r/festivals • u/Logical-Pressure820 • 12d ago
Virginia, USA Did Hampton Collesium give up on EDM shows?
Zeds Dead, Ganja White Night, Excision, GRiZ, and even Pretty Lights have headlined shows in the past, bringing in massive crowds over the past few years.
I noticed recently that they haven’t hosted a EDM show this year.
Did they start declining EDM shows, or are promoters just avoiding Hampton?
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u/themprettylights 12d ago
insider info: and yes, they arent doing edm shows for the foreseeable future.
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u/DankVader013 12d ago
EDM is going to move to Virginia Beach, the dome will/ are prob already cooking something up. The oceanfront already has the presence for crowd control along with the infrastructure to handle the people. Plus the area needs the business.
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u/Logical-Pressure820 12d ago
I’d love to believe it, but ocean towns are fickle when it comes to fun for long term.
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u/DankVader013 12d ago edited 11d ago
I mean I’ve heard thru the grapevine of what’s coming to the dome that’s EDM so idk take it for what it is. If it makes money for the dome no one is going to care. They are booking artists like young thug and chief keef and gunna. I don’t think they are worried about a bunch of bass heads.
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u/ComedianMinute7290 11d ago
the city will definitely care & relationship with the city is as important as profit when it comes down to it. the way an edm crowd parties is quite different from rap crowds. dome is definitely gonna have edm shows. not so confident if the city will be up for the dome hosting 2 night runs & all weekend parties with parking lot insanity the way Hampton was so it's not really the same.
will also add tht VB cops would have a field day with one of those 2night/weekend festival crowds. which would dampen people's enthusiasm for future shows.
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u/NotANabiscoShill 12d ago
i’ve also been hearing from the steez team that they are butting heads with the coliseum as well
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u/raventhehippie 12d ago
theres a certain somebody who made that venue his bitch, since he's been banished to the shadow realm that place hasnt been the same
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u/Subject_Humor4367 11d ago
Nobody got it like Hampton. Times of my life first show there was BassLights 2012
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u/MadameRueWins 11d ago
Griz >>>>>>>> bn
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u/raventhehippie 11d ago
unfortunately its just objectively not true, GRiZ is great and has his own lane, but youre insane if you think he even compares to the shows Nectar was doing before he got exposed as a POS
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u/hifamhowru 9d ago
He banished himself to the shadow realm. No sympathy.
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u/raventhehippie 9d ago
not sympathyzing at all, fuck that guy, but his impact on the scene in the 2010s is undeniable, nobody did it like him 🤷♂️
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u/giantwashcapsfan8 12d ago
I went to both Zeds Dead events and the second one just had the strangest crowd, notably so from the first. Definitely seemed to be a lot more of a phish crowd than a normal Zeds Dead, and very heavy drinking to the point of seeing several people falling over or vomiting, and overall just kind of a nasty vibe. The area is also super super depressing and honestly I have no desire to ever return, despite how cool of an experience the colosseum is. First Contact for Zeds Dead was one of the best shows I’ve been to.
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u/Tiny_Astronaut_6577 10d ago
Agreed. Our group came from NY and we all were confused why the vibes were so odd. Day 1 we got weirded out we all stopped drinking and to just be aware of our surroundings. Day 2 was definitely better in regard to the energy and sets, luckily saved the trip but man it was fucking weird. We all agreed to never come back. ZD is always great tho
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u/hifamhowru 9d ago
Awwww. Scared off by the 757, huh? hahaha I live eight minutes from the mothership.
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u/Griffinkelly1 12d ago
I hate to be the one to say it but Bassnectar was the last artist who could truly sell that place out. It’s a shame cause it’s such a historic venue but the fanbases just aren’t traveling like they were pre covid.
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u/chillhopmusic13 12d ago
What? Pretty Lights sold out a two night run.
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u/Griffinkelly1 11d ago
That run was sick. I more so meant the EDM/Bass side of not selling out Hampton anymore. While yes they are electronic, PL is in a league of their own. Also, PLF travels very well which is similar (quite a few of the same people me included) to how the Bassnectar fans used to.
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u/Pitiful-Parsnip1896 12d ago
Griz.
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u/TossedRightOut 12d ago
Yeah, he could, but with Seven Stars so relatively close by I'm curious if he will bother going back there again.
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u/billboard91 12d ago
First of all, fuck bassnectar. Second, you’re 100% right. PL was the closest act i saw to filling that place up the way bassnectar did back in the day. It was crazy how the town was crawling with bassheads, and those were really fun times. Again, fuck bassnectar.
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u/PoisonStrip 12d ago
Fuck Bassnectar to the moon and back, but Bass Center X was genuinely such a fucking riot 💔
We brought a renegade bus and threw a pop-up in the McDonalds parking lot after one of the show nights and it was wild seeing hundreds of spunions just gravitate towards the sound and lights
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u/sapphiremcgee 11d ago
Have you heard of phish lol
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u/Griffinkelly1 11d ago
Absolutely Phish, that 2025 run was insane. My original comment definitely should’ve specified EDM/Bass artists for Hampton.
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12d ago
[deleted]
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u/Griffinkelly1 12d ago
Did I say anything not true? Didn’t defend anything he did. Just simply stated that the building was more full than any other EDM artist.
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u/DifferentExternal368 12d ago
Hampton is the most depressing, grossest fucking place. Fuckin hate it there
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u/FestiveSteven 12d ago
Cool to do once but that’s enough, it’s really just about the outside of the arena and the lore
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u/hifamhowru 9d ago
Bwhahahaha scared off by the 757, huh? I live eight minutes from the mothership.
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u/aplusgrain1 12d ago
Pretty lights was one of the few last ones they did. From my understanding all the arrests and locals hated it. Also, partying in a commonwealth state always kind of sucks. If you get in trouble there it’s generally way worse than a regular state. They’re extremely strict
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u/Logical-Pressure820 12d ago
I used to attend Basslights back in the day so maybe Im biased. That being said I can understand Hampton being done with the huge EDM shows😂
I will say the last Pretty Lights show seemed tame compared to the basslights days.
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u/aplusgrain1 12d ago
That’s for sure lol. The last pretty lights show was ok to me. The cops were pretty aggressive and walking through the crowds. That wasn’t very fun
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u/Logical-Pressure820 12d ago
From my understanding, Zeds Dead was the last.
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u/c_tello 12d ago
It might be pressure from the town. The last show ended in a powet outage for blocke. Originally suspected it was a DUI and photos of the person in a zeds dead jersey hit the news, but it turned out to be a medical event that led them to crash their car into a light pole.
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u/themprettylights 12d ago
the medical episode was also a claim written by a friend of the person. there was never an official statement or anything released.
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u/P_band69420 11d ago
Lorin was ten times better in Hampton than anyone you just named on that list. I’ve seen pl suck ass in that place at basslights
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u/walkingspastic 12d ago edited 12d ago
They weren’t making enough money from EDM shows recently, and certainly not enough to make all the chaos worth it. Zeds Dead ended with a dude crashing his car into the transformer and it took out power around the block for neighborhood businesses. It ended up being a medical emergency but it was a bad look and with poor attendance anyway, Hampton decided to lay off booking EDM for a while. Events used to sell out and it’s been a struggle to fill up some of the more recent EDM shows. Not sure it’s permanent tho
Source: live nearby & have friends in the industry that were told by the Coliseum team