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Joe Russo's Almost Dead | |
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Also known as | Almost Dead, JRAD |
Origin | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 2013 | –present
Members |
Joe Russo's Almost Dead is an American rock band formed in 2013 that mainly covers the music of the Grateful Dead. Formed by Furthur and Benevento/Russo Duo drummer Joe Russo, the band played their first show on January 26, 2013 at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to drummer Joe Russo, the band also includes Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger on guitar and vocals, and Tom Hamilton of Brothers Past and American Babies on guitar and vocals.
The band's first concert was on January 26, 2013, at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York for the second night of the Freaks Ball XIII. As Joe Russo recalls in the September 2017 Relix Magazine interview, he was supposed to play in the Dean Ween Group (Mickey Melchiondo from Ween's side project) on that second night but shortly before the date, Mickey cancelled the Dean Ween Group appearance and Joe pulled together Bustle In Your Hedgerow (Russo, Dreiwitz, Metzger and Benevento's Led Zeppelin band) and added Tom Hamilton to form Joe Russo's Almost Dead. [1] JRAD played one more show that year at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York on December 27, 2013.
JRAD slowly began playing more shows in 2014, including several sets at summer festivals including the Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, California, and String Cheese Incident's Hulaween Festival in Live Oak, Florida. They played two nights in Chicago and two nights in Colorado ending in a New Year's run on December 29, 30, and 31, at the Capitol Theatre, in Port Chester, New York, with the Grateful Dead's own Phil Lesh on bass filling in for Dreiwitz. The JRAD run with Phil Lesh was dubbed "PhilRAD." JRAD played a total of 10 shows in 2014.
Forty-six shows were listed on the band's website for 2015, including performances at Electric Forest, All Good Music Festival, Mountain Jam and High Sierra Music Festival. [2]
JRAD had their debut appearance on Jam Cruise in January performing two consecutive nights in the Pantheon Theatre and a Pool Deck set. [3] In July they would play their first show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in support of Umphrey's McGee. [4] In February 2016, it was announced that Joe Russo's Almost Dead would play a three show run at Brooklyn Bowl for Freak's Ball XVI, from March 24-March 26.
With Ween returning to tour, Dave Dreiwitz missed JRAD's five-night 2016 New England spring tour. Jon Shaw of Shakey Graves and Cass McCombs filled in for Dreiwitz. [5] In August, JRAD played two performances at Lockn' Festival in Virginia, which featured two headline performances by Ween and Phish. Dreiwitz performed in both JRAD and Ween that weekend. [6]
Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti filled in for Benevento at two performances in New Orleans in April 2016. [7]
JRAD played a total of 36 shows in 2016. [8]
In 2017 JRAD performed forty shows including their first headlining indoor arena show, their first headlining Red Rocks Amphitheatre show and a return to the Dominican Republic for their second year in a row at Dominican Holidaze. Their first headlining arena show at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado was a sold-out show originally scheduled for Red Rocks Amphitheatre but due to a late spring snowstorm, the concert was relocated overnight to the 1stBank Center. [9] The band also performed twelve sold-out nights at the Brooklyn Bowl in New York City during the Spring and Fall of 2017. On March 9, the first night of the spring Brooklyn Bowl run and the band's one-hundredth concert, they premiered Russo and Hamilton's "Keeping it Simple", their first-ever original song. [10] For three of the Brooklyn Bowl performances Oteil Burbridge filled in for Dreiwitz while on Ween tour. [11] On August 31, 2017 the band headlined a sold-out performance at Red Rocks with Oteil Burbridge on bass guitar filling in for Dreiwitz out on Ween tour. In October, between the 5th-7th and the 12th-14th, the band performed the latter six sold-out shows at the Brooklyn Bowl. JRAD's 125th show saw John Mayer, current lead-guitarist of Dead & Company, sitting in on guitar on Friday, October 13 in the first and second set of the show. [12]
JRAD started off 2018 with three sold-out nights in January at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York [13] followed by a spring tour beginning on February 15 in Nashville, Tennessee with guest vocalist Nicole Atkins performing 'Doin' That Rag'. [14]
Rolling Stone named JRAD's Peach Festival performance "Best Scene-Stealer", saying that, "JRAD takes improvisational jam rock to the nth degree." [15]
After not performing since February 23, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, JRAD returned to the stage in front of a live audience at a socially-distanced outdoor concert at the Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut on May 28, 2021. [16] A stadium built to accommodate 15,000 guests, during the pandemic the capacity of Westville Music Bowl was capped at 2,000 concert-goers per show. [17] That year, JRAD performed nine sold-out socially-distanced concerts at Westville Music Bowl with the final concert culminating on Sept. 4, 2021. [18] JRAD performed 24 concerts in front of live audiences, in 2021. [19]
JRAD kicked off 2024 with their annual three sold-out nights in January at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, adding three debut tunes to their repertoire: "Shattered" by The Rolling Stones sung by Dreiwitz, "La Grange" by ZZ Top and Van Morrison's "Gloria", both sung by Metzger. [20] In March, Russo, Metzger, Hamilton, and Benevento joined Phil Lesh on stage to close out Phil's 84th birthday celebration run at The Capitol Theatre. [21] On June 1st, Branford Marsalis joined JRAD at Red Rocks. [22]
Philip Chapman Lesh is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career.
