Pelosi discusses Grateful Dead, Dylan and more 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) recounted her top concert experiences in a new interview with The Los Angeles Times.

In the column, Pelosi discussed the transition from being Speaker and the minority leader in the House to now just serving as a member of Congress.

“You have to remember that for 20 years, either as speaker or [minority] leader, I was responsible for everything that happened on the floor … in terms of what happened with the Democrats … and I didn’t even realize that it was a burden until it was gone and I was like, ‘Oh, my God. What a relief,’” she said.

“I still, obviously, take an interest in the legislation,” Pelosi continued. “And I still raise 
money for the Democrats.”

She recounted attending a Dead & Company concert in San Francisco, the home of the former band the Grateful Dead. The House had just passed the defense spending bill on that Friday, giving the former Speaker plenty of time to make it home for the show, she told the newspaper.

She told the lead singer, Bob Weir, that he should wear a hat and socks for the concert if he was cold while she was visiting the band backstage. Weir ended up wearing a hat, and Pelosi ended up being gifted the set list, the newspaper reported.

Pelosi was hesitant to name her top favorite show, but reminisced a time when she saw Bob Dylan perform in Argentina as part of the Rolling Stones’s “Bridges to Babylon” tour. She said she brought former Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) to the show.

She also recalled being introduced at a Barbra Streisand concert and explained on how music could unify people.

“In that audience … they’re not there because they’re Democrats,” she said. “You’ve got a very mixed group of people. And it just completely drove home the point … which is that [music] is a unifier. People forget their differences, they don’t even think of it. They laugh together, cry together, are inspired together, find common ground together and I do think that’s our hope.”