Fifty years after The Band’s historic farewell at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom, Musichead Gallery presents The Band: From Woodstock to The Last Waltz, an exhibition featuring photographs by Elliott Landy and Larry Hulst. Opening October 10, the exhibition brings together two distinct photographic perspectives on The Band, spanning their intimate years in Woodstock and their historic 1976 farewell concert, The Last Waltz.

Before becoming The Band, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson performed as Levon and the Hawks and backed Bob Dylan during his transition from folk to electric rock. In Woodstock, they recorded the informal sessions that became The Basement Tapes and created Music from Big Pink and The Band, albums that helped redefine American rock through country, blues, gospel, folk and early rock and roll.

Elliott Landy documented The Band during this pivotal period, gaining rare access to the musicians at home, in the Woodstock landscape and between performances. His photographs appeared on the covers of Music from Big Pink and The Band, as well as Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline and Van Morrison’s Moondance. Landy also served as one of the official photographers of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, and his work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Whitney Museum.

Seven years later, Larry Hulst photographed The Band at The Last Waltz, the November 25, 1976 farewell concert featuring Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and others. Over more than five decades, Hulst has built an archive of more than 100,000 black-and-white negatives. Working primarily from the audience rather than backstage, he captured the immediacy of live performance and the artists as audiences experienced them.

Together, Landy and Hulst’s photographs tell a visual story of The Band across two defining moments: the creative intimacy of Woodstock and the spectacle of their final concert. The exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of The Last Waltz and will close with an artist talk and book signing with Elliott Landy, centered around his new book, The Band Photographs 1968 - 1969: Two-Volume Set. Comprising almost 400 images, the photography book captures The Band throughout their formative Woodstock period, during the recording of Music from Big Pink and The Band.