At first glance, it would appear that Donald Trump and Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir have nothing in common.
At second glance, one could say the same thing.
But it was highly unusual, in fact bizarre, when Trump, attired in suit and red power tie, took the stage at the venerable Beacon Theater at 74th and Broadway last Thursday night to introduce Weir’s kick-ass band, Ratdog, as they began a sold out three night run to end their 2006 spring tour.
While missing the Thursday night show and the Trump intro (in which he was heartily booed by a sizable portion of the audience), I made the Friday and Saturday night shows, which were outstanding. But beyond noting in his welcome that the Grateful Dead sold out more Madison Square Garden shows than any other band in history, why would Trump show up at a Dead-related gig to intro Bob Weir, an original member of the Dead?
Major Deadhead Bill Walton was at Weir’s NYC/Beacon show last spring, hangin’ with JFK-Jr. pal John Perry Barlow — Weir’s longtime friend and lyricist; Trump was here this year; If NY GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Weld, himself a legit Dead enthusiast (saw him at Boston Garden in the early 90’s), makes it to the general election, which is increasingly likely, he should hit the fall Beacon show/s for a photo op.
On one level, the Trump gambit could simply have been a freak-out stunt designed to startle tie-dyed jamband fans in what we’ll just call a good state of mind — and it did. Meanwhile, Trump stayed for a good part of the first set and appeared to be enjoying himself amid the thick fog of high-end Mendocino, despite the fact he, famously, doesn’t even drink liquor.
One thing’s for sure: Trump doesn’t do anything, anywhere, anytime that would reflect poorly on the Trump brand. And Weir, who keeps his politics relatively in check in favor of just playing terrific high energy music — very much in the Grateful Dead tradition of no political preaching — must have known this would be viewed with interest: The capitalist icon bestowing welcome and accolades on a counterculture icon.
Interestingly, the Grateful Dead/jamband-oriented chatboards are generally positive on the Trump appearance — it appears to be about 70%-30% fav/unfav, with the most frequent sentiment being that those who booed Trump are stuck-in-the-past ideologues and hypocrites who treated one of Bobby’s guests rudely. I fall squarely in this camp, and embarassing Bobby was, in plain language, very uncool.
More on this as info is unearthed from the Trump and Weir worlds.
Picture 1 of Trump and Weir courtesy of Alan Hess, via Ratdog.org.
Picture 2 of Bob Weir courtesy of Dave Rosenberg, via Ratdog.org.