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The San Francisco Standard
Culture

Photos: It's a tie-dye city (again) as Deadheads descend on San Francisco

Dead & Company’s three-night run of 60th anniversary shows has beckoned thousands out for some bedlam.

A diverse crowd of people happily dance and gather on a bright city street with colorful murals and buildings in the background.
Ulysses Ortega / For The Standard
By Sam MondrosPhotography by Ulysses Ortega for The Standard

The city is alive. Well, it’s Dead, but it’s certainly grateful and in plenty of good company. 

Whether it’s hippies on Haight Street looking for “miracles” — free concert tickets in Deadhead parlance — or businessmen rolling off their red-eye into the palatial halls of the Fairmont Hotel for their $6,300 VIP experience, the city is feeling itself.

From the ad-hoc Shakedown Street of Golden Gate Park to the long-sold-out, three-day Dead & Company concert in the park, to the assorted art exhibitions, after parties, talks, and cover-band shows, Deadheads have descended on the city looking for a never-ending trip. Even the Tenderloin is luminous with dayglo. 

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The Standard will be roving the city all weekend long, snapping photos of the bedlam, the deals, and the spirit of a band that has been inextricable from San Francisco for the past 60 years. Here's what the Dead dragged in.

Two older men sit on the ground by grass; one wears a colorful tie-dye shirt and cap, the other sports sunglasses, a black shirt, and shows a peace sign.
People browse a market stall filled with colorful tie-dye and Grateful Dead merchandise, including T-shirts, patches, and accessories.
A large crowd gathers along a path lined with white tents near a pond featuring a green, serpentine dragon sculpture.
A man with red, blue, and natural hair holds a ukulele and shows a peace sign under a colorful "WELCOME" sign with a crowd behind him.
Four people dressed in colorful, eclectic clothing sit inside a cluttered bus with a tie-dye curtain covering the windshield.
A diverse group of people gathers and walks on a city street lined with colorful Victorian-style houses and trees.
A man wearing a colorful cap and a red graphic shirt over a gray hoodie is inflating a red balloon while holding two yellow balloons at an outdoor event.
A smiling person wearing heart-shaped sunglasses and a black cap flashes a peace sign behind a rack of colorful hats on a sunny street.
A person dressed in a green bear costume with a blue collar sits cross-legged on grass against a natural, leafy background.

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A group of people sit on grass, holding colorful balloons, with others sitting on a hill and a path behind them in a park-like setting.
A bearded man wearing sunglasses shows off his colorful, detailed arm tattoos while holding a blue jacket over his shoulder outdoors.
A man and woman stand on a street in casual tie-dye clothing, smiling, with the woman flashing a peace sign and trees in the background.
A smiling person wearing a colorful bandana and an LSD cap holds two tie-dye shirts, one with "STFU" over a skull with blonde hair.
Four adults and one child stand by a colorful art display on a busy sidewalk with a red bus and buildings in the background.
A person with curly hair wearing sunglasses, a light sweater, and colorful overalls lies relaxed on green grass with arms stretched out.

Sam Mondros can be reached at [email protected]

Filed Under

CultureDead & CompanyEventsGrateful DeadJerry GarciaMusic