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New Release Highlights The Grateful Dead’s Guerrilla Shows in Hampton

Back in October of 1989 the Grateful Dead preceded their five night Meadowlands Arena run with two stealth shows at Hampton Coliseum. Billed as Formerly The Warlocks, tickets for these dates were only available locally less than two weeks before the shows. These gigs, on Sunday October 8 and Monday 9, were notable not only for the group’s alias but also for the music that ensued. On the first night, the band opened its second set with the “Help On The Way”>“Slipknot!”>“Franklin’s Tower” combo, last performed in 1985. The Dead then returned to encore with the a cappella “We Bid You Goodnight,” which had been out of rotation for over a decade. Many fans left Hampton after the Sunday performance, assuming that they had seen the bust outs of the run. However, the group returned on Monday to deliver the first “Dark Star” in well over five years. The band encored that night with the American Beauty track “Attics Of My Life,” last played on September 27, 1972.

These two shows are now being made available as a box set. Formerly The Warlocks can now we pre-ordered at Dead.net, with a September 7 release date.