One set after Another, they were rallying via Zoom to support Kamala Harris’s presidential bid: women, men, Swifties, “white dudes,” and Bob Dylan fans. So why not a “Deadheads for Kamala”?
While it sounds like a conservative radio joke, such a gathering is happening on August 13, hoping to bring together new and old Deadhead fans as another potential voting bloc for Harris. The gathering is the brainchild of host Stephen Leventhal, who owns the podcast Acid Flashback Radio and has been a Deadhead fan since 1985. After hearing about Harris’ previous Zoom rallies, he said, “I joked to my wife, ‘Oh my God, we should have a Deadhead rally for Kamala.’ And she kind of smiled and said, ‘You know, that’s not a bad idea.’”
After Leventhal reached out to contacts at the Democratic National Committee, an invitation link was posted, and fans eagerly began registering for what was advertised as an unofficial fan event not affiliated with the Dead. Among those who took notice on social media was advisor George Conway.
Then came some confusion. When the event was announced on July 31, one of the event’s graphics indicated the date as the following day, August 1, while the invite link itself listed the date as August 13. “I was a little bit hasty,” Leventhal admits. “All of a sudden, there were a lot of conflicts with other people.” Now the new date won’t clash with any Jerry Garcia birthday celebrations (August 1) or Dead & Company’s final six shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
For the Zoom gathering, Leventhal promised “some of the big people in the Grateful Dead community and even the people who perform at the shows” would be in attendance. Among those joining were Dead historian, musician, and “Grateful Dead Hour” radio host David Gans, and promoter and Deadhead Peter Shapiro.
Also taking part in the call will be someone not normally associated with the Deadhead world – actress and singer Mandy Patinkin, who admits: RS He had never been to a Dead show and was only familiar with one song by them that he had to learn for “a movie or something.” But after seeing Leventhal’s initial post on X, Patinkin not only retweeted it, but also signed up.
“It’s basically an excuse to find a big group of people to come together,” he says. “I’m on a mission to hear different voices and hear what they have to say. So my expectations for Deadheads for Kamala are a really fun phone call or Zoom call.
“I bet there are people of all ages, older people still trying to look young, and you’ll say, ‘Put your hats on!’ But the most important thing is to come together and try to change the fabric of negativity into positivity. This is an existential moment for all of us and for democracy,” he adds, laughing.
Patinkin also rejects criticism from the other side of the political spectrum that such gatherings are deliberately discriminatory. “It’s what they call the propaganda room in politics and entertainment,” he says. “I’m for all of humanity. It’s ridiculous to say that these gatherings are deliberately discriminatory.” [the organizers] “They are advocating for a separate society. This is just nonsense.”
As for the last-minute rescheduling, Patinkin admits it was “a little awkward,” and Leventhal disagrees. “Well, it would be in keeping with the Grateful Dead format,” he says, but he feels the scheduling change will ultimately be a positive. “I hope everyone understands that we’d rather be at 10,000 or 20,000 and compete with the White Dudes for Kamala,” he says.
