Show Review - Joe Russo's Almost Dead 4/24/25 Las Vegas, NV
2am To Terrapin
After seeing Dead & Company live at Sphere, many fans would opt for some decompression from the sensory overload of the visuals and experience that the venue has. Last night, there was also another option – taking the walk over to Brooklyn Bowl to get your face melted by a 2.5-hour JRAD set.
A couple thousand people packed the Bowl last night as Almost Dead performed their second of three shows in Sin City, once again joined by legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis. While Wednesday night’s two-set affair was amazing in its own right, there was definitely an element of warming up to some of the show, especially with Marsalis meshing with the quintet after not playing together for almost a year.
Suffice to say, last night’s late show was an entirely different story. From the first note to the last, all six musicians on stage gave it their all – and the crowd was absolutely locked in to the high-energy song selection with nary a breather to be found.
“You guys seen enough music yet tonight?” quipped drummer Joe Russo as the band took the stage just after midnight, easing into an airy major-key space with probing sax from Marsalis atop a gentle foundation of jazzy piano from keyboardist Marco Benevento.
Building in tension, guitarists Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger began to hint at the forthcoming drop into “The Wheel,” an excellent opener choice that had the room singing along to the lyrics.
Going straight for a volcanic duelling-guitar zone, the band built and explosive and cathartic peak that packed the punch that had been missing from the music most attendees had started their nights with.
After the last chorus, the band dropped into an off-kilter dissonant zone that saw Marsalis and Metzger matching each other on some fretboard scraping and sax hits, the former leading the improv and eliciting more riff trading and phrase finishing from both guitarists.
Benevento laid down some dual piano and Rhodes as the band transitioned into an all-out free jazzy zone, Russo smoothly pivoting things into the hi-hat intro to “Let it Grow.” Patiently letting the extended intro unfold, Benevento uncorked some haunting organ work as Hamilton dove into his spaceship effects for layers of sparkling ambience.
Exploding into the song proper, Metzger belted the lyrics before Russo drove the band into a fast-paced zone, Marsalis ducking and weaving around Benevento’s organ and the two guitars before Hamilton took the lead with an explosive solo.
Burning into the next section, Dave Dreiwitz dug deep into the pocket as Marsalis kicked back in, full steam ahead – his runs complemented by Hamilton’s smooth teases of Phish’s “First Tube.”
Exploding through the finish of “Let it Grow,” the closest thing we got to a breather last night was tapped next in the form of a lengthy “Row Jimmy.” JRAD took their time jamming into the song, hinting at “They Love Each Other” as Dreiwitz poked in with some strong melodic work.
Marsalis was the high point of this track, his ultra-smooth sax riffs inspiring the rest of the band – Benevento in particular followed it up with a gorgeous piano solo. One of the things I love about this band is how they work the vocal melodies from songs into solos, but tweak them in interesting ways to elevate the energy and flow of each phrase. The slower pace of “Row Jimmy” really allowed the pianist to work with this early on in his showcase.
During the last verse, Russo pushed the song’s pace and hinted at a possible segue into “Franklin’s Tower,” a thought inspired by Benevento’s phrasing.
Concluding the song, the band built up into the opening of “My Brother Esau,” Metzger fronting the explosive rendition with exemplary lead work from Hamilton and Russo. More solo trading kept things fresh, Marsalis even adding riffs during the verses as he and Metzger continued their stage-left musical bromance that had begun to develop on Wednesday.
Ripping directly into a blistering “Help on the Way” next, this may have been my favourite Marsalis showcase of the night in the form of his silky soprano sax solo. It was from here until the end of the show where it felt as though both the band and audience were feeding off of a limitless well of energy, showcased in the raucous reactions to the drop from “Slipknot!” into a thunderous “The Other One.”
While a relatively short nine minutes in length, JRAD let loose on the rhythm-driven song with everything they had, searing guitar lines bouncing off of every corner of the room as Metzger and Hamilton duelled from opposite ends of the stage. Even Marsalis had to appreciate the power of this “Other One,” standing back and watching JRAD go totally balls-to-the-walls.
Many bands would have taken the opportunity at this point in the set to perform a ballad or at least a slower tune, but there was no room for such things in last night’s set as the band launched right into an upbeat “Reuben & Cherise.” The calming jam did offer a little bit of a breather, but one with so much musical depth to digest as Marsalis poked around the heavily-delayed layer of guitar, the full band gradually upping the intensity to build to yet another great peak.
Without skipping a beat, the band ripped right into “Good Lovin’,” getting the crowd involved with some singalong as the baton was passed around the band once more for an exuberant solo trade.
Refusing to drop the energy even a little bit, Russo cued the intro to “Shakedown Street,” which saw some jaw-dropping solo trading and mixing from all members, but particularly Metzger and Marsalis – the two musicians’ chemistry on full display as they picked up phrases from one another.nu
The funky outro began to pick up speed and intensity before the band blasted into the only non-Dead tune of the night in Link Wray’s “Fire and Brimstone.” Performed for the fourth time by JRAD, Metzger once again gave a fiery vocal performance through the heavy and raging song. Benevento and Russo took an extended duo break, the former striking with heavy blasts of organ around the latter’s mind-bending drum fills.
With it now being past 2:00am, I was near-certain that the volcanic peak would bring the set to a close, so I was absolutely blown away when the band executed a patient segue into “Terrapin Station.” This was hardly your standard version either – do those exist with JRAD? – as it stretched to nearly 20 minutes in length, every single pocket that could be explored going out to its fullest extent.
You’d think maybe the audience would be a little bit tired by then, but the full venue sang along to the call-and-response part of “Terrapin,” bringing the set to an explosive conclusion that saw all the band members sporting exhilarated smiles as they walked off for a brief encore break.
A quick romp through “Brown-Eyed Women” closed out the night, with Russo emphatically thanking the crowd and expressing his delight at getting to play with Marsalis for the previous two nights. As an audience member, I’m equally as grateful and overjoyed to have had the opportunity to witness such incredible music, and hope that this collaboration happens again soon.
JRAD returns to Brooklyn Bowl tonight for one more Sphere after-show – this time without Marsalis. It’s sure to be another scorcher, so check out the nugs.net All Access exclusive livestream if you’re up late, or catch it on demand after the fact.
