In just two short weeks, Phish will break nearly five years of silence with a three night run in one of their favorite venues: Hampton Coliseum. Over the next two weeks, we’ll give you a little look back at what makes Hampton Coliseum so special to Phish, their fans, and more.

I also hope to share with you a little of my own history of shows at Hampton from Phish and beyond.

Let us begin with a little geography and history, shall we? Hampton, Virginia sits at the tip of the southernmost of the peninsulas that jut into the Chesapeake Bay. The region is commonly referred to as Hampton Roads and includes the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, and Williamsburg. The distinct, flying saucer shaped, arena sits in sight of Interstate 64 alongside a lake. 

Opened in 1970, the Coliseum seats up to 13,800 and is situated adjacent to a strip of hotels and a relatively new convention center. It has played host to all sorts of events from circuses to monster truck shows to Elvis and The Rolling Stones (who filmed their “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” video there.)

Its renown in the Phish community stems not just from the slew of remarkable Phish shows played there but also from the history of legendary Grateful Dead concedes held in the venue.

The Grateful Dead first played Hampton in 1979 and returned annually for several years. The most notable appearance came in 1989. Due to crowding issues caused by touring fans in 1988, the band was banned from playing in the city. A plan was hatched to circumvent the ban by booking them under the moniker “Formerly The Warlocks”. (The Warlocks was a name used by the band for a short time in ’65 & ’66.) I don’t know for certain if this stemmed the tide of fans as I, aged 15 years and at home in Virginia Beach, knew full well that The Grateful Dead were playing, but the shows went on. Myself, I was not permitted to attend.

Those that did attend were treated to more than stellar performances; the band broke out songs that had long been missing from the rotation including: “Dark Star”, “Help on the Way > Slipknot!”, and “Attics Of My Life”  (which had not been played since 1972!) A longtime Deadhead confided to me in 1995 that those shows may have been “the last, truly, great shows” played by The Grateful Dead. One man’s opinion, to be sure, but an opinion grounded in the experiences of a fan who had been seeing the band regularly since the Summer of 1973.

Stream The Grateful Dead 1989-10-09 from Archive.org

With that kind of mojo surrounding a building, you can imagine that the anticipation levels were high for the next time The Grateful Dead might come to town. We’ll talk about that in the next post; stay tuned.