Last night Joe Russo’s Almost Dead continued their six-night Fall Ball run at Brooklyn Bowl, marking their 23rd appearance at the venue where they made their live debut, and their 125th show overall. The five-piece act celebrated the occasion with a pair of debuts and by welcoming Dead & Company guitarist John Mayer to join them in both the first and second set, adding a third guitar to their super-charged take on Grateful Dead music.

Drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Marco Benevento and bassist Dave Dreiwitz once again opened the night up with an extended “Jam” that eventually worked its way into a Metzger-sung take on “Greatest Story Ever Told.” The band took the tune that first appeared on Bob Weir’s 1972 solo album Ace on a wild excursion before eventually returning back to finish it off and seguing straight into a relaxed take on “Candyman.” The up and down energy of the set continued with takes on “Feel Like A Stranger,” “Loser” and “Crazy Fingers.” With 124 shows already under their belt the band continues to mine the Dead songbook for new additions, with last night marking their debut performance of the Aoxomoxoa track “Cosmic Charlie.”

The lengthy first set continued as JRAD brought out John Mayer to join them next. Last night marked the second time the guitarist has sat in with the band, the first happening just a little over a year ago at the same venue. After a winding jam, MayRAD eventually found its way into a take on one of both Mayer and Senator Al Franken’s favorite Dead tunes – “Althea.” The 18-minute, must-hear version of the tune brought the almost two-hour first set to a close.

When the band returned to the stage for their tenth set of the run, Mayer was once again in tow. They kicked things off with another set-opening “Jam” sequence, with this one featuring them teasing “China Cat Sunflower.” MayRAD eventually worked its way into a stand-out take on “Here Comes Sunshine” that stretched out well past twenty minutes. The Wake Of The Flood jam vehicle featured a fantastic solo from Benevento before the ensemble jumped back into the tune to close it out. Mayer next stuck around for a take on “New Minglewood Blues” that saw the augmented act fit in a tease of “West L.A. Fadeaway.”

Returning to a five-piece the band dug in on the psychedelic chestnut “Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion,” which flowed into yet another opened-end “Jam” sequence. The return of “Lazy Lightning” came next, marking the first time the tune had been played in 57 shows. The band’s second debut of the night followed, as Tom Hamilton took lead on a tender version of “China Doll.” Another gorgeous Benevento solo followed, with the band offering up a brief snippet of Donovan’s “There Is A Mountain,” before bringing things to a close with a high-energy take on “I Know You Rider.”

Benevento returned to the stage solo to begin the encore, again laying down another must-hear solo jam. The talented keyboardist was joined by the rest of the band and John Mayer, as he led them through a take of Dr. John’s joyous “Such A Night,” changing the line of “You came here with my best friend Jim” to “my best friend Joe f*cking Russo” much to the delight of the crowd. Joe Russo’s MayRAD brought the four-plus hour show to a close with fiery take on “Franklin’s Tower.”

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead finish up their Fall Bowl run tonight, which can be streamed via nug.tv. Watch both pro and fan-shot footage of from both sets, and check out the full setlist below:

Photo by Jeremy Gordon

Photo by Jeremy Gordon

[Althea w. John Mayer | Captured by monihampton]

[New Minglewood Blues w. John Mayer | Captured by LazyLightning55]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZvZx-AJcx4

[Marco Solo -> Such A Night -> Franklin’s Tower | Captured by TimeZonerTV]

[Jam > Greatest Story Ever Told]

[Jam > Here Comes Sunshine]

Setlist (Compiled by Pete Costello)

Set One: Jam @ -> Greatest Story Ever Told # > Candyman, Feel Like A Stranger$, Loser % -> Crazy Fingers, Cosmic Charlie (SM/JR) ^ -> Jam -> Althea &

Set Two: Jam * -> Here Comes Sunshine + -> New Minglewood Blues @@, Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion > Jam ## -> Lazy Lightning $$ -> China Doll %% (TH) -> Marco Solo -> There is a Mountain ^^ -> I Know You Rider

Encore: Marco Solo -> Such A Night & -> Franklin’s Tower &

@ – With The Wheel Teases (Band), # – With an Unknown Tease (MB) and The Wheel Teases (TH), $ – With a “Chameleon” (Herbie Hancock) Tease (either SM or TH), % – With a “Nothing Else Matters” (Metallica) Tease (TH), ^ – First Time Played by Almost Dead, & – With John Mayer on Guitar, * – With “Serpentine Fire (Earth, Wind & Fire) Teases & China Cat Teases (Band). With John Mayer on Guitar, + – With a Marco Solo that included a Cosmic Charlie Tease. With John Mayer on Guitar, @@ – With a West LA Fadeaway Tease (MB). With John Mayer on Guitar, ## – With teases / jams of Uncle John’s, “Jolene” (American Babies), Ruben & Cerise, Playin in the Band & The Wheel if not more, $$ – Not played by Almost Dead since 2016.02.14 at Higher Ground, Winooski, VT, a gap of 57 shows, %% – First Time Played by Almost Dead, with teases of “No Quarter” (Led Zeppelin), “Run Like Hell” (Pink Floyd) & something else that I can’t read from my notes :/, ^^ – Donovan cover, very short, just the Chorus