Ascend Amphitheater

We just saw Styx w/​the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and really enjoyed the venue, sound and vibe. This was our first visit to Ascend and we were really delighted with the entire scene.
The lawn area has many great vantage points … If you are near the front of line and you sit in very front on lawn you will get a great view of the artist and stage … If you get there a bit later go to the river side of the lawn where it seems that area is last to fill up but still great views.
There are about 10 picnic tables that are available but I would recommend bringing a blanket and beach type chairs to sit on. Our venue had food trucks and we loved the wood fired pizza that was about $ 12 for a 4 piece pie. The beer is the usual fair of bud with some craft ones as well. 25oz bud light was $ 11 and I was told the craft beer was more pricey– $ 14, so you may want to pre party or bring a wad of cash. They had plenty of alcohol drinks as well.
One note, the line to get in forms down 2^nd towards Broadway and gets long … we noticed many folks coming in from the opposite way up 2^nd in a much shorter line merging at the entrance with our line so that could be a short cut for future concerts.

It is no surprise that the Ascend Ampitheatre exists in a town known as The Music City. Just a few blocks from the honkey-​tonks of Broadway, the indoor Bridgestone Arena, and the legendary Ryman Auditorium, this venue is a beautiful addition to the music scene.
Dropped into a riverfront park, Ascend is a smaller joint that is easily accessible from the street grid. I don’t know what the parking situation looks like since I was staying at the Hilton a couple blocks away. However, I found this easy to get into, seemed more intimate, and the staff were friendly and accommodating.
Granted, I was seeing the legendary Neil Young — so the audience may have been on the nature side — and the weather was absolutely delightful, but I had an amazing time. We had reserved seats in row T of Section 103 and found the sound to be great, perfect sight lines to the stage, and a great audience.
If you have the opportunity to catch a show at Ascend, do it. Oh … and Neil Young is still rockin the free world at 70 years old. An amazing show — even though I would have liked to have heard a few more of his monster hits like Cinnamon Girl, Old Man, or My My Hey Hey.

Although dismayed at the price gouging vendors, last year we loved the 4 concerts we attended at Ascend Amphitheater. This year I can’t find a ticket we can afford. Yes, it is true. We prefer to sit near the front and those tickets ALWAYS cost more than lawn seats. I’m willing to pay a reasonable amt to have a seat and be closer to the stage. Last year we had the opportunity to actually purchase tickets on Ticketmaster at a fair market price. This year, every concert we look at only has tickets in the front section that are labeled and priced special– Cheap Trick Fan Club $ 350+ each. Journey VIP Party $ 350+ each. That’s for the middle section. There are more expensive seats closer. Seriously? Cheap Trick and Journey are both 40yo+ bands. Why do they want to gouge us? Come on people!

We saw Eric Church’s acoustic performance at the inaugural performance. Incredible show!
Beautiful venue with a nicely sloped open lawn area for GA. Bring a blanket and arrive early so you can save your spot — also, if it had rained recently you’re going to want a blanket to sit on before the show and stand on after. There are no bad seats in the lawn EXCEPT for the two giant light stands that are about ⁵⁰⁄₆₀ feet tall — if you sit directly behind one you’re going to have a bad time.
I see a lot of other reviewers complaining about how expensive drinks were. Ummm… really? What did you except? $ 4 2−4-1s? Of course it’s expensive! It’s Nashville! At a brand new venue! Personally, I felt $ 12 for a 25oz domestic beer was a very reasonable price for a stadium/​venue. Also, sneak in a flask, drink beforehand, don’t be a rookie.
Had a blast and can’t wait to come back.

Someone must have read my review because they took that dreadful black tarp off the fence.
That was a ridiculous move, to begin with.
If you’re going to build an outdoor concert venue in downtown, expect local residents to watch from the other side of the fence.

Saw Pretty Lights here and it was amazing! Having the skyline in the background was wicked. Recommend comfy shoes, big mistake on my end after a night standing on a hill but I can’t wait to make this trip for another show!

I saw Florence and the Machine at this amphitheater last weekend. Entrance was easy, the bathrooms were nice, plenty of beer carts, seating was general admission on the lawn & although it had rained it wasn’t too bad. The view from the amphitheater is exceptional and it was a great way to start a weekend in Nashville.

Awesome new venue for music! I was here last weekend to see Lake Street Dive and Grace Potter perform, and the experience was great. There’s standing room in the front, ticketed lawn seating in the middle, and standing room and tables at the very back. Acoustics are great. Apparently there’s been some complaints about the noise from nearby residents – I guess that’s the price you pay for living in the middle of Music City.

My wife wanted to see Florence and the Machine for her birthday… So I figure what the heck. Sounds fun! She booked the tickets in section 103 row R. I have to say this is one of the best venues we have seen a show in. Our seats were great but I honestly don’t believe there is a bad seat here. The lawn area is close enough for great visibility, just bring a blanket or small stadium chairs and you are set. I did see some people had to leave their larger umbrellas and chairs at the gate some I’m not sure about the specifics of what you are allowed to bring in. The only negative I have is the concession prices. Expect to pay about $ 10-​$ 15for a beer or almost $ 5 for a bottle of water.

