Atlanta, GA
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Celebrates Valentine’s Day With “Whipping Post” In Atlanta [Photos/Videos]
![Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Celebrates Valentine’s Day With “Whipping Post” In Atlanta [Photos/Videos]](https://i3.wp.com/liveforlivemusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/jrad-atl-2026-1200x630.jpg?ssl=1 "Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Celebrates Valentine’s Day With “Whipping Post” In Atlanta [Photos/Videos]")
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead explored the duality of love and Valentine’s Day on Saturday in Atlanta, closing the weekend with the Allman Brothers Band‘s “Whipping Post” and the Grateful Dead‘s “They Love Each Other”.
Saturday’s show at The Eastern finished a three-show, three-state run that also saw covers of The Spencer Davis Group‘s “Don’t Want You No More”, Tampa Red‘s “It Hurts Me Too”, Vanilla Fudge‘s “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, and Derek and the Dominos‘ “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?”. The song selections for the bruised-hearted continued on Saturday, with a “Foolish Heart” opener out of a Joe Russo/Marco Benevento duo-led jam.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — “Jam” > “Foolish Heart” (Grateful Dead) — 2/14/26
Amid an upbeat “Shakedown Street”, the band recognized “All the lonely people” with teases of “Eleanor Rigby”, ahead of a foot-stomping, glass-shattering transition into Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World”. JRAD played just the chorus, but the song’s iconic rumble served as a perfect transition to Bob Weir‘s “Cassidy”. The uninterrupted first set continued with the jubilant “Scarlet Begonias”, Scott Metzger going Waylon Jennings on “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line”, and finally a more optimistic “Good Lovin’” to close.
For the final set of the weekend, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead charged out with “The Music Never Stopped”. The choice proved prophetic, as the band once again turned in a non-stop set of continuous music, moving through a poignant pairing of “He’s Gone” and “Estimated Prophet”. The mournful refrain of “Nothing’s gonna bring him back” exploded into a flood of envelope-filtered guitar, swirling B3 organ, and percussive crashes, ultimately riding the bobbing waves off the golden shore.
The normally blissful reggae-ish tune instead became a cathartic highlight of the night, seguing to a relatively compact but still thoroughly exploratory “Dark Star”. The 16-minute “Truckin’” that followed proved to be the longest single song of the night, leading into a tribute to the late Phil Lesh with “The Eleven”.
Keeping up the sequence of bass-fueled selections, Dave Dreiwitz‘s low chuggle announced the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post”, which came down with scorned fury to end the second set. This marked the second straight year JRAD has honored the Allmans during its traditional February trip to The Eastern, following last year’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. Finally, the weekend came to a close with a dose of positivity via “They Love Each Other”.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — “The Eleven” (Grateful Dead) > “Whipping Post” (Allman Brothers Band) — 2/14/26
[Video: Sean C]
Check out some photos from Joe Russo’s Almost Dead at The Eastern by Christian Stewart, along with full-show audio by ddyche and video by BruizerNet. Up next for JRAD is a Southern swing through Dallas (4/30), Austin (5/1), and the band’s annual trip to New Orleans (5/2) during Jazz Fest. Find tickets and tour dates here.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Eastern — Atlanta, GA — 2/14/26 — First Set
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Eastern — Atlanta, GA — 2/14/26 — Second Set & Encore
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead — The Eastern — Atlanta, GA — 2/14/26 — Full Audio
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Eastern | Atlanta, GA | 2/14/26
Set One: Jam > Foolish Heart [1] > Shakedown Street [2] > Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young) [3] > Cassidy > Scarlet Begonias > Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line (Jim Alley) > Good Lovin’ (The Olympics)
Set Two: Jam > The Music Never Stopped > He’s Gone > Estimated Prophet > Dark Star > Truckin’ [4] > The Eleven > Whipping Post (Allman Brothers Band)
Encore: They Love Each Other
[1] “Feel Like A Stranger” ending
[2] “Eleanor Rigby” tease
[3] Partial
[4] “Dark Star” tease
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead | The Eastern | Atlanta, GA | 2/14/26 | Photos: Christian Stewart
Photograph by Martha Williams
Atlanta diners may recognize the name Adidsara “Vicky” Weerasin as co-owner of both Tum Pok Pok, the beloved Thai restaurant in Chamblee, and Yao in Buckhead. But they might not know she’s also the person behind Chef’s Tableware, the ceramics shop all over many Atlantans’ “for you” page on TikTok. From its New Peachtree Road warehouse, Chef’s Tableware offers handcrafted plates, cups, and bowls, sourced from Thailand, that look like they’re from Anthropologie but sell for a fraction of the price. And while it is a wholesale operation, it’s open to both restaurant-industry professionals and savvy Atlanta shoppers.
