Joe Russo's Almost Dead Memorial Day show

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead opened its Memorial Day weekend stand on May 22 at the Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey, with a set that mixed Grateful Dead staples, an Allman Brothers Band song and a late-show Eddie Cochran cover. JamBands reported that the annual Stone Pony appearance began with “Fire on the Mountain” and “Bertha” and ended with “Sugar Magnolia” and “Summertime Blues.” The band’s official site lists Joe Russo, Marco Benevento, Dave Dreiwitz, Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger as the current lineup. Setlist.fm separately lists the Asbury Park show as running from 7:05 p.m. to 10:25 p.m. ### Which show is this story about? May 22 is the date attached to the Stone Pony concert in Asbury Park, even though JamBands published its report on May 23. The article described the performance as Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s annual Memorial Day weekend visit to the Jersey Shore venue. Setlist.fm also lists the show under May 22 at Summer Stage at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. (jambands.com) Asbury Park is a recurring stop for the group, and JamBands said the band used the appearance to mark “the unofficial start of the season.” The report tied that framing to the outdoor Summer Stage setting and the holiday-weekend timing. ### What did Joe Russo’s Almost Dead actually play? (jambands.com) Set one opened with “Fire on the Mountain” into “Bertha,” then moved through “Dark Hollow,” “I Need a Miracle,” “Cassidy” and “The Eleven” before closing with “Hot ’Lanta,” according to JamBands’ setlist and the Setlist.fm entry. JamBands described the sequence as moving from familiar Dead-catalog material into the Allman Brothers Band song. (jambands.com) Set two began with “The Wheel,” “Playing in the Band,” “They Love Each Other” and “Touch of Grey,” JamBands reported. The closing stretch then went to “Jack Straw,” “Caravan,” “Sugar Magnolia” and “Summertime Blues,” according to the same report and the Setlist.fm listing. ### Who was the special guest? (jambands.com) Matt Trowbridge was the guest musician brought out during the second set, according to JamBands. The publication identified him as a singer-keyboardist in RANA who now lives in New Jersey and previously played keyboards in that band alongside JRAD guitarist Scott Metzger. (jambands.com) “Caravan” was the song performed with Trowbridge, and JamBands said it was Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s first cover of the Van Morrison song since Aug. 16, 2019. That gave the sit-in a specific archival marker beyond the usual guest appearance. ### Why did “Summertime Blues” stand out? (jambands.com) “Summertime Blues” closed the show, and JamBands called the Eddie Cochran song “seasonally appropriate.” The publication said the band had not played it since June 21, 2024, when it last surfaced in the group’s live rotation. The song’s placement at the end of the night also fit the holiday-weekend framing in the JamBands report, which cast the Stone Pony date as the start of Memorial Day weekend for the band. (jambands.com) ### Where did the run go next? Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, was the band’s next stop on May 23, according to both JamBands and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s official tour page. (jambands.com) Setlist.fm lists that New Haven concert as beginning at 6:45 p.m. and running until 10:05 p.m. June 10 is the next date currently listed on the band’s official site after the May run, with a show at Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama. The same page lists additional June appearances in North Charleston, Manteo, Hyannis, Portland and Swanzey. (joerussosalmostdead.com) (jambands.com)