Beautiful place with 5-​star potential but LOTS of kinks to work out. Poor crowd control with cheaters standing on stairways during shows and some serious mud issues when it rains. Brewing issues with promoters’ heads exploding over the couple dozen people getting a watered down show for free outside the gates. Clumsy park and greenway closure planning. Underutilization if all the gates available to let folks in. Complaints abound about smokers but that can be solved with more general metro laws about parks and smoking.
Great sound, lovely outdoor space. The backdrop is amazing, too. Concessions are stereotypically close to laughably overpriced, but the forgiving policy on bringing snacks and water is a nice balance. Some info is harder to find, like gate open times, but mostly well communicated
Highly likely that season two will be far better planned and executed once all the disparate parties involved start to have better right and left hand coordination.
Definitely a gem for Nashville that just needs a little more polish.

3-​stars for this place but this venue has the potential to be perfect. I decided to make the trip down from Louisville to see Florence + The Machine. Great show! The sound was better than expected to be an outside venue.
On to the good and the bad of this venue. I’ve been to many cities for many different concerts. Big. Small. Outdoor. Indoor. You name it.
This venue is completely outside in downtown Nashville. There are seated sections in the front with a sidewalk separating the general admission lawn section in the back. I’m not exactly sure of the exact capacity but it has to be well over 5 or 6K. The seating as well as the lawn is gradually elevated. As far as seeing the show, there are no complaints no matter where you stand or sit.
The show area is fantastic! The rest of the grounds is another story. It holds a lot of people. Fine. The problem occurs with the drinks, concessions, food truck (s), other food, drink stands, merch tables, radio station booths, atm, restrooms, and other stands around. They’re concentrated in practically 2 locations on opposite ends. The lines are one thing, but lines intersecting lines, chaotic, and rude people… not a user friendly experience to say the least.
Peeve number 2! If you’re going to have a food truck then have more than one truck on the grounds! It was next to impossible to get food from the one truck that was there. There was one line with literally 50 people in it when I walked over!
Peeve number 3! I went to the regular concessions to order a bottle of water. 4.75… ok… typical price for a venue bottle of water. Fine. They took my lid! They literally opened the bottle up and took my lid! I asked for it back and they ignored me! The cashier and the girl that gave me the bottle of water wouldn’t even acknowledge me as I was asking for my lid. What… you can’t give me a legitimate answer? Later on I saw a girl with a bottle of water and one of the event workers took her lid too! What’s with that?!
Peeve number 4! The prices! Out of all the cities and venues I’ve been to I have NEVER SEEN prices that expensive. Craft beer… 16 dollars! Domestic cans… around 12 dollars! Domestic premium (whatever that means) cans… around 13 dollars! I shudder to think what the vodka stand was charging over in the corner. Drink before you get there!
The lawn did get muddy last night as it misted rain throughout the evening so don’t try to wear fancy shoes if you have lawn seats.
I’ve been to countless shows at the Ryman and a few at Exit/​In (is it even there anymore?). This was my first show at this Amphitheater. Tell me that Nashville has more venues that are better than this one.
Take-​aways:
1: Great venue with numerous planning issues.
2: I doubt I’ll make the trip again unless I buy seats that aren’t on the lawn.
3: Drink at one of the many bars downtown before you get there. (Prices are outrageous)
4: Eat somewhere downtown before arriving at the venue.

Awesome addition to Broaaaaadwayyyyyy. We saw Hall & Oates and although I have some reservations about their show in particular, the sound was great and the weather couldn’t have been better. (Even the seated section is open air, so be prepared if the weather isn’t good.) The lawn is very nice and if you get there early you can put your lawn chairs right behind a low wall that you can put your feet up on. Looked very comfy. Lawn chairs have to be the low kind though. Drinks were of course pretty high, but there was a large selection of draft and canned beers and liquor. Not all bars accepted credit cards though so be forewarned.

There was knee slapping. There was jigging. There was everything is expect when I saw Old Crow Medicine Show.
I attended the new Amphitheater with my friend who had an extra free GA ticket. There were sights, sounds, old men dancing, and an overall good time. The place definitely makes for a good concert venue.
Upon arrival we ordered up two tall boys of bud light. The beer selection here is lacking. C’mon there are so many great breweries in Nashville. Why on earth are you forcing people to drink this?
The lawn is nice. Perfect for a big group to lay out and enjoy themselves. We saw people who attempted to sit or stand in front of the lawn were quickly ushered along. Unless of course you sat in the end of the lawn, all the way to the side. No one was shooing anyone away, you would have to do it yourself. After awhile though, how many times can you say something to different people.
The highlights though were the environment and the culture. You ain’t in Tennessee unless there is a sign that says, «Please No Guns», no metal detector, and just an old lady politely asking if we did indeed have any guns. As I mentioned the hooting, hollering, knee slapping, and dancing were out in full force. I’m glad I got to experience first hand.
This is an awesome concert venue. Just needs to step up the beer game.

