JRAD Rocks Out The Cap, Yet Again

“There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert. Never will be.” – John Williams, The Grateful Dead Movie. There may be nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, but an exemplary tribute band experience may still trump any other option. Fittingly, JRAD performed a sold-out gig at the iconic Capitol Theatre on on Friday, January 17, the same historic venue that the Grateful Dead played 18 times in 1970-71 alone and that includes the adjacent bar, Garcia’s, which pays respect to Grateful Dead front man.

On this Friday night, the band provided fervent revelers an exquisite opportunity to dance and sing along again with their favorite songs from the extensive GD catalog for a full two sets of improvisational music covering the greatest jam band in musical history.

JRAD at The Cap – photo by Filip Zalewski

The core four of the all-star meshing of all-star musicians (and long time friends) that JRAD consists of are Joe Russo (drums/Furthur), Marco Benevento (keys/Benevento Russo duo), Dave Dreiwitz (bass/Ween) and Scott Metzger (guitar/Wolf!). They are no strangers to delivering stellar tributes as they have previously been skewering Led Zeppelin tunes for a decade with the popular cover band, Bustle in Your Hedgerow. With this incarnation, they added the talented Tommy Hamilton (guitar/Brothers Past) to forge a double-guitar attack.

There are an estimated 324 Grateful Dead cover bands in the U.S., which include quality outfits like Dead and Company, Dark Star Orchestra, Dead Meat, Reflections, Splintered Sunlight, Dead Sessions, Grateful Shred and Stella Blues Band – to name just a few. However, none is ultimately as fulfilling as Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. DSO have played many more shows than JRAD (having performed more shows than even the Grateful Dead) but they don’t sell out every show like JRAD does and they consistently do it in mere minutes. JRAD surprises with crackling energy and new innovative approaches to the classics which is more impressive when one learns that they evidently never rehearse.

JRAD at The Cap – photo by Filip Zalewski

JRAD’s been performing live for over a decade now – clocking in with there first gig on January 13, 2013, with over 350 shows and still counting. They have been included in over 40 music festivals including High Sierra, Mountain Jam, 420 Festival, Hulaween, Newport Jazz, Lockn‘, Floyd Fest and Levitate. To date, the largest crowed they have been in front of was 18,000 at the Peach Festival in Pennsylvania. Their next upcoming already announced Festival dates for 2025 include All Good Festival on June 14 and Mountain Jam Festival on June 20.

JRAD at The Cap – photo by Filip Zalewski

JRAD is well known for playing the songs from the Grateful Dead catalog usually in an expedited fashion, noticeably completely contrary to the style of Dead and Company, and during this show they demonstrated their prowess with effectively sharing this consistent up tempo style – one that the rabid fans embrace and respect. “Tennessee Jed” opened up the show – a vastly different set position compared to where the Grateful Dead would have it. The definitive highlight of the gig came early with the shocker in a delivery of “Alligator,” a rarely performed deep cut of a tune originally on Grateful Dead’s second released record, Anthem of the Sun from 1968. This was a delicious surprise for diehard fans who seek something special and one that obviously leaves an indelible musical mark.

With the extensive improvisational and exploratory musical musings and long psychedelic jams during this first set, it actually only consisted of four songs with the cover of Johnny Cash’s “Long Black Veil.” JRAD often includes one or two non-GD related tunes per show – perhaps this is why they possess the moniker, “Almost Dead.” The second set was an absolute groove throughout. A poignant version of Jerry Garcia‘s “Crazy Fingers” commenced the set. Then another stellar deep cut, “Here Comes Sunshine,” originally from the masterful GD record, Wake of the Flood (1973) that the GD didn’t perform from 1973-1992 and it only returned when Vince Welnick was hired and requested it. “Ramble on Rose” was fiery, with the crowd especially inspired and responsive when screaming in unison to the standout line that the fans would always point to Garcia when finally delivered, “Take me to the leader of the band!!!” Chills. “Let it Grow,” arguably the greatest tune John Barlow ever penned for Bobby, closed the set.

JRAD at The Cap – photo by Filip Zalewski

The encore was an incredible and memorable double punch of impressive tunes. In a tribute to the recent passing of David Lynch, director and respected auteur, Marco Benevento played “Laura Palmer’s Theme” (Twin Peaks) by Angelo Badalamenti. There is no debate here that Marco and his unique innovative style make him the most prolific keys player in the jam scene, so to witness seeing and hearing his brilliance up close and personal in this way was a special and rare treat for even the most discernable music aficionado.

To get a second encore, with arguably the most popular song in the entire Grateful Dead repertoire, “Eyes of the World.” The song was made even more popular with existing iconic versions presented in The Grateful Dead Move 1974 and of course buoyed the March 29, 1990 show at Nassau Coliseum with tenor saxophonist, Branford Marsalis, one that has knowledgeable heads still talking about with the respect and amazement, thus considered by many the best performance the GD ever delivered. At this JRAD show, it was a most satisfying conclusion to the festive concert, with a very danceable tune to close it all out and spinners in full force. Veteran heavy hitter, Joe Russo, arguably in the debate as best drummer in the jam scene with Deitch and Glaspie, was in exquisite fashion here.

JRAD at The Cap – photo by Filip Zalewski

Admittedly, this was not the best JRAD show of all time, but when JRAD is not at their absolute best, they still remain most likely a superior live experience to any other offering.

Don’t miss them on tour in 2025 somewhere near you soon. Some highlighted gigs announced so far include April 23-25 Brooklyn Bowl Vegas and May 2 and 3, The Fillmore, New Orleans.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester – Friday, January 17, 2025

Set 1: Tennessee Jed, Alligator, Viola Lee Blues, Long Black Veil
Set 2: Crazy Fingers, Here Comes Sunshine, Casey Jones, Ramble On Rose, Let It Grow
Encore: Laura Palmer’s Theme (Angelo Badalamenti cover) (Marco Benevento only), Eyes of the World > Laura Palmer’s Theme reprise

Photos by Filip Zalewski Essence Photography

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