MAYOR, LIVE NATION ANNOUNCE ASCEND AMPHITHEATER TO OPEN JULY 30
WITH ERIC CHURCH IN CONCERT, FALL LINEUP REVEALED
Free Open House For The Community to be Aug. 2; Corporate Naming Rights Partner Announced
Nashville,
TN – April 23, 2015 – Mayor Karl Dean and Live Nation announced today
that the newly named Ascend Amphitheater will open on July 30 with a
concert headlined by seven-time GRAMMY nominee Eric Church. The 10-acre
Riverfront Park that surrounds the amphitheater will open the same day.
During a four-day grand opening weekend, Mayor Dean and Live Nation will
host a free open house for the community on Sunday, Aug. 2 from 1 p.m.
to 5 p.m., which will include tours of the amphitheater and performances
by local bands and DJs.
“The
newest addition to Music City’s live music scene will get off to a
great start with a concert from Eric Church, who represents what’s great
about Music City,” Mayor Dean said. “His songs can’t be confined to
just one genre; he draws from country, rock and other types of music
that help make the scene here in Nashville so vibrant and eclectic.”
Mayor
Dean added, “I invite all Nashvillians to join me at the free open
house on Aug. 2. It’s important to me that citizens get a chance to see
everything the amphitheater and park have to offer.”
Bob
Roux, President of North American Concerts for Live Nation — joined by
Caren Gabriel, President and CEO for Ascend Federal Credit Union —
also announced that the company had secured the venue’s corporate naming
rights for the next decade.
“Ascend
Amphitheater is a perfect complement to Music City’s wide array of
other world-class performance spaces and is destined to become one of
the most iconic open-air venues ever built,” said Bob Roux, president of
North American Concerts for Live Nation. “We thank Mayor Dean and the
City of Nashville for their vision and dedication to develop an
absolutely perfect venue on one of the most beautiful sites I have ever
seen. The Ascend Amphitheater was designed for live music fans and the
artists we have the privilege to work with, and I can’t wait for
everyone to come together and enjoy it.”
“With
this amphitheater, Ascend commits to being the credit union of choice
for residents of Nashville and Middle Tennessee,” Gabriel said. “And,
because our growth objectives are similar to those of this city, we
believe the Ascend Amphitheater will be pivotal in securing Nashville’s
claim as the entertainment capital of the South.”
Church
will perform a rare solo performance – just him and his guitar. The
concert will kick-off the 2015 Ascend Amphitheater concert season,
followed by as many as twenty-five other shows in the venue’s inaugural
season. Two bands – Chicago and Earth Wind and Fire – will perform
opening weekend on Saturday, Aug. 1. Tickets to the inaugural concert
season go on sale starting April 30.
The
free open house on Aug. 2 will give people a chance to enjoy live
music, get a behind-the-scenes tour of the amphitheater, look around the
park and enjoy some concessions.
Live
Nation was recently awarded a long-term contract by the City of
Nashville to manage, market, operate and program the venue.
The
Ascend Amphitheater is located above the Cumberland River inside of
Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville and is anticipated to be Music
City’s premier outdoor destination for live music.
In
addition to hosting major contemporary concerts each season, the
state-of-the art Ascend Amphitheater will become the outdoor home to the
GRAMMY-award winning Nashville Symphony.
“The
Nashville Symphony has long sought a summer home here in Music City to
expand our programming and service to the community, and I am confident
that this amphitheater will prove to be well worth the wait,” said
Nashville Symphony president and CEO Alan D. Valentine. “I commend Mayor
Dean and all of our public and private partners on this project for
their vision and commitment to making this amphitheater a reality. It is
truly a testament to the spirit of cooperation that makes Nashville so
special and a strong reflection of the community’s dedication to
fostering our rich, dynamic arts and culture.”
Riverfront
Park and the amphitheater will also become the new home for Music
City’s biggest events, including the annual July 4th celebration, “Let
Freedom Sing.” In addition the New Year’s Eve event will also attempt
to incorporate use of the space.
“We
are Music City and nothing amplifies that more than this announcement
for the opening and the inaugural season for the park’s new
amphitheater,” said Tommy Lynch, director of Metro Parks and Recreation.
