The Pinnacle Of Nashville Yards On Brink Of Opening With Kacey Musgraves

The Pinnacle, a new 4,500-cap music venue in Nashville Yards, turns all the knobs.

A partnership between Southwest Value Partners – owner and developer of the 19-acre Nashville Yards project – and AEG, The Pinnacle is designed for the music industry by industry professionals with the future of live entertainment in Music City top of mind.

“A music venue was always a part of the masterplan vision for Nashville Yards,” said Joe Bucher, managing director & partner, design, visioning and development strategy, Southwest Value Partners. “The Pinnacle serves as a heartbeat in the center of site providing energy, foot traffic and a cultural centerpiece for the development. It is authentic to our site in every way and will become the go-to music destination for locals and tourists when visiting downtown.”

Southwest Value Partners and AEG Real Estate are partners in the $1 billion+ development. The new AEG Nashville flagship venue, which is operated by AEG Presents, opens Feb. 27 with seven-time Gammy winner and Nashville cred goalpost Kacey Musgraves followed on March 1 by Grammy-nominated dance music producer and electronic artist Illenium.

“It became a vision that started 10 years ago,” said Mike DuCharme, Regional Vice President for AEG Presents. “What made this such an appealing project for the company, when you look at it, is what’s happening in Nashville. It’s become a hub of the industry, become a hub for music at a time when we hadn’t really established ourselves with a venue this size.”

The venue fills a lane in the city’s entertainment landscape at twice the size of the historic Ryman Auditorium and 2,300 below Ascend Amphitheater (6,800 cap).

“We looked at the landscape to find out what the capacity fit was going to be,” DuCharme said. “You’ve got the Ryman at 2,300 and the Opry at 4,300 seated. You’ve got Bridgestone [Arena]. You’ve got Ascend. You’ve got Municipal [Auditorium] all with larger capacities. But this is a stepping-stone spot in open space to put on a show at a high level.”

The music venue is part of an entertainment-centric borough in the multi-use urban community. AEG has created other respected entertainment districts including L.A. LIVE, London’s The O2 and Berlin’s Mercedes Platz. AEG Presents promotes more than 11,000 shows each year.

“We’ve had success in other markets that have a development piece surrounding it – similar to L.A. Live in a way,” explained DuCharme. “But this is a district that provides residential. It’s got parking. It’s got retail, restaurants, office spaces. It creates a one-stop shopping community and The Pinnacle will be the heartbeat of the entire development.”

Meticulous planning went into the 88,000-square-foot concert hall and indoor event space, which boasts amenities that include a lifter floor for enhanced sightlines, a horseshoe balcony with rail-side standing, VIP seating, first-come-first-served bleachers on the balcony level and high-end production capability for live streaming and televised events with parking and plug ins for broadcast trucks.

Inspiration was drawn from AEG’s extensive portfolio of venues. Architect is HOK, with interior design by Formation Creative
and general contractor Clark | Bell, a joint venture.

“This is a perfect scope venue that we’ve taken from the ground up to conceptualize what we’ve taken from Mission Ballroom, what we learned at the Eastern, Roadrunner and try to improve upon and grow from there,” said DuCharme. “It’s an industry town and we really tried to cater to the industry, the artists and the fans – hit all three of the people we need to please so they keep coming back.”

The venue is acoustically designed for a premier sound experience with cutting-edge lighting which is fully customizable and video systems with a state-of-the-art Clair/K2 L-Acoustics sound system by Solotech. In addition to the main stage, the venue has a 400-capacity open-air rooftop venue and bar. There are VIP areas for the industry and a viewing area for special guests that may not want to watch the show from the audience.

Built for production, the over-engineered steel structure supports heavy loads 33 feet from stage to rig points and the rigging grid extends into house. There is a 20X40 video wall and the 80X40 Gallagher Stage was built with increased weight capabilities to accommodate larger productions.

“For a show that can’t do pyro, we’ll be able to do pyro, cold sparks and some of the things you haven’t seen outside of an arena,” explained DuCharme.

An added bonus in a city known for its parking challenges, there is on-site protected parking for buses and trucks with direct access to a venue freight elevator for easy load in as well as a House/Broadcast Service panel system for tours, events and broadcasts with pre-installed patch panels. There are showers, laundry and office space for traveling productions. Talent greenrooms have natural light, private facilities and a secluded outdoor deck including a fire pit.

The audience is built in. Nashville Yards is expected to average 20,000 people on site daily. Another draw, the entire first floor of The Pinnacle consists of retail and restaurants.

The booking strategy is diverse and inclusive. Upcoming shows include Killswitch Engage (March 5), Deadmau5 (March 7), Turnpike Troubadours (March 8), Journey (March 12), T-Pain (March 13), Russell Dickerson (March 14) followed by four nights with Jason Isbell (March 20-22, 28) and two back-to-back nights with Zac Brown Band (April 1-2).

“I like to book a bunch of different show, I like to have an eclectic calendar,” said DuCharme, who has been with AEG for 15 years has oversight of Nashville, Atlanta, Kansas City and St. Louis. “I want to touch something for everybody, very intentionally, trying to not lean to heavy in one direction.”

In addition to The Pinnacle, Nashville Yards features the 591-room Grand Hyatt Nashville and the newly renovated Union Station Nashville Yards; retail and restaurants; 4,000 parking spaces; two towers with 650 residential units; seven acres of open plazas, courtyards and green space including the Ascension St. Thomas Landing; office towers and a creative office building anchored by Amazon Nashville and CAA, including a multi-tenant tower that will serve as the future headquarters of exclusive naming rights partner Pinnacle Financial Partners.

The long-term agreement, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, makes Pinnacle the official bank of the music venue and marks its first naming rights partnership.

“The Pinnacle will be an international symbol that shows the music community how the arts and business should work together,” said Andy Moats, Pinnacle’s director of music, entertainment and sports in a statement. “Our music banking team will be directly across the street from the venue – visiting artists will be able to see us from the green room balcony. And we’ll be sharing the Nashville Yards campus with AEG Presents and CAA, making this a new epicenter for the business side of Music City.”

Details of the deal were not disclosed, but key signage elements include prominent fixed interior and exterior logo placements, as well as year-round digital signage on all screens within the Nashville Yards LED network. Pinnacle will also receive added branding and exposure via the music venue’s digital and social channels.