:: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – Boulder Theater – October 10, 2014::

Photos by Derek Miles. Stop the presses! And read no further if you expect to read about an ordinary Dead cover band. Joe Russo is a drummer who requires no introduction, but to those unfamiliar at what was the band’s seventh show ever, the name will surely be remembered. An elite group of musicians spread across the Boulder Theater stage in front of a very sold out house on Friday night. The band let anticipation build amply by starting nearly forty minutes after the scheduled show time. But to no complaint after the band came out swinging. The first three tunes kicked things off to a nice start, and one’s first three observations may have been: the two guitarists (Scott Metzger and Tommy Hamilton) shred, the whole band can sing (well), and how is this only their seventh show together? The setlist reads as though it were a deadhead’s greatest hits collection. From “The Golden Road” to “Ripple”, these bookends to the show were only two of some of the most well loved tunes played from the Dead’s repertoire. A harmonically lush “Crazy Fingers” came with a guitar solo nothing short of incendiary from Scott Metzger; certainly an early highlight. The slinky blues of “Mr. Charlie” was treated with credence by Tony Hamilton’s singing and country jazz chops while “Sugaree” was reverently christened by Marco Benevento’s gospel- inflected introduction to the song. Onwards of the first set’s end featured “Viola Lee Blues”, bombastically led by Russo’s fierce attack on the skins; driving the tune from zero to sixty and back again with seamless rhythmic poise. Energy remained high through the second set. Flawless deliveries of complex songs like “Eyes of the World” and “King Solomon’s Marbles” can be attributed to phenomenal musicianship but also to the guidance provided by music charts and lyric sheets that some of the band were using. If there is one gripe it would be that the music of the Grateful Dead should not be played from a script. But this point would gain a hell of a lot more traction if the band couldn’t back it up. The strength of the music made this fact dismissible but is a criticism nonetheless. With minds blown and expectations surpassed, the venue emptied out into the streets as the buzz persisted. Pat yourself on the back Joe Russo, or tap/drum, you’ve done well. Life has just begun for Almost Dead.