Grateful Dead

These two shows should be put out complete, no compilation

Jerry with the Wolf. H>S>F bustout. Was killer, was standing on the Jer side as close as I ever had been.Was completely unforgettable.....until the next night! :) Cheers! JG “The Omnipotent Grateful Dead!”

just not quite enough tix but i did get in the next night :-)...

WhoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooooooo!

correctly, tix were only available for these two shows in VA. I lived in Roanoke at the time so was able to score tix for a bunch of out-of-state head pals. Incredibly cool vibe for both nights and of course not just great song selection/bust-outs, but very cohesively played, as well. I recall a scalper being confronted by a cop by the fountain on one of the two nights and being told he could either go to jail or hand the tix out. He handed about 10 tix to needy heads to the whoops and cheers of all around.

Being on the West Coast I heard about these shows through the grapevine etc... I was so jelous when the I got the setlist and even more jelous when I got the tapes of the run. Although I have excellent SBD tapes of these shows, I cant wait untill its remastered from the vault...hint hint...wink wink..nudge nudge..

Attended both nights. Some of the best shows on the East Coast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so incredible that it was one of those shows that you ask how are they going to top that for the next night. They did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dougles

I could write a book about these two shows. We heard about the tickets going on sale late one night a month or so before the shows...phone call from somebody in Ohio, who heard from someone in another state who heard from a cousin of someone....well you get the idea. So my friend called me (we were in South Carolina) and said that Hampton Coliseum was going to have tickets go on sale the next morning for a band calling themselves Formerly the Warlocks, no one knew if it was the DEAD; they wanted me to take a road trip to get tickets. Well, I called a neighbor and asked her if she wanted to take a 8 hour drive through the night on the chance that I could get tickets to see a band that might be who knows what. She said why not, and we loaded up my dog Maggie, dropped by my friends house to get some money and off we went. When we got to the parking lot, the next morning, the sun was coming up and there might have been 2 cars waiting. We got out of the car and said "what do you think"? They were from out of town too and had heard the same rumor...little by little cars were pulling in the lot. Then the folks that worked there started arriving. They didn't or wouldn't tell us any more than it was a band called Formerly the Warlocks. They did let us inside to wait on the ticket office to open and we stood around on ice that was on the floor for the ice show that night...there were lots of jokes about us on thin ice etc. Anyway to make a long story longer....we got the tickets, drove home, and when we came back in October, I just knew it was going to be special. My friends said that there was no way that the show on the ninth could be better...ie no dark star, because of the show this night...(help,slip). I bet differently...there were alot of other stories about these two nights, but the best story is the two set lists...we still listen to the old tapes and get chills. I too wish they would put the shows out together.I have the ticket stubs. I have worn out tapes and I have great memories. Lake

when we got to the box office, there were like 5 cars there and no one at the tix window. I got the tix (pink and yellow LMAO), and then wasnt sure who the band was. The lady at the window didnt either. Its like, OK, I know who this is, but is it really them? Turns out, yeah....its them alright. ON ROIDS~!!!!!! “The Omnipotent Grateful Dead!”

Fire drill at my dorm, sitting in my car listening to the radio."Tickets for the Warlocks just went on sale." Cruised down to an empty parking lot. Walked in to the Coliseum box office, asked "The Warlocks are really the Grateful Dead, right?" They said "yeah." The rest is glorious and grateful history. I was hooked forever from Help.

My number 1 ranked shows Both nights were magical for all in my crowd. The Coliseum simply floated. I could also write two books about these nights but won't. The "tapes" speak for themselves.

Our friend... I think it was Zwicker... found out about these shows while we were freshmen in college. Something about some super top secret shows with the dead playing as the Warlocks. Personally I thought it was BS, but he actually drove down from DC and got the tickets. They were these amazing Warlocks tickets and I swear until the band actually hit the stage I kept having doubts. We got there super early and ended up in the very front for both shows, with the general admission tickets, which was such a joy. I remember being positive that they would open the second set with Help, my all time favorite, and even telling a friend, I believe it was the Jay Bird, that they would open with it, and how he flipped out when we started hearing that telling buzz from Jerry's guitar that sounded like the beginning of Help! What amazing shows these were. The inflatable dragon guy was right next to me when they busted out the Dark Star... and I swear it seemed like several people spontaneously combusted. Man... those were some GREAT shows! These would KILL on DVD. Please release these GDP!

thank god they were allowed to play there after unruly behavior by those loser miracle seekeres in previously. it all worked out well because we in virginia were for the next several times treated to unnannouced "locals only" shows and ticket sales. and what shows, my house was at the time 20-30 minutes away and about everyone from my hometown always went what a great time

I had tickets for Howard Sterns US Open Soars show when I got my hands on THE WARLOCKS tickets and remebering my none DEAD friends how i could just leave them flat little did they know lol

I remember these shows like yesterday, and I am writing a chapter in my book about them. So many memories from getting tix to the show from Brent, having telepathy (later confirmed from my friend) during the Wheel, getting on the wrong side of the highway going home, seeing people crying in the hallways during Dark Star, seeing Jerry smile, and feeling the energy that truly did make the arena float. greg "all these trials will soon be past, look for something built to last" - rh

I will never forget these shows. We drove from DC to hampton to get ticket the night before aslo not knowing if this was the Dead.

