they launched into “Truckin”. This was obviously well received and Almost Dead certainly did justice to the Dead’s arguably most popular song. Dreiwitz carried the song on the bass, showing that he has adopted Lesh’s style well and adjusts it to Almost Dead’s often-intense pace. “Truckin” eventually shifted into “Space” for a few minutes before they ended the set with passionate “Morning Dew”. While this band definitely takes a high-energy approach to most songs, this “Dew” proved they could execute the more delicate songs to perfection. Hamilton’s heart-felt vocals and Russo’s emotional drumming make this version a must-listen. After playing two unrelenting sets with absolutely no fillers, the band knew they had to squeeze whatever energy was left out of the crowd and that’s exactly what they did with the “Brown Eyed Woman” encore. This rendition was a culmination of Almost Dead’s fresh approach to recreating the Dead’s music with originality, complete with soaring jams from each member (especially Metzger) and the ability to instantly switch pace as a unit.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead blew the roof off the Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night, plain and simple. While the first set offered a mix of staples and surprises, the second set was dedicated to absolutely crushing the songs they knew best and pushing the limits of where the jams could go. It was the kind of set where it would be a regrettable decision to hit the bathroom, especially since the Bowl was packed from wall to wall. This band has certainly cemented itself as one of the top acts playing GD music, and their sound is completely different than some of the best ones like Dark Star Orchestra. While a DSO concert might recreate the feeling of being at a Dead show thirty years ago, Almost Dead’s philosophy is to inject some fresh energy into each song and create new music through the improvised sections. And so far in their brief existence, they’ve been able to execute that and create something really special.

Almost Dead will be touring heavily around the country this Winter and Spring. They also will be performing on the festival circuit this summer including a stop at Wakarusa and a headlining set at High Sierra Music Festival.