Hampton Coliseum

Hampton Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena in Hampton, Virginia. Construction began on May 24, 1968. The venue held its first event on December 1, 1969, the College of William and Mary vs. North Carolina State University in a college basketball game [1]. On January 31, 1970, the Coliseum formally opened as the first large multi-purpose arena in the Hampton Roads region and the state of Virginia (opening a year before the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk.)

For the Rolling Stones album, see Hampton Coliseum (album).
Hampton Coliseum
Former namesHampton Roads Coliseum
Location1000 Coliseum Drive,
Hampton, Virginia, 23666
OwnerCity of Hampton
OperatorCity of Hampton
Capacity13,800 (concerts)
9,777 (basketball)
Construction
Broke groundMay 24, 1968
Built1968–1969
OpenedDecember 1, 1969
Construction cost$8.5 to $9.0 million USD
ArchitectOdell Associates
General contractorMcDevitt and Street Co.
Tenants
Virginia Squires (ABA) (1970–76)
Tidewater/Virginia Wings (AHL) (1971–75)
Hampton Gulls (SHL/AHL) (1974–78)
Hampton Aces (NEHL/EHL) (1978–81)
Old Dominion Monarchs (NCAA) (part-time, 1970–95)

With a final estimated cost between $8.5 million to $9 million, the arena was designed by Odell Associates and constructed by McDevitt and Starett, both of Charlotte, North Carolina.[2] The venue capacity is configurable from 9,800 to 13,800 seats.

Sport

Hampton Coliseum was one of several former homes of the American Basketball Association Virginia Squires professional basketball franchise. The coliseum was also home to the Virginia Wings in the American Hockey League and Hampton Gulls in the Southern Hockey League and the Hampton Aces of the North Eastern Hockey League and Eastern Hockey League.

The coliseum hosted the Division I men's college basketball ECAC South Region Tournament, organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), in 1980 and 1981.[3][4][5][6] The 1985 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and the 1987, 1988, and 1989 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Tournaments were held in the coliseum. The Old Dominion Monarchs basketball team played occasional games in the coliseum from 1970 to 1995, usually one game a year, although twice the team played several games in the coliseum, in the 1979–80 and 1984-85 seasons.[7] The Hampton Coliseum is the home of the Virginia Duals annual wrestling tournament, hosting invitational college and high school matches.

National Wrestling Alliance, WCW, WWE and other wrestling promotions had wrestling show from 1980s.

Music

The Grateful Dead performed 21 concerts at Hampton Coliseum between 1979 and 1992, including their now-famous 1989 shows at the venue. The shows were later commercially released as Formerly the Warlocks because the band was billed under the name The Warlocks.

Elvis Presley performed at the Coliseum in April 1972 and again in March of 1974. Both were sold-out shows.

Metallica performed at the Hampton Coliseum in 1986.

The venue remains popular with the rock band Phish, whose multi-night stand in 1998 was released as Hampton Comes Alive as well as choosing Hampton Coliseum as the site of their 2009 reunion shows. The band has performed at the venue 21 times between 1995 and the end of 2018.[8] Owing to Phish's long association with Hampton Coliseum, the band's fans have dubbed the arena "The Mothership".[9][10] In 2009 Phish reunited at the Coliseum for a 3 night stand for the first time since their break up 5 years earlier.

The world's first pay-per-view live broadcast of a rock show was held at the venue on December 18, 1981, when The Rolling Stones American Tour 1981 ended with a two-night stint. Guitarist Keith Richards memorably hit a man who ran onstage with his guitar.[11]

Other performers include: Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Pink Floyd,[12] Bassnectar,[13] U2, Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M.,[14] Dave Matthews Band, String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic,[15] Jerry Garcia Band,[16] Further, and The Other Ones.

Notable recordings

The popularity of Hampton Coliseum among performers has led to the release of many notable live albums and tracks that were recorded at the venue.

gollark: Except you're also now lugging around the weight of the batteries and motors.
gollark: Pedals are uncool.
gollark: So if you have a set of electric cars with small batteries - enough to travel within a city and near it - available for rent, and you don't suffer too much overhead from having to rent them out, that could conceivably be a good method of transport.
gollark: Electric cars are expensive *partly* because they need batteries for hundred-mile journeys, even though most actually won't be this long. And cars are kind of inefficient because most of the time they're left idling.
gollark: Personally, I think that local public transport and short-range intra-city electric cars would be worth considering.

References
  1. "Coliseum Highlights of the Past 40 Years".
  2. "History". Hampton Coliseum.org.
  3. Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
  4. Varsity Pride: 1980 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
  5. Varsity Pride: 1981 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
  6. sports-reference.com 1980-81 Independent Season Summary
  7. ODU Men's Basketball 2004-05 Media Guide, p. 82.
  8. "Hampton Coliseum- Phish.net". phish.net.
  9. Holtzclaw, Mike. "Phish returning to Hampton for three nights in October". dailypress.com. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  10. "THE RISING TIDEWATER, REVISITED". Landscape Architecture Magazine. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  11. "Hampton Coliseum (Live 1981)". rollingstones.com. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  12. "Pink Floyd Setlist at Hampton Coliseum, Hampton". setlist.fm. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  13. Lurie, Victoria. "The buzz: Bassnectar is returning to Hampton in September, pre-sale starts Friday". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  14. McDonald, Sam. "Musical highlights from Hampton Coliseum". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  15. "Widespread Panic - 11/27/1999 - Hampton, VA". PanicStream | The Widespread Panic Archive. 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  16. "Bruce Hornsby Sat-In With Jerry Garcia Band 24 Years Ago Today". JamBase. 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  17. Lifton, Dave. "Metallica Announce Release Date, Track Listing for Massive 'Master of Puppets' Reissue". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  18. www.amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Hampton-Roads-Coliseum-1971-Zeppelin/dp/B00MVO07TM/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=hampton+coliseum&qid=1566072055&s=gateway&sr=8-12. Retrieved 2019-08-17. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. "Review : The Hampton Roads Concert CD | Elvis Reviews". www.elvis.com.au. Retrieved 2019-08-17.

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