Photo Credit: Michael DiDonna
Among his prodigious abilities as a drummer and bandleader, Joe Russo has proven time and again his talent for uniting exceptional artists in thrilling performances. On Saturday, Sept. 7, the musician closed out his two-night stand at New York’s Rooftop at Pier 17 by flexing this muscle again, this time welcoming Lee Ranaldo for an extended sit-in. In his guest spot, Ranaldo honored a longstanding affinity for the Grateful Dead with three unforgettable covers, including a show-stopping encore of “Morning Dew.”
After a captivating first frame from JRAD and a well-earned intermission, Ranaldo led the charge for the second set, scrolling onstage and launching into some oddball mallet-to-pedal pitch-bending effects. From this atmospheric entry point, the band followed suit, meeting the pathbreaking noise-rock axeman on stage to subtly expand his soundscape with layers of percussion and sustained tones before textures reminiscent of Ned Lagin’s Seastones emerged.
From this free-flowing improvisation, the group wound through a “Space” transition into “Dark Star.” Ranaldo helmed the Dead’s ‘98 psychedelic standard, adding lead vocals and hard-hitting guitar to the cut and even taking a bow to his guitar as the ensemble reached out into a moody, distant jam. The special guest artist departed from the stage as the band swerved seamlessly into a jam on Pink Floyd’s “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” then set up its second-ever cover of Medeski, Martin & Wood’s “Where’s Sly?,” busting out the cover after a Dec. 2021 debut.
JRAD closed out its second set with treatments of top-tier standards like “Lady With a Fan,” “Terrapin Station” and the fan-favorite “Jack Straw.” In the wake of this run, when the lights rose again, Ranaldo returned to the stage alongside the band for an encore of “Morning Dew.” This grand finale to Russo’s NY residency was dreamy and wide-open, then explosively shreddy as the Sonic Youth guitarist led a fiery sprint to a final climax.
Ranaldo joined Russo for the first time at the end of August for the sixth edition of the drummer’s This Is Gonna Be a Blast series at New York’s Sultan Room. His new crossings with the cover ensemble are the culmination of a lifetime of interest in the Grateful Dead; in a 2012 interview with Pitchfork, the artist shared, “Europe ’72 was a super influential record full of fantastic songs and amazing experimental musicianship. I always valued both of those aspects in what Sonic Youth has done through the years– being able to get very abstract and very concrete within the same song.”
Watch Ranaldo’s tracks with JRAD below, and read on for the complete setlist from Saturday night.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
The Rooftop at Pier 17 – New York
9/7/24
Set I: My Brother Esau > Reuben & Cerise -> Let It Grow, Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Fire & Brimstone > Cumberland Blues
Set II: Seastones* -> Dark Star* -> Pigs (Three Different Ones) jam -> Where’s Sly -> Terrapin Station Suite > Greatest Story Ever Told, Pigs (Three Different Ones) -> Jack Straw
Encore: Morning Dew*
Notes:
* w/ Lee Renaldo
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