This is fun:
Hey, Deadheads, this one’s for you. We just found out that two of the most famous rock ‘n rollers for Barack Obama skipped the madness in Chicago’s Grant Park on election night and instead joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at their (more subdued) bash in Washington.
Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh and guitarist Bob Weir mingled so well in the cavernous ballroom at the Hyatt Regency they were barely noticed. Lesh and his wife and son, and Weir and his wife opted for – of all the election night watch parties out there – the one held by the Democratic leadership and their party’s House and Senate campaign committees.
Reid isn’t nearly the Deadhead Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is – few are – but he digs the Dead and knows Bob, Phil and drummer Mickey Hart, with whom the majority leader goes way back. So he was thrilled to see them Tuesday night, Reid spokesman Jim Manley tells us.
Manley says Reid asked Bob and Phil where Mickey was, so Lesh whipped out his cell phone, dialed Mickey – who was in California – and handed the phone to the majority leader. Reid got voice mail so he left him a “classic Reid” message. (We can only assume that may have involved cursing Hart out for not picking up the phone personally.)
Apparently, Manley was so awestruck that he couldn’t even speak to Bobby or Phil.
Here’s Mickey (and Bill) from a show I saw 22 years ago at the Philly Spectrum:
