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
| DATE | SHOW | ON SALE | On Sale Time |
| 7.30.15 | Eric Church | 4.30.15 | 10am |
| 8.1.15 | Chicago & Earth Wind and Fire | 5.1.15 | 10am |
| 8.4.15 | Phish | 5.1.15 | 12pm |
| 8.5.15 | Jill Scott | 5.9.15 | 12pm |
| 8.7.15 | Counting Crows with Citizen Cope and Hollis Brown | 5.2.15 | 12pm |
| 8.8.15 | Steely Dan with special guest Elvis Costello | 5.2.15 | 10am |
| 8.9.15 | The Smashing Pumpkins & Marilyn Manson | 5.2.15 | 10am |
| 8.18.15 | Sublime with Rome, Rebelution, Pepper and Mickey Avalon | 5.9.15 | 10am |
| 8.14.15 | NEEDTOBREATHE, Switchfoot, Drew Holcomb, and Colony House | 5.1.15 | 10am |
| 8.15.15 | Idina Menzel | 5.1.15 | 10am |
| 8.16.15 | Peter Frampton & Cheap Trick | 5.2.15 | 12pm |
| 8.22.15 | Australian Pink Floyd with LedZeppelin2 | 5.8.15 | 10am |
| 8.28.15 | Old Crow Medicine Show | 5.9.15 | 10am |
| 8.29.15 | Under The Sun Tour | 5.8.15 | 10am |
| 9.1.15 | ZZ Top with Blackberry Smoke | 5.8.15 | 10am |
| 9.5.15 | Widespread Panic | 6.5.15 | 10am |
| 9.6.15 | Widespread Panic | 6.5.15 | 10am |
| 9.23.15 | Daryl Hall and John Oates | 5.1.15 | 10am |
| 9.19.15 | Americana fest on the Riverfront (Presented by AEG Live) | TBD | TBD |
| 10.2.15 | Lynyrd Skynyrd | 5.7.15 | 10am |
| 10.8 .15 | Chris Tomlin (in partnership with Awakening Events) | 5.15.15 | 10am |
| 10.10.15 | Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with Lake Street Dive(in partnership with NS2) | 5.8.15 | 12pm |
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.
