The Grateful Dead played their final three shows this weekend, packing Chicago’s Soldier field with record setting crowds and a psychedelic send-off to their generations of fans.
New York-based photographer Bryan Smith, a Deadhead himself, was in attendance for the weekend and spent hours before the show photographing loyal fans along Shakedown Street, which is always the place to party before a Dead show, and asking fans what the band and its last performances meant to them.
"Seeing the genuine love for this band was incredibly moving,” Smith remarked, "even from people that were not even born before the last time they played."