Joe Russo had to miss his band Almost Dead's two performances from this past weekend, including their set at Pennsylvania's Peach Music Festival, following the unexpected early birth of his daughter, and the drummer shared a note about the new life development on the JRAD Facebook page.
"So it turns out, sometimes babies come 3 weeks early!!??" Russo begins, lauding his "incredible wife" for the birth of their second daughter (which he later calls "her act of human badassery"): "I couldn’t be happier or more proud of my amazing partner for pushing that lil sucker to freedom!"
As Russo notes, Almost Dead were joined by two drummers for each of their two shows over the weekend, marking the first times the band had gone with a two-kit setup. First up were JRAD drum tech Evan Roque and Ben Perowsky, a Russo collaborator and current drummer for the hit Broadway musical Hadestown, at Peach Fest. Then, for Sunday's performance in Burlington, VT, the JRAD drums were filled by Roque and John Kimock, son of guitarist Steve Kimock and drummer for Mike Gordon's solo band. Check out the setlist below.
Read the full note below:
So it turns out, sometimes babies come 3 weeks early!!?? Last night my incredible wife gave birth to our second daughter. I couldn’t be happier or more proud of my amazing partner for pushing that lil sucker to freedom! That said, clearly “new nugget” didn’t reference the family calendar. I’m very sorry to announce that I won’t be able to make the JRAD shows this weekend at Peach and Burlington. However, we here at JRAD HQ have gone into “holy shit the baby came early contingency mode” and have decided THE SHOW MUST GO ON.
This weekend Scott, Tommy, Dave and Marco will be joined by two special drummers each night. Tonight at Peach, the band will feature JRAD drum tech and incredible young musician Evan Roque on kit 1. Joining Evan on drum set 2, will be one of my dear friends and drumming heroes, Ben Perowsky. Aside from being my percussive partner in BOYFRIENDS, Ben has played with everyone from John Zorn to Rufus Wainwright to Trey Anastasio (Surrender To The Air) and is currently manning the throne on Broadway with the Tony Award winning Hadestown.
Tomorrow night in Burlington, the fellas will be joined by Evan and the one and only Johnny Kimock! We’ve all known and played with Johnny for years. He’s such a great dude and we couldn’t be more excited for him to share his masterful musicianship with us!
Thank you to all for understanding. I was so excited to play these shows this weekend, but I need to be here with my family, helping as my incredible wife recovers from her act of human badassery, introducing big sisters to little sisters and getting to know this new amazing person. Please have fun and be safe out there. I love you all so much and can’t wait to see you all in LA at The Greek Theater.
Love and thanks,
Joe
Joe Russo's Almost Dead
Waterfront Park - Burlington, VT
full show with Evan Roque and John Kimock on drums
Set I: Feel Like a Stranger, Scarlet Begonias, Fire On the Mountain, Good Lovin', Minglewood Blues
Set II: China Cat Sunflower> Iko Iko, Brown-Eyed Women> Truckin' (w/ The Other One teases)> Brokedown Palace> Samson and Delilah
Enc: Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
Source: setlist.fm