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band are known for their irreverent, highly eclectic catalog of songs inspired by funk, soul, country, gospel, prog, psychedelia, R&B, heavy metal, and punk rock.
Dave Dreiwitz is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the bassist for the bands Ween and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
Joe Russo is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He has toured, performed and recorded with a number of other bands, including Cass McCombs, A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the Trey Anastasio/ Mike Gordon duo, the Gene Ween Band, and Furthur. He also plays with the Shpongle Live Band. In 2013 he formed a Grateful Dead tribute band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead.
Fruit Bats is an American indie rock band formed in 1997 in Chicago, Illinois, as the project of singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson. Johnson is the band's sole permanent member, with various musicians joining the band in live and studio settings.
Marco Benevento is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording engineer of Fred Short, a recording studio in Upstate New York, and a member of the rock groups Benevento/Russo Duo and Joe Russo's Almost Dead, both of which feature his regular musical collaborator Joe Russo.
Three from the Vault is a live album by the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete show recorded on February 19, 1971 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. It was released on June 26, 2007.
The Grateful Dead were an American rock band known for their lengthy, partially improvised performances, as well as for a loyal fan base who often followed the band for several shows or entire tours. They disbanded in 1995, following the death of de facto bandleader Jerry Garcia. Since then remaining members have reunited for a number of concert tours and one-off performances, often in very different configurations. The following is a list of instances where former Grateful Dead members have reunited.
The Benevento/Russo Duo is an American alternative jazz/rock band from New York City, featuring Marco Benevento on keyboard instruments and Joe Russo on drums.
Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The original lineup also included John Kadlecik of Dark Star Orchestra on lead guitar, RatDog's Jeff Chimenti on keyboards and Jay Lane on percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo on drums. Named after the famous touring bus used by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters in the 1960s, Furthur was an improvisational jam band that performed music primarily from the extensive Grateful Dead songbook, as well as their own original music and that of several other well-known artists. In addition to the original members, the band's lineup included backup vocalists Sunshine Becker of the a cappella ensemble SoVoSó and Jeff Pehrson of the folk rock bands Box Set and the Fall Risk. After five years, Furthur disbanded in late 2014.
Tom Hamilton Jr. is an American songwriter, musician, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the bands Brothers Past, American Babies, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Bill Kreutzmann's Billy & the Kids, and Electron.
Eric Donald Johnson is an American singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the leader and sole permanent member of the influential folk-rock band Fruit Bats, and for his tenure as a member of The Shins. He has also scored films, most notably Our Idiot Brother and Smashed.
Peter Shapiro is an American club owner, concert promoter, filmmaker, magazine publisher, author and entrepreneur from New York City. He is widely known as the promoter for Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead, the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary "final shows". Shapiro first gained renown through two films that screened at the Sundance Film Festival: Tie-Died: Rock 'n Roll's Most Deadicated Fans (1995) and American Road (1997). He has gone on to produce numerous other projects including U2 3D (2007) and All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live! (2001). The Producers Guild of America identified him as one of "The Digital 25: Visionaries, Innovators and Producers of 2009". On June 8, 2016, Shapiro was honored at the annual gala of the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival.
The Complete Last Waltz is a live rock show put on by Golden Gate Presents, including all 41 songs from the historic 1976 rock and roll concert The Last Waltz. Thirty eight musicians from current rock bands participated in the original presentation on November 24, 2012 at The Warfield Theater in San Francisco. In 2013, 2014, 2016 & 2018 the show was performed at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.
Lockn' Festival, first known as Interlocken Music Festival, was an annual four-day music festival held at Oak Ridge Farm near Arrington in Nelson County, Virginia. The festival focused primarily on jam bands and other music improvisation acts. Its inaugural event took place September 5–8, 2013, drew nearly 25,000 fans and featured notable groups such as Furthur, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic featuring John Fogerty, The String Cheese Incident featuring Zac Brown, and The Black Crowes.
The Peach Music Festival is a music festival started by the Allman Brothers Band and Live Nation Entertainment that has been held annually since 2012 at the Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Montage Mountain Ski Resort in Scranton, Pennsylvania. One exception was in 2020.
Billy & the Kids is an American rock band formed in 2014 by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, Joe Russo's Almost Dead guitarist Tom Hamilton, Tea Leaf Green bassist Reed Mathis and the Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aron Magner.
Dead & Company is an American rock band that formed in 2015 with a lineup of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart (drums), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge Jay Lane, and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards).
Scott Metzger is an American guitarist. His work touches on many styles including psychedelic rock, soul, country, jazz, and surf rock. His collaborations with other artists include Phil Lesh, John Scofield, Branford Marsalis, John Medeski, Nels Cline, Joe Russo, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes, Shooter Jennings, LaLa Brooks of The Crystals, Trixie Whitley, Nicole Atkins, Anders Osborne, Dean Ween, Russ Lawton, Ray Paczkowski Mark Richler, Circles Around the Sun, the Stanton Moore trio, and Umphrey's McGee. Metzger is a full-time member of Joe Russo's Almost Dead since its inception in 2013; he also continues to play with other artists.
Performing the vast and complex catalog of the Grateful Dead is a challenge to most ensembles, but JRAD takes improvisational jam rock to the nth degree.