Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Honor Bob Weir, Welcome Stuart Bogie at The Cap

Photo by Dino Perrucci

Last night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead continued to honor Bob Weir during the second concert of their annual three-show January stand at Port Chester, NY’s Capitol Theatre. On Friday, JRAD welcomed Warren Haynes for their entire second set and encore and, yesterday, the group weaved in longtime collaborator Stuart Bogie on saxophone and clarinet for their full performance. The musicians also continued to lean into material that highlighted Weir’s contributions to the Grateful Dead during the sold-out show.

At the start of JRAD’s first set, Bogie emerged with the rest of the group’s core members for a take on the Dead-adopted Olympics cut “Good Lovin’” that segued into the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter favorite “Bertha.” While “Good Lovin’” was primarily associated with Pigpen when the Dead played it in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Weir took over lead vocals when the tune was revived in 1976 and sings lead on the studio version captured on Shakedown Street.

From there, JRAD and Bogie moved onto the Weir/Barlow original “My Brother Esau,” which the Dead played in the ’80s and included on the cassette version of In the Dark but largely abandoned until the members of The National encouraged Weir to revive it for their 2012 Bridge Session benefit. Then, JRAD and Bogie offered a few more pronounced nods to recent events like “Fire on the Mountain,” which looked back to Haynes’ guest spot with a snippet of “Jessica,” the Don Rollins’ penned “The Race Is On,” which Weir had covered since his days with the Dead, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Streets,” which the Dead tried out in several formats over the years and often used as a vocal showcase for Weir. The latter tune also included a notable jam between Russo and keyboardist Marco Benevento that nodded to their days in The Duo.

The celebration continued during JRAD’s second set. At the top of the segment, guitarist Scott Metzger picked up an acoustic for “Sage and Spirit,” Weir’s tender contribution from Blues From Allah, for the only time since they first debuted it in 2022 at Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks. (Curiously, Bogie sat in for that Colorado performance as well and JRAD have now performed “Sage and Spirit,” which was inspired by onetime Dead manager Rock Scully’s children, live as many times as the Grateful Dead did.) The six musicians then launched into one of Weir’s signature originals, “Playing in the Band,” before moving into the classic Dead run from “Help on the Way” into “Slipknot!” However, instead of closing the sequence with the expected “Franklin’s Tower,” the ensemble instead covered Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” which transitioned into another one of Weir’s best-known Dead songs, “Throwing Stones.” A fittingly “Brokedown Palace” closed the second set.

As an encore, JRAD picked up the energy once again by busting out their take on Bruce Springsteen’s classic “Thunder Road” for the first time since 2023, when they introduced the cover in Atlantic City, NJ. They then brought the night to a close with Weir’s rocking “One More Saturday Night,” another standout tune from his 1971 debut, Ace.

JRAD will close their run at The Cap this evening.

Here’s a look at last night’s setlist via Setlist.fm

Saturday, January 18, 2025, The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY

Set I (with Stuart Bogie):

Good Lovin’

Bertha

My Brother Esau

Fire on the Mountain (Snippet of ‘Jessica’)

The Race Is On

Dancing in the Street

Set 2: (with Stuart Bogie)

Sage and Spirit

Playing in the Band

Help on the Way

Slipknot!

Lawyers, Guns and Money

Throwing Stones

Brokedown Palace

Encore:

Thunder Road

One More Saturday Night