Stars, pols, and other celebs join Obama party

From left: Joe Scarborough, Adrianna Huffington, Tina Brown, and John Cusack posed for photos at a pre-inauguration brunch yesterday. (Stephen J. Boitano/The Daily Beast/AP)

This is indeed an uncommon inauguration. Hollywood heavies and all-star athletes don't normally overrun the nation's capital, raising toasts at the trendiest Georgetown restaurants and swilling chardonnay at the Smithsonian.

But the Obama inauguration is more Super Bowl than swearing in. So far, at least, it's all about the parties, balls, and benefits that officially kicked off yesterday with a concert on the National Mall featuring the killer B's - Beyoncé, Bruce, and Bono - and a swarm of other A-list entertainers, including Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, and Jamie Foxx.

The star-studded show, televised live by HBO, is just one of many get-togethers where a multitude of greats and near-greats could be found milling about. Everyone from Jessica Alba to Dierdre Hall to Wilmer Valderrama was on hand. Even new dad Ben Affleck couldn't resist. The actor, who plays a congressman in his upcoming film "State of Play," winged from the Sundance Film Festival to witness history (and, of course, hit a few parties).

Where to begin? Cafe Milano is proving to be particularly popular with celebs during Obamathon. The cool joint in Georgetown is packed nightly with familiar faces. Bo Derek, Charlie Rose, former California governor Jerry Brown, Star Jones, BET's Bob Johnson, and Arianna Huffington were all in Friday; Sharon Stone, New York Governor David Paterson, and Grammy winner David Wallace had dinner there Saturday. And actor Tobey Maguire is hosting a party tonight for 200 of his best buddies. "This is very busy, but wonderful," said owner Franco Nuschese, whose restaurant has become Hollywood's headquarters in Washington.

Boston-based party planner Bryan Rafanelli is also running around. He helped organize a concert Saturday featuring Carole King, Yolanda Adams, BeBe Winans, and the Dartmouth College choir, and there were nearly as many celebs in the seats: Maria Shriver, actors Jeffrey Wright, Edward James Olmos, and Bradley Whitford of "The West Wing," with wife Jane Kaczmarek, and author Toni Morrison. Rafanelli had a hand, too, in arranging yesterday's official welcome breakfast, which attracted Boston boldfacers Alan and Susan Solomont and John Hancock VP Carol Fulp, among many others.

Governor Deval Patrick was hither and yon yesterday, hosting a hush-hush reception in the afternoon and later stopping by a gathering for the Massachusetts Democratic Party at Nationals Park. The reception, held at the Ritz, was by far the more intimate affair, with a guest list loaded with Patrick's pals, pols, and assorted other influence peddlers. We spied congressmen Barney Frank and Mike Capuano, City Council president Mike Ross, Longwood Events chief Jim Apteker, Beehive co-owner Darryl Settles, attorney Bob Crowe, and Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, one of Barack Obama's former professors. "I told my wife at the time that I just met the man who could become the first African-American president," Tribe told us. "Watching John Roberts, who's one of my students, swearing in another of my students, will blow my mind."

Speaking of intimate, Berklee professors Oscar Stagnaro (on bass) and Mark Walker (on percussion) backed Cuban bandleader Paquito D'Rivera at a special private concert for the Obama family and guests at an indoor barbecue yesterday at Blair House.

Elsewhere, Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree made a surprise appearance at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Md., yesterday. A member of the church's sister congregation, Saint Paul AME in Cambridge, Ogletree was introduced by the Rev. Dr. Grainger Browning Jr. as a mentor of Barack and Michelle Obama, having taught both at Harvard. (Ogletree got the women in the congregation cheering when he said Michelle was, without question, the smarter of the two.)

Last night, it was Ogletree himself who was honored at the National Archive. The party, organized in part by Bingham McCutcheon chairman Jay Zimmerman, was in praise of the prof's work at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. The guest list included Elena Kagan, Harvard Law dean and solicitor general-designate, Thurgood Marshall Jr., longtime WBZ-TV personality Liz Walker, director Spike Lee, Tom Brokaw, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, Black Enterprise magazine's Earl Graves, and congressman John Conyers.

Old friend Mike Barnicle was at the Daily Beast brunch yesterday, joined by actor John Cusack, talker Tina Brown, journos Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee, and Obama's main man David Axelrod. Where's Joe Biden? Just look for Boston PR pro Larry Rasky, who served as Biden's communications director during the VP's '88 presidential bid. Yesterday, Rasky was at a brunch hosted by Biden boys Hunter and Beau, and attended by Clinton commerce secretary Bill Daley, "West Wing" alum Richard Schiff, and FOX's Frank Luntz.

And last night, Rasky and PR partner Joe Baerlein hung out again with the Bidens at a friends and family party at the Kennedy Center, which also drew husband-wife country stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, as well as President Bill Clinton. Biden concluded his remarks by vowing to help get McGraw elected to the Senate in the singer's home state of Tennessee.

There were several Obama bashes last night, including one at the Renaissance Hotel hosted by Jessica Alba with a performance by Adam Levine and Maroon 5, and DJ Samantha Ronson spinning. Meanwhile, over at Union Station, Jennifer Lopez was a late add to the lineup at the Latino Inaugural Gala, which included JLo's husband Marc Anthony, actresses Rosario Dawson and Rosie Perez, singer Paulina Rubio, and CNN's Soledad O'Brien.