Chalkdust Torture - Phish
01.02.03 - Hampton Coliseum, Hampton VA

This was the scene inside the Mothership before the first comeback at Hampton. Of course, Phish did play MSG two nights before, which marked the beginning of “Phish 2.0”. However, this video gives you a sneak preview of what it will be like when the lights go down tomorrow night.

Much like this coming weekend, I did not attend all the shows on the 2003 Hampton run. I missed the first one, but made it on the 3rd and 4th. While it was great to see Phish again, the music was not the story. I’ll remember the first weekend of 2003 for getting my crew back together one more time. Now six years later, almost all of us have kids, so time away for Phish is slim to none. But, we actually did try to get the crew together again. It was a no-brainer since all of us live within a short drive of Hampton. Unfortunately, all of us except for Graham and I were shut out, like thousands of others. It’s disappointing, but not because we are all missing Phish’s comeback show in our backyard. I’m disappointed because I won’t be spending three full days with my best friends one more time. Aside from weddings and baby showers, the six to eight people that I am thinking of, get together for a Hokie football game once every couple years. While football game weekends are awesome, they don’t have the same impact and lasting memories as our road trips to see Phish or other shows. Once the excitement of Phish 2009 is over, what will ticket sales for Phish 2010 and ‘11 look like with so much of their original fan base living with greater responsibilities and commitments? That depends on the music. If Phish 3.0 can deliver the goods, then they won’t become another nostalgia act. Plus, I seriously doubt they would ever let it come to that. New fans will be born and those fans in their twenties will pick up where those of us in our thirties and forties left off in 1999. And what about my crew? Was this our last chance to get together for an event such as this? Given our friendship, I bet we will back once again on an abandoned Air Force Base or inside the Giant Coffee Filter (what my wife prefers to call Hampton Coliseum).