This is such an awesome addition the riverfront! The sight lines are great from wherever you sit, including the lawn. My only concern would be if it rains, there aren’t a whole lot of spots to take cover from!

Wasn’t happy with the staff. We were given a hard time getting to our seats when using the Passbook app for entry. Security demanded a paper ticket to get to our seats. Luckily, I had planned for such an issue and had print outs in my pocket. Compared to previous set lists, Manson dropped 1 song, and the Pumpkins weren’t allowed to do an encore due to the city’s 11pm noise curfew. So much for «Music City».
Keep in mind that this only pertains to the venue. Smashing Pumpkins delivered 5 stars for sure.

I LOVED the new amphitheater! We went to see Needtobreathe with Colony House, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and Switchfoot. We had tickets in the pit (which was standing only), and the view behind the stage was just an incredible backdrop for these awesome bands.
The Hattie B’s hot chicken truck is really cool to have onsite, and I appreciated the availability of beer and drinks all over the facility without having to stand in line. Also, there were several bins for recycling which makes me very happy to see!
The seats in the middle of the theater were padded and awesome! After 4 hours of standing, I was really wishing for a place to sit down. The lawn was awesome too, though! Spacious and nicely elevated for a great view of the stage.
My «feedback» is this: On the website, the General Admission Pit, listed as PITGA on the tickets, is listed as «orchestra». That was confusing, leading us to be unsure if we were on the lawn, or where exactly we’d be. There is also no information as to if the pit will have seats or no seats for the concerts. Several photos I found on Instagram led me to believe we’d have seats (if that was where our tickets would be) but for this concert, there was no seats. I ended up with a bulky bag holding a blanket that I had to carry around all evening because of the lack of information on the site. I’d appreciate a few more details to help people be better prepared!
I cant’ wait to go back to more concerts here; yay Nashville for finally having an amazing outdoor venue that can accomodate large shows.

So, great venue. Love having yet another place to hear live music in Nashville, and with AmSouth/​Starwood Amphitheater gone, this place was sorely needed. Obviously it is nowhere near as large as the old amphitheater venue was in Antioch, but it is downtown Nashville with a killer view of our humble skyline and within walking distance to all the best that downtown has to offer.
Pros: Our group went for the recent Needtobreathe show and had a blast. The acoustics are great, and the venue sounds like a true amphitheater. Everything was neat, clean, and relatively well designed.
For the cons: You will NEVER get me to pay $ 16 for a single beer. What in the crow?! Also, the seats in the reserved section need to be rethought. It was incredibly hard to find your section and row, but when you finally reached your destination, not all the chairs are marked with the numbers, and you don’t realize upon your initial visit that the numbers that are there are tiny and stuck on little removable magnets on a minuscule sticker on the back of the chairs in front of you. The crowd departure needs to also be rethought. The gates are tiny, and when you have 6 – 7,000 people departing at the same time, it becomes a complete cluster trying to simply get out of the venue.
Overall, we will most definitely be back, as we have tickets to another upcoming show in just a couple weeks, but we will be more prepared and most certainly will have had a drink or two before the show. $ 16, hah! I can’t help but laugh every time I think about it. (Oh, it’s also $ 4.50 for a small bottle of water, so be prepared for that too.)

What a wonderful experience. I loved every second of Counting Crows this past Friday night. What a wonderful addition to Nashville. The backdrop of the amphitheater is the beautiful Nashville skyline, took my breath away! The size is perfect and no matter were you are you are always close to a bar, food, and restrooms!

Was able to go to grand opening concert. A wonderful and needed addition to Nashvegas. Ticket fees are high but expected. Drinks are about the same as the Titans games, HIGH. Food prices HIGH. Won’t comment on the food as it has to get better. Right now FAIR, but then again, eat before you go, not while there. You could spend a lot when a dinner at nice place could be the same. Seriously 5 dollars for a coke!!! Or 6 dollars for hot dog. A HOT DOG!
The Nashville skyline as the backdrop is lovely which is a plus.
Seating was fair with padded folding chair, but no numbers!!! Hope they change that.
Chairs on the lawn have to be a certain height I heard. Not sure what that means, may want to check this.
Parking in Nissan Stadium lot, just over Shelby Street Bridge is 5 dollars. Excited to have this as a new place for entertainment.

This venue is awesome and a great addition to downtown Nashville!!! So happy to have attended the inaugural show with Eric Church.
Great layout, spacious, plenty of restrooms and food/​drink options, and just a nice chill place.
Yes drinks are outrageously priced but otherwise it’s fantastic.