“This new amenity to Riverfront Park is an important page in the city’s
history and just one more reason for people to make Nashville a
destination or proudly call it home. For those of us who do call
Nashville home, we’re excited. We’re excited about the new park. We’re
excited about the lineup. We’re excited about our great partnership with
Live Nation. But most of all we’re excited about what this means for
the city.”
Overlooking
the Nashville skyline, the 6,800 capacity amphitheater will feature a
large 100 foot by 60 foot stage providing panoramic views and terrific
sight-lines from every seat in the venue. The amphitheater will take
full advantage of its picturesque setting alongside the west bank of the
Cumberland River and will be operated in conjunction with Nashville’s
10-acre Riverfront Park that is open to the public year round.
The
park includes a 1.5 acre lawn known as “The Green,” over one mile of
multi-use greenway trails, ornamental gardens, Nashville’s first
downtown dog park, WiFi access, and exercise and sports facilities,
including two basketball half-courts.
2015 INAUGURAL SEASON LINE UP
TICKETS GO ON-SALE STARTING APRIL 30 AT 10:00 AM CST
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Chicago & Earth Wind and Fire
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Counting Crows with Citizen Cope and Hollis Brown
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Steely Dan with special guest Elvis Costello
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The Smashing Pumpkins & Marilyn Manson
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Sublime with Rome, Rebelution, Pepper and Mickey Avalon
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NEEDTOBREATHE, Switchfoot, Drew Holcomb, and Colony House
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Peter Frampton & Cheap Trick
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Australian Pink Floyd with LedZeppelin2
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ZZ Top with Blackberry Smoke
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Daryl Hall and John Oates
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Americana fest on the Riverfront (Presented by AEG Live)
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Chris Tomlin (in partnership with Awakening Events)
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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with Lake Street Dive
(in partnership with NS2)
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About Eric Church
“Church
is arguably both the mainstream country artist of the year and the
mainstream rock artist of the year and his show made a case for that
blend” proclaimed the Memphis Commercial Appeal when reviewing Eric
Church’s concert late last year. Church’s current “The Outsiders World
Tour,” which set a new venue attendance record of 18,411 at Nashville’s
Bridgestone Arena earlier this year, was recently ranked No. 1 on the
all-genre Billboard Hot Tours chart. He finished 2014 as country music’s
top-selling artist, with the year’s highest debut and sales of any
release in the format as the critical and commercial success The
Outsiders reached Platinum status, marking more than one million albums
sold. Debuting at No. on both the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart and Top
Country Albums chart, The Outsiders garnered GRAMMY, CMA, and ACM Top
Album nominations and features his No.1 hits “Give Me Back My Hometown”
and “Talladega” as well as his current single “Like A Wrecking Ball.”
The
Outsiders is the follow-up to Church’s Platinum-certified Chief,
(named the 2012 Album of the Year by both CMA and ACM, and
GRAMMY-nominated for Best Country Album) which featured five Top 20
singles: “Homeboy” (certified Platinum for sales in excess of one
million singles); the Top 10 “Like Jesus Does” and the Top 5 “Creepin’”
(both certified Gold for sales in excess of 500,000 singles each); and
two No. 1 hits “Drink in My Hand” (certified Platinum) and “Springsteen”
(certified Double Platinum for sales in excess of two million singles).
Church’s 2006 debut album, Sinners Like Me (2006) and his sophomore
album Carolina (2009) are both RIAA Gold-certified. Carolina had three
hit singles: the Top 10 “Hell on the Heart” as well as Top 20 hit “Smoke
A Little Smoke” and Top 10 smash “Love Your Love The Most,” which were
both certified Gold. Sinners Like Me spawned three Top 20 singles: “How
‘Bout You,” “Two Pink Lines,” and “Guys Like Me.”
Called
“the world’s greatest working rock star” by Stereogum and named one of
the “50 Greatest Live Acts Right Now” by Rolling Stone, Church has
earned four ACM Awards, one CMA Award, and seven GRAMMY nominations. The
North Carolina native resides in Nashville with his wife and two sons.
