Spectrum should be site of Grateful Dead Obama benefit

Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, have announced they will reunite for an Oct. 13 benefit concert for Barack Obama's campaign. FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman reported (even before the band confirmed the gig) that the show would be in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.

Philly, huh? Made us think that the Spectrum, which is closing this year, and where the Dead played 53 times before the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia, and twice afterward, would be the appropriate venue for such a reunion. A Spectrum spokesman declined comment on whether the Spectrum was interested in hosting, or would host the concert.

Bob Weir's publicist, Dennis McNally, had no comment on the show, and Dead publicist J.C. Juanis did not return our e-mail. Neither did Sean Smith, Obama's Pennsylvania spokesman. Weir, Lesh and Hart played in February at a Deadheads for Obama show in San Francisco. In October 2004, the Wachovia Center hosted the Vote for Change tour with Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, R.E.M. and Bright Eyes.