It's October 9th. The deadline is tomorrow. For this issue, I still haven't nominated a venue. Ocotober 9th. 10/9. OK, we've got a venue!

Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA by David Saslavsky

Eleven years ago today (10/9/89), the Grateful Dead billed as "formerly the Warlocks" amazed the crowd at Hampton Coliseum with an absolutely stellar show featuring the return of both Dark Star and Attics of My Life. Arguably the best show of the Brent Mydland (keyboards) era, the two-night stand only went on sale locally a week before the shows. Still, Deadheads from around the country descended on Hampton, VA with high anticipation. Fans love it. Trey Anastasio announced it was Phish's favorite room to play. In fact, Phish released their 1998 2 night stand in its entirety as "Hampton Comes Alive", a CD box set featuring the Coliseum as its cover art. In the age of sterile arenas, what makes Hampton Coliseum so special?

Stop reading and visit http://www.hamptoncoliseum.org. Known by Deadheads as "the spaceship", Hampton Coliseum opened on January 31st, 1970 with a performance by comedian Jack Benny. Since then, it's hosted thousands of events. Of note, The Rolling Stones appeared in 1975, 1978 and 1981. The 1981 concert was broadcast live on cable to 750,000 homes. The documentary "Elvis on Tour" was filmed in Hampton on one of his four appearances there. The Grateful Dead performed 21 shows from 1979-1992. Phish has put on 8 autumn performances from 1995-1999.

Situated on it's own grounds right off I64 with ample parking, a tree lined walkway and a lake, the coliseum complex is a great spot for hanging. At night, the building becomes larger than life. 24 special walkway lights illuminate the building creating the image of a spaceship about to lift off. Parking lot banter often includes, "Dude, the building left the ground last night. I felt it rise." The fine view on the website of the arena reflecting in the lake can be found by going east of the coliseum exit on I 64.

Hampton is my personal favorite arena for three reasons: space, convenience and staff friendliness.

Space is a valuable commodity at a sold out show. Many shows are General Admission and allow anyone to be wherever they feel is their best spot. A 2-3 hour wait before doors can put you in the front row on the 26,263 sq. ft. floor. Above the floor sits approximately 8,000 seats, all with great views of the stage. The aisles are wide and room between rows allows for comfortable dancing. For those who prefer the hallways, Hampton has two levels of wide, wide concourses that even eliminate setbreak crush, very unusual for arenas of its day. Plenty of staircases make access easy. Anywhere from the furthest seat to a spot near the stage is never more than a couple of minutes walk. The 70 ft. high ceiling allows for great sound everywhere, and the lights in Hampton can be mindblowing as the entire arena makes a great backdrop. Making everyone comfortable enables fans to focus on the music and that creates HIGH ENERGY. That's why bands enjoy playing there.

Traveling to and from shows in faraway lands can be stressful even when the hotel is only a few miles away, therefore, convenience is key. The Hampton Coliseum complex has over 1500 hotel rooms literally across the street. Once you're there, you're there, no need to move the car until after the last show. It's just like a festival atmosphere, restaurants and shopping are right there and The Waffle House around 4:00am is an experience not to be missed.

Many communities consider people who follow a band "freaks" and prefer they stay away. Why the "not in my backyard" attitude doesn't apply when the WWF comes to town is beyond me. Hampton treats music lovers as tourists. They understand. The hotels are booked solid. Lines are long at all the restaurants. Instead of being annoyed by "freaks", the community joins in the party and wants to make sure everyone has a good time. Even the arena staff and Hampton police treat fans as paying customers. This is unfortunately very unusual. Waiting for doors to open is not tense, and can actually be fun. It's loose and people are respectful until about 30 minutes before doors. Security and police will joke around. If someone does something stupid, they are politely asked to refrain, not hassled or browbeaten. Inside the arena, security is almost nonexistent. Yet there are fewer problems than in many arenas. Could this be an indication that overbearing security create the problems they are paid to solve?

Frequent jambands.com contributor Robert Turner is a Hampton veteran having seen over 20 shows there including the Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, and U2.

"Hampton represents the pinnacle of the arena concert experience. Sightlines couldn't be better, security couldn't be mellower and the paying audience couldn't be happier."