I went to Merriweather for a JGB show, where I met up with Terri. She was so pretty, so kind. Her long red hair and her, nevermind. She totally stole my heart, only one problem. Jenifer. She did seem to like it when I lost her in the show to go sit with Terri, who had awesum pavilian seats. Your wondering what this has to do with The Warlocks at Hampton right about now, aren't you. Ok, so long story a wee bit shorter. Jenifer & I didn't make it. Yeah, I was the asshole. Jenifer lived I'm Va., & I now lived in No Jersey. She was my only hope for a ticket connection. And she did it for me. Intact she got me 8 tickets!! I was so grateful, really. I thought we stood a chance of getting back together. We make the drive, we met up with old friends, make new ones. The whole scene at Hampton was just to good to be true. I meet jenifer to get our tics, she has them for me, all 8. Things were so perfect, except one thing. She rushed me out of her apartment. I was to stoned at the moment to have it make a big difference. I was psyched to head over to the lot and have a high time. And a high time was had indeed. Jon scored some Texas X. Fuck those pills were huge, & did they ever pack a wallup. I was high for about 10 hours. So, we all know how good these shows were & the Help->Slip->Franklin's was just insane. But it was what happened on the hallway that had me meltdown before the encore. I wish I could remember his name, but I don't. This guy I went to college with for a semester. I see Jenifer with him & they r signaling for me to come over. I do & they break the news to me that they are seeing each other. I asked for how long, but neither would answer. I was so high on E that all I could do was hug them. And that's exactly what I did. He was so taken back by my action, he was speechless. Then I just turned around and walked. Seconds later I met Mia, & We Bid You Goodnigt started. We had such a beautiful moment together. I started to cry while she & I danced. She just kept kissing my face as the tears rolled down my face. That's when the fun began... Part II on day II

Oh, sweet Hampton. I was in college at the time, about 40min from The Coliseum. Nobody could quite believe this was really going to be The Dead, but about 12 of us piled in to 2 crappy cars and went to see if there would be any tickets left. The empty parking lot had us thinking it was a hoax to round up unsuspecting local Heads or something, but we walked right up to the box office, and left with HANDFULLS of beautiful pink and yellow tickets. Too good to be true! It was magic from the beginning (just seeing Jerry and The Boys walk out and not some tribute band was a great start!) but I remember the moment for me when I felt like we were in for something interstellar. I recall Promised Land closing the first night's first set - the whole song had a little extra UMPH, but something about how Jerry sang his backups - "Tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling, poor boy's on the line!" Remember? Pure Electric Soul Energy exploding from the stage... Holy Shit this is gonna be a HOT 2nd set!!! Little did we know, to say nothing of the 2nd night! Thank you, Grateful Dead, bless you, Jerry. I'm still raising my hand and reflecting the love back to you! and, um... let's get a remaster of these gems, OK?!?!

My buddy had a microbus and we hit the shows earlier in the Summer and decided to follow the guys for the Fall tour as well. The only problem, we didn't have all the necessary funds for the Fall tour. Guess we had too much fun during the Summer. Yeah, like that could happen. We had the tickets for the shows, thanx to my credit card. Well, my parent's credit card, that is. We were both a couple of deadheads working in a bar with a bunch of other deadheads and we decided to work a really light schedule in October so we could hit every show. The only problem was cash. Lucky for us we had a friend that hooked us up with to tanks of "Hippy Crack" to take with. We bought a bunch of balloons and let our entrepreneurial ways help us with the gas, grass, food, etc. What a month!!!

30 minute drive to the Coliseum, see 'em, 30 minute drive home. A lifetime of memories. Oh, Hampton! @->--- @->--- @->--- @->--- @->--- @->--- I dunno, it must have been the roses! First show 11/23/68 ATHENS OHIO ... Anyone have it for trade? Cheer'n'merry Sunshine!

Has it been 20 years already? Wow... Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours I am done with mine...

I didn't go to these shows but I knew all about them! I was the one who came up with the idea for calling the shows "Formerly The Warlocks." It happened because Blue Oyster Cult had just played a "secret" show at a club as "Formerly Soft White Underbelly" which was their original name. When GD management were sitting around trying to figure out how to keep these two shows secret, it was decided to list them on the Hampton events calender as an "Arts and Crafts Fair." That way the manager of Hampton could hire enough security, etc without telling them who was actually going to be there. Only two people at Hampton knew the truth; the facility manager and the box office manager! The band management liked calling it "Formerly The Warlocks" and instead of my ordering the tickets from Weldon, Williams and Lick (which would have basically told them that the band was actually the Grateful Dead) we had the box office manager call in the order. No one at the ticket printers had any idea...It was one of the best kept secrets ever...end result was that there were, at most, 100 people with out tickets outside and most of them got in because most of the scalpers couldn't even give the tickets away for a pack of cigs!And now these shows are being officially released in a six CD boxed set mixed down from the multi-tracked master tapes! The only thing that would be better is if it were a surround sound mix! Way too pricey at $70.00 but worth it in the long run... Thank you, and Stay In Touch!

Seriously they play eyes at light speed.

The one and only Grateful Dead show I ever attended. Little did I know that I would be a part of something so historical. The Deadheads all around Hampton were a sight to see. Many amazing things could be said about the show, but the thing that always stuck with me was the "And We Bid You Good Night" encore. Unexpected and very well performed. I'm so thankful these days for the tapers, Archive and YouTube, that allow me to relive that night so many years later.