Joe Russo’s Almost Dead at The Stage AE

It’s been ten years since Joe Russo’s Almost Dead emerged in the jungle of Brooklyn, New York’s rock scene. Drummer Joe Russo founded the band in 2013 after recruiting exemplary musicians, bassist Dave Dreiwitz, guitarist Scott Metzger, keyboardist Marco Benevento, and singer/guitarist Tom Hamilton. Like Grateful Dead, JRAD has been known to take something and add their own twist to it. “We’re not bound to the way that someone else did it. You take the DNA and information that is offered to you, and then you manipulate it, deconstruct it and rebuild it. You add stuff to it,” Russo mentioned during an interview.

Before forming JRAD, Russo actually had experience working with original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. He performed with Weir and Lesh in the spin-off band Furthur. Shortly after launching JRAD in 2013, Furthur disbanded.

JRAD performed their first gig at the Brooklyn Bowl in January 2013. The show was shortly followed by a second gig held at the Freaks Bal XIII. The following year, JRAD began booking gigs at summer festivals. By this time, the band has slowly developed a following comprising of Deadheads and other jam band fanatics. Some of JRAD’s more notable appearances that year includes, Gathering of the Vibes in Connecticut, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in California, and the String Cheese Incident’s Halloween special, Hulaween Festival.

During a New Year’s Eve show, JRAD was joined by Phil Lesh on stage. After this momentous performance, Lesh continued to fill in the bassist position during Dreiwitz’s absence. JRAD has become one of the most prominent Grateful Dead tribute bands, and having original members Lesh and Weir, plus several other jam band icons, join them on stage made quite a buzz among fans. Soon enough, JRAD became a festival favorite, appearing on popular shows such as Mountain Jam, High Sierra, Electric Forest, and All Good Festival. A few years after their debut at the Brooklyn Bowl, the band returned to the venue and held a three-night sold-out run. In 2018, they also sold out a three-night concert at New York’s Capital Theatre. That same year, the band performed in one of their most memorable shows at the Peach Festival. Critics praised the band for taking “improvisational rock to the nth degree.”

If you want to catch Joe Russo’s Almost Dead in Pittsburgh, you better move quickly and secure those tickets now!