Weerasin’s pieces appear on tables at top Atlanta restaurants, from the soft-green platform bowls used to showcase Claudia Martinez’s confectionery creations at Bar Ana to the speckled black plates heaped with pasta at BoccaLupo. Another place you can expect to find Chef’s Tableware selections is at Georgia Boy, the tasting menu–only restaurant in the back of Southern Belle. “I picked up matte black dinner plates, an artsy pedestal bowl with a bubbled ceramic finish, and concave, high-gloss porcelain pieces,” says Georgia Boy and Southern Belle chef and owner Joey Ward. “Each one helps elevate the way we present a dish.”
Weerasin first discovered her love of ceramics when she took a pottery-making class at her high school in Thailand. She’s now lived in Atlanta 20 years, but she returns to her homeland every year to visit family. It was during one such trip in 2023 that she visited a family member’s ceramics business and saw the type of stunning handmade pieces that now fill her store. She originally intended for her 4,500-square-foot, two-room space to be more of a friend-to-friend operation, but after several requests, she opened it to the public.
Photograph by Martha Williams
Photograph by Martha Williams
Photograph by Martha Williams
Weerasin says she sources pieces with chefs in mind, collaborating with them on the right textures and weights for their serving dishes and explaining how each aspect might factor into the guest and server experience. “Each restaurant has a different concept, [so] I try to consult and recommend different types of ceramic, stone, clay, and porcelain,” she says.
Her industrial shelves are filled with a wide range of items, from the expected (plates, bowls, cups) to the unusual (sushi boats, matcha bowls, coffee pour-overs). Other offbeat items include an elephant-shaped mug, a peapod cutlery rest, and animal-shaped chopstick rests, located by the register. Customers looking for well-priced gifts for weddings, birthdays, and housewarmings can find dish sets and colorful wine glasses for less than $15.
Popular picks include “donut bowls”—large, shallow pieces that allow for creative plating and are especially popular for serving tasting menus. These bowls, which retail for $39.95 each, also offer a way to pair texture and color with the dishes; for home entertaining, they make a table look grander.
Weerasin’s favorite pieces for first-time shoppers: beautiful drinkware with a drip-style glaze. The glass glaze, known as nagashi (Japanese for “flowing”), is fired at more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which produces a natural crackle effect. “It’s very unique,” she says.
This article appears in our June 2026 issue.
Advertisement
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A semi-truck collided with a train overnight on the city’s southwest side, sparking a fire in the wreckage.
No injuries have been reported as authorities have yet to locate the driver of the tractor-trailer. No occupants were found on the train either, according to Atlanta Fire Rescue.
Crews responded to reports of a vehicle fire just before 4 a.m. at the intersection of Lee and Spark streets in southwest Atlanta.
When first responders arrived, they encountered a tractor-trailer afire after being struck by a train. Firefighters worked to put out the flames in the cab, trailer as well as on debris strewn about the railroad and roadway, Atlanta Fire Rescue told Atlanta News First.
Crews have not identified any hazardous materials in the wreckage.
An investigation is ongoing as no occupants were found in the tractor-trailer, train or surrounding area, authorities said.
Norfolk Southern and MARTA briefly halted operations in the area as police activity and cleanup continued.
The crash happened just below elevated MARTA rail tracks which run between the West End and Oakland City transit stations.
MARTA said that it had requested a bus bridge to transport riders between Oakland City and West End Stations “due to police activity” until further notice.
The transit agency was also offering riders Uber and Lyft credits for rail travel involving the Lakewood, Oakland City, West End and Garnett stations.
