Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, photo by Dino Perrucci
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returned over the weekend for a tight sprint down the East Coast. From Thursday, Feb. 12, to Saturday, Feb. 14, the premier Grateful Dead tribute ensemble continued from their 2026 kickoff at The Capitol Theatre with three performances in Durham, N.C., Columbia, S.C. and Atlanta to build steam into a long year on the road.
On Thursday night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead took the stage at the Durham Performing Arts Center to the tune of “Jack Straw,” one among many Europe ’72 cuts well represented in their live repertoire. This intro set off an uninterrupted full-set medley, stopping by other essentials like “New Speedway Boogie” and “Dancing in the Street” and their less frequent cover of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Don’t Want You No More,” delivered for the third time to date, before capping off the sprint with “Fire on the Mountain.” The evening’s second set boasted five tracks previously unstaged in 2026, with J.J. Cale’s “After Midnight,” “It Hurts Me Too,” “Loose Lucy” and “Samson and Delilah” paving the way to an encore of Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages”; the Another Side of Bob Dylan classic was covered for only the second time, following a debut in October 2025.
JRAD opened up the second show in their weekend series with the year’s first “Row Jimmy,” then continued to build on their canon for 2026 with “Cats Under the Stars” and their first treatment of Bob Weir’s solo original “Gonesville” since December 2024, read as another meaningful recognition of the late legend. Revivals of “Wharf Rat” and “Rubin and Cherise” in the second set were paired with uncommon covers, as their fourth all-time rendition of The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was followed by an encore of their third all-time take on Derek & The Dominoes’ “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?”
With the arrival of Valentine’s Day on Saturday, JRAD set off their show appropriately with the fluttering pulse of “Foolish Heart.” In another uninterrupted full frame suite, the band honored Weir again with his essential “Cassidy,” then later ornamented a deep cut of Jim Alley’s “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” with a notable tease of krautrock innovators Neu!’s “Hallogallo.” The quintet kept on into their second set with the ever poignant reminder of “The Music Never Stopped,” followed by the year’s first versions of “He’s Gone,” the expansive “Dark Star” and “The Eleven.” The weekend’s biggest surprise arrived with the set closer of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post,” which the ensemble hadn’t taken on since 2021’s Lock’n Farm Festival, then Jerry Garcia’s “They Love Each Other” swept in as the holiday show’s fitting final note.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead will perform next on April 30 at Dallas’ House of Blues, then work through 22 further dates through Aug. 22. Find tickets and more information on the band’s full tour itinerary at joerussosalmostdead.com.
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