Walking into the Hampton Coliseum is akin to entering a Time Machine. The dated infrastructure and omnipresent smell of stale popcorn that permeates the air harkens back to the days of family outings to see Disney On Ice or Monster Jam.
Despite the outmoded environs, or perhaps owing to them, the Hampton Coliseum, affectionately known as “The Mothership” among live music aficionados due to its UFO-like appearance, has earned its reputation as one of the most iconic live music venues in the country.
Since opening its doors in 1969, the antiquated venue has welcomed a sprawling list of legendary artists, including Elvis, Led Zeppelin, and Beyoncé. Most notably, it has become infamous in the jam band community for playing host to some career-defining moments for The Grateful Dead and Phish. In 1989, the Dead stealthily performed three consecutive nights under the moniker “Formerly The Warlocks,” in which they revived classics like “Dark Star” and “Attics Of My Life” for the first time in years. Two decades later, Phish made their triumphant return after a five-year hiatus with their own historic three-night run.
Similar to other quintessential live music locales like The Gorge, the Hampton Coliseum is a destination venue. The nearest major metropolitan centers of Washington D.C, Richmond, VA and Raleigh, NC are all several hours away by car. This, in turn, tends to attract a larger concentration of the more, shall we say, “dedicated” segment of the fanbase who are willing to exert the extra time and effort to travel to the extreme southeastern corner of Virginia to attend these shows. The resulting energy is palpable and acts a direct catalyst for some of the aforementioned legendary performances.
That trend is in full force this weekend in the Virginia Tidewater as Phish continues their three-night extravaganza, their first shows here since 2018, with another memorable performance on Saturday night, September 20th. Fresh off a historic Friday night outing in which the band surpassed the Dead’s longstanding record of 21 performances at the Coliseum, the most by any single artist, Phish kicked things off moments before 8 p.m. with a funky take on “Boogie on Reggae Woman”.
With Mike Gordon’s slinky bass lines leading the charge, the group stretched out Stevie Wonder’s reggae groove for several minutes before an equally funky take on the 2.0-era special, “Undermind,” that featured some exceptional organ runs from Page McConnell.
“Bouncing Around the Room” offered the sweltering capacity crowd a brief respite before a scorching take on “Birds of a Feather” immediately raised the thermostat again with some searing peaks from Trey Anastasio. McConnell’s swirling organ started up the “evil circus” vibes of “Esther” for the first time in more than a year, leading to an impressive rendition of the intricately composed instrumental coda by all four members with nary a missed note between them.
The remarkably tight playing continued on another technically challenging classic, “It’s Ice” before a stunning take on “Ether Edge” that featured some of the evening’s most impressive group improv, leading to a soaring atmospheric jam. A raucous take on David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream”, from his 1972 LP The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (and subject of Phish’s 2016 Halloween show), wrapped up the first set and found Anastasio delivering some of the most scorching guitar work of the evening. After a brief set break, the group wasted no time charging into the endearingly optimistic “Everything’s Right”, perhaps a reaction of sorts to the tragic events that unfolded in the parking lots outside the venue during Friday evening’s performance.
A brief jam eventually made a slick segue into “Simple”, ultimately settling on a gorgeous two-chord jam that displayed remarkable musical patience from all four members before another clever segue into “A Wave Of Hope” before briefly returning to the “Simple” theme. he jam then found its way to a goosebump-inducing version of Anastasio’s “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1” that featured a wildly psychedelic jam that bordered on ambient at times.
A funky take on “Gotta Jibboo” saw Anastasio making use of his digital delay pedals with his (once upon a time) trademark looping siren noises percolating behind a frenetic jam as the band built to several rousing peaks. The second set wrapped up on a high note with a powerful one-two combo of fan favorites, “Suzy Greenberg” and “Julius”. The band returned for a brief encore that featured a surprise performance of Jimi Hendrix’s “Izabella,” which was teeming with arena-rock guitar riffs, before finishing things up with an equally rocking “Possum”.
Despite not having debuted any new original or cover material so far in 2025, a somewhat surprising trend after the creative outburst the band had displayed in the prior few years, it remains crystal clear that Phish continues to not only be the best at what they do, but they’re the only ones who can do what they do.
Phish wraps up this leg of their summer tour this evening in Hampton.