This is a developing story. Please stay with Atlanta News First as we learn more.
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.
“I am at this point where I can’t imagine not going,” Wilkins-Mickey said. “Every year I learn something new. Of course they add different experiences everything we go, so it really does feel different every time, but I want to learn. I want to continue to learn. This is our culture, it’s our history and I would like to continue to understand why we are where we are today. And I think the only way to do that is to understand our past. Every time I go, I just feel so inspired. It gives me purpose to do the work that I do.”
The trip starts with a flight from Seattle to Atlanta where the group has their first glimpse of what to expect for the rest of their week. The group was given a tour of an area of downtown Atlanta called “Sweet Auburn Ave.” which was once a booming community and neighborhood, filled with businesses, that was systemically dismantled by a highway that was built through the neighborhood. Businesses and families were forced to leave.
Keenan Allen Ladd, one of three educators on the tour said, “I really just appreciated the educators in those moments, because they take you through the whole story of the major moments that happened in the Civil Rights Movement.”
The rest of that first day was spent at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, his birth home and other sites in Atlanta before making the drive to the neighboring state of Alabama to visit Anniston, where the Freedom Riders boarded a bus at the Greyhound station and which was attacked by a group of white supremacist,
The group spent the remainder of their trip in different cities in Alabama, including Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma.
While in Montgomery, the group visited the Montgomery riverfront, a location where enslaved people were brought off of boats and taken to the city’s downtown area to be auctioned off.
Leann Coates, Seahawks premium service representative, described the experience as shocking.
“It’s very powerful to be standing there at the riverfront, and know that not long ago, people were brought on ships and sold. That street is still called commerce street. Things have not changed in the way you think they have changed.”
While the group was in Montgomery, one of the locations they visited was the Legacy Museum, a museum that immerses visitors in the history of Black Americans from the Transatlantic slave trade all the way through to present day and mass incarceration.
And while the actual tour of the South was just five days, the journey doesn’t stop there. Ladd said he immediately returned to his classroom and thought about ways to get his students involved and educated on the topics he learned about on the tour. Allen Ladd said he utilized the one thing he knows all of his students use, social media, specifically Tik Tok and Instagram reels, to help the students learn information in a natural way.
“When I got back, I actually had them all take out their phones and go on Tik Tok and look up the Institute for Common Power, just so they could see that experience first-hand. We did that for like two days. By the third day, a lot of their algorithm’s changes and they were able to get real life information that they weren’t getting before.”
He added, “This tour furthers my want, urge and that yearning to make sure I’m standing up for everyone who doesn’t have the opportunity to utilize their voice, to just amplify voices. There’s a lot of people that we’ve learned on this trip, this Truth and Purpose, to utilize your voice for the voice of others. And that’s something that I’m going to do… I’m in a unique position as an educator. I have the opportunity to guide or facilitate youth, and I have an opportunity to open the eyes of our youth and I have something that is precious… I want to make sure they have the correct information. I don’t want to steer them in a particular direction, but I definitely want to put the correct information in front of them, so they can understand what this country looked like previously, to give them a vision of what they believe this country should look like moving forward in the future.”
A lot of the participants come away from the trip feeling a sense of community, empowered and are more enlightened about the history of Black Americans than they were before.
Learn more about the Truth and Purpose tour and the organization, the Institute for Common Power, that spearheads this trip here.
-
Nebraska5 minutes agoNebraska QB commit Trae Taylor wins Elite 11 MVP
-
Nevada12 minutes agoAfter transgender sports ballot initiative dropped, proposal introduced for ‘27 Nevada Legislature
-
New Hampshire14 minutes agoCharges dropped against former Olympian Bode Miller
-
New Jersey20 minutes agoCommand and Control | FEATURE | New Jersey Devils
-
New Mexico27 minutes agoNew Mexico AG opens formal probe into claims DEA let fentanyl pills spread statewide
-
North Carolina29 minutes agoKemba Walker Opens Youth-Focused Multi-Sport Facility in Concord, North Carolina
-
North Dakota35 minutes agoBurglars steal from Grand Forks business, cancer fundraiser
-
Ohio42 minutes ago20-year-old Emerson homers in Ohio homecoming
