WASHINGTON — “No ties . . . and no tie-dyes.”
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how the Dead dressed for a meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, according to a source who witnessed the band’s long strange trip through the White House on Monday evening.
The meeting, which was not on the president’s official schedule, was a surprise for the band, arranged by a plugged-in friend. The current lineup (surviving founding Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, along with fill-ins Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti), some joined by their wives, met with Obama for about 15 minutes, chatting amiably about the history of the Oval Office and the president’s desk.
Then it was on to a much longer visit with senior staff. “They talked about a lot of different issues,” said the source, “the environment, climate change.”
