Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – August 29th – Red Rocks

Well that was one for the books. While Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is consistently one of the most exploratory and compelling bands on the scene, they always seem to push their limits for the Colorado faithful and this year was no different. Being the unofficial kick-off to Colorado’s annual Phish weekend is a role that some bands might shy away from, but Russo and his bandmates have welcomed the opportunity and the fans responded in kind by selling out The Rocks more than a month before the show and driving this show to be one of (if not the) toughest tickets of the summer.

For this year’s Red Rocks celebration the band welcomed longtime friend Stuart Bogie to the stage for the duration of the engagement. While he played on everything, his innovative horn playing most notably added color and texture to “Foolish Heart” and a stellar late first set “Wharf Rat.”

Bogie wasn’t the only thing to talk about on this one though. The boys debuted a cover of The Beatles “Why Don’t Do It In The Road” to open the evening in true JRAD style stretching it out well past the 15 minute mark and they tipped their hats to Phish with a blistering “First Tube” tease that came out of a typically rockin’ “Shakedown Street.” To make things even more interesting they wove the Phish staple into a jam on “Terrapin Station” that was 10 minutes of pure bliss. The set wrapped with Scott Metzger channeling Bob Weir on “Hell In A Bucket” and we all careened into set break grinning ear to ear.

The second set took off slowly as the boys flirted with some free Jazz and Bogie and Marco Benevento traded licks before eventually settling on the “Bird Song” riff to the delight of the capacity crowd. The 23 minute take on the favorite plays with tempo, becomes elastic at times, and is a prime example of what JRAD does so well with the more delicate side of The Dead’s catalog. “Feel Like A Stranger” on the other hand got pretty down and dirty as Metzger whipped up a dance party. Tom Hamilton led an excursion into the anthemic Garcia band gem “Cats Under The Stars” before Metzger took over again and drove the energy up to a fever pitch on a stellar take on Bob Dylan’s “Tell Me Momma” that featured Benevento pounding the ivories on his grand piano.

The evening’s biggest surprise came next as the band dropped into a cover of Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song” that set the stage for the good time sing-along fun of “I Know You Rider” to close out the second set. After a short break, the band returned and served up a tender “Brokedown Palace” for their friend Neal Casal who had taken his own life just days before. Tears flowed freely as friends hugged and swayed as they belted out one of my favorite Robert Hunter lyrics “listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.” It was a poignant tribute to fallen friend and a fitting way to end a magical show.

Set I: Why Don’t We Do It In The Road (The Beatles cover), Foolish Heart, Shakedown Street, First Tube (Phish cover) > Terrapin Station Jam > Around and Around (Chuck Berry cover), Wharf Rat, Hell in a Bucket

Set 2: Bird Song, Feel Like a Stranger, Cats Under the Stars (Jerry Garcia Band cover), Tell Me Momma (Bob Dylan cover), Mountain Song (Jane’s Addiction cover), I Know You Rider

Encore: Brokedown Palace (for Neal Casal)