Deadheads for Obama is the name given to the February 4, 2008, reunion

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

of three former members of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

The Warfield The Warfield Theatre, colloquially called The Warfield, is a 2,300-seat music venue located in the Theatre District in downtown San Francisco, California, United States. It was built as a vaudeville theater and opened as the '' Loews Warfield' ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The show, performed one day before the

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...

primary elections, was an act of support for Democratic presidential candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, and featured former Dead members

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he developed a unique style of improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30 ...

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with the Other Ones, later known as the Dead ...

, and

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

, as well as

John Molo John Molo (born December 5, 1953, Bethesda, Maryland) is an American rock music, rock and jazz drummer and percussionist. He has played with a variety of bands, combos, and soloists. Best known for being the drummer for Bruce Hornsby and the Rang ...

Jackie Greene Jackie Greene (born November 27, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He has a solo career and became a member of The Black Crowes in 2013, though the band broke up in 2015 before he could contribute any studio work. Early life ...

Steve Molitz Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation), sev ...

Mark Karan Mark Karan (born January 13, 1955) is an American guitarist and singer. He is best known for his long-term work with former members of the Grateful Dead, in RatDog (1998–2013), the Other Ones (1998–2000), Mickey Hart's band Planet Drum (1999 ...

and

Barry Sless Barry Sless (born December 22, 1955) is an American musician from Baltimore, Maryland. He is plays both traditional six-string guitar and the pedal steel guitar. Career 2020s In March 2022, Sless was set to head out on the road with the group, Wo ...

. The show marked the first time Lesh, Weir and Hart had shared the stage since 2004, and was simulcast on the Network. Deadheads for Obama is also a 350-member

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

organization founded in February 2007 through Barack Obama's website; one year before the concert of the same namesake. This group collectively raised more than $150,000 for the Obama campaign.

Setlist

After a videotaped introduction by Barack Obama, the band played "

Playing in the Band "Playing in the Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir composed the music, with some assistance from percussionist Mickey Hart. The song first emerged in embryonic form on th ...

" into "Brown-Eyed Women", and continued the first set with other Grateful Dead staples "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo", "New Minglewood Blues", and a cover of "

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band's 1969 studio album ''Abbey Road''. It was also a double A-side single in the U ...

" by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. A short speech by Phil Lesh was followed by a four-song acoustic second set, featuring more classic Dead songs like "

Friend of the Devil "Friend of the Devil" is a song recorded by the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. It is the second track of the Dead's 1970 album '' American Beauty''. Like most of ''Amer ...

" and "Deal". Then the band plugged in again to play an extended third set, including New Orleans classic "

Iko Iko "Iko Iko" () is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two tribes of Mardi Gras Indians and the traditional confrontation. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written and released in 1953 as a si ...

" (in honor of

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

), and ending with a reprise of the opener, "Playing in the Band", and an encore of "U.S. Blues". The complete setlist was: * First set: "Playing in the Band", "Brown-Eyed Women", "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo", "New Minglewood Blues", "Come Together" * Second set (acoustic): "Deep Elem Blues", "Friend of the Devil", "Deal", "Ripple" * Third set: "

China Cat Sunflower "China Cat Sunflower" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which was first recorded for their 1969 studio album '' Aoxomoxoa''. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and the music composed by Jerry Garcia. The song was typically sung by Garcia. The ...

", "The Wheel", "The Other One", "

Sugaree "Sugaree" is a song with lyrics by long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and music by guitarist Jerry Garcia. It was written for Jerry Garcia's first solo album '' Garcia'', which was released in January 1972. As with the songs on the r ...

", "Eyes of the World", "Throwing Stones", "Iko Iko", "Playing in the Band" reprise * Encore: "U.S. Blues"

Change Rocks

Hart, Lesh, and Weir reunited again in support of the Obama presidential campaign, this time joined by Bill Kreutzmann, on October 13, 2008, in the

Bryce Jordan Center The Bryce Jordan Center is a 15,261-seat multi-purpose arena in College Township, Pennsylvania, on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University. The arena opened on January 6, 1996, and is the largest such indoor venue in ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, playing a concert called "Change Rocks".

Warren Haynes Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was ...

provided guitar and vocal support for the reunion, and

Jeff Chimenti Jeff Chimenti (born October 21, 1968) is an American keyboardist, best known for his ongoing work with former members of the Grateful Dead. Since May 1997 he has played with Bob Weir & RatDog, and has also played on every tour of The Dead (in ...

played keyboards. The performance was preceded by a set of music by members of

the Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...

. The set list was: "

Truckin' "Truckin" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album '' American Beauty''. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.''Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip'' . Jake W ...

", "U.S. Blues", "Help on the Way", "Slipknot!", "Franklin's Tower", "

", " Dark Star", " St. Stephen", "Unbroken Chain", "The Other One", "Throwing Stones", and "Playing in the Band" reprise, with an encore of "

Touch of Grey "Touch of Grey" is a 1987 single by the Grateful Dead, and is from the album '' In the Dark''. The song is known for its refrain "I will get by / I will survive." It combines dark lyrics in the verses with upbeat pop instrumentation. A simple p ...

" and " Not Fade Away"

Presidential inauguration ball

On January 20, 2009, the Dead played at one of the 10 official balls for the Inauguration of President Barack Obama.Greenhuas, Mike. "The Dead Reunite at Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball", ''Relix'', January 21, 2009
Their sets were immediately followed by an appearance by President

and the First Lady; Vice President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

and Dr.

Jill Biden Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (née Jacobs; born June 3, 1951) is an American educator who served as the first lady of the United States from 2021 to 2025 as the wife of President Joe Biden. She was second lady of the United States from 2009 to 20 ...

appeared during a set break.

References

External links

Deadheads for Obama download at JamRadio.org
{{GratefulDead 2008 in American music 2008 in San Francisco Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign Concerts in the United States California Democratic Party Political events in California February 2008 in the United States Grateful Dead Music and politics 2008 United States Democratic presidential primaries 2008 United States presidential election in popular culture

Setlist

Change Rocks

Presidential inauguration ball

See also

References

Further reading

External links