Starwood Amphitheatre
Encyclopedia
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
area from 1985 to 2006. It was owned by Live Nation
Live Nation
Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....
and had a capacity of 17,137. It had previously been owned by SFX Entertainment and Clear Channel Worldwide, both predecessors of Live Nation.
Venue information
Located in the Nashville suburbSuburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Antioch
Antioch, Tennessee
Antioch is a community in southeastern Davidson County, Tennessee, that is governed by the Nashville metropolitan government. The area is assigned to postal zip code 37013.- History :...
, the amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
featured one large stage, a covered pavilion with reserved box seating, and an open-air grassy area for general admission seating. A much smaller stage was located near the venue's north entrance and usually featured local bands entertaining audiences as they entered the venue. For larger music festivals, a temporary third stage would be erected in a fenced area normally used as a parking lot.
Starwood regularly hosted most of Nashville's summer concerts featuring A-list artists from all genres of music. The typical season, which generally ran from April to October, featured 20 to 25 events.
Starwood was criticized for the lack of sufficient road infrastructure in the area. Though within two miles (3 km) of Interstate 24
Interstate 24
Interstate 24 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from Interstate 57 to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at Interstate 75....
, Starwood was located along Tennessee State Route 171 (Old Hickory Blvd), a two-lane road in a primarily residential and industrial neighborhood. It was also located along U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 41 is a north–south United States Highway that runs from Miami, Florida to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, was U.S...
(Murfreesboro Road), a four-lane highway that does not intersect a freeway in the immediate area. Therefore, larger crowds would result in major traffic problems both before and after events.
Starwood Amphitheatre was not affiliated with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hospitality ownership and management organization, headquartered in White Plains, New York. One of the world's largest hotel companies, it owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties...
.
Naming rights
First American National Bank
First American National Bank was a subsidiary of First American National Corporation, a financial institution based in Nashville, Tennessee that served the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia...
for five years, and the venue was renamed First American Music Center. That October, First American National Bank merged into Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
-based AmSouth Bancorporation
AmSouth Bancorporation
AmSouth Bancorporation was a banking company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and operated for its final year in existence as a bank holding company of Regions Financial Corporation after a merger between the two banks. AmSouth was previously known as First National Bank of Birmingham, which...
. AmSouth agreed to assume the naming rights upon the merger, and after just one season with its new name, the venue was renamed AmSouth Amphitheatre in 2000. AmSouth declined to extend the naming rights agreement past the initial five-year deal, and without a new suitor, the venue reverted to its original name in 2004.
Closing
On February 13, 2007, Live Nation announced its intention to close Starwood Amphitheatre and cancel the 2007 season in anticipation of a potential sale, despite an earlier statement that the 2007 season would take place as scheduled.Entertainment industry insiders blame the closing on Starwood's age and size, calling it a "first-generation" outdoor venue that was only about two-thirds the size of the ones being built today and one that lacked now-standard amenities for both patrons and performers, therefore not able to attract the top-tier artists who demand larger, more modern performance venues.
Starwood grossed only $4.6 million in ticket sales during the 2006 season and was one of four underperforming venues that Live Nation put up for sale following the season. Only two events were scheduled for 2007 before the announcement to close the venue: The Charlie Daniels Band's annual Volunteer Jam
Volunteer Jam
The Volunteer Jam was the annual Charlie Daniels Band concert first held on October 4, 1974 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee This was the beginning of a tradition....
, and a Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
/Kellie Pickler
Kellie Pickler
Kellie Dawn Pickler is an American country music artist and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol, eventually finishing in sixth place. In 2006, she signed to 19 Recordings and BNA Records as a recording artist, releasing...
show.
The last act to perform at Starwood was Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
and Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
, two bands who had played there many times over the years.
Demolition and beyond
The Starwood offices and concession areas were demolished during the last half of September 2007, culminating with the dynamite demolition of the stage, seating area, and dressing rooms on September 29, 2007.Live Nation announced on April 30, 2007 that the buyer of the Starwood property is Vastland Realty Group. Plans for the site were revealed the following November, when Vastland announced a $100 million mixed-use residential and commercial development named "Starwood Commons" that will feature 350000 square feet (32,516.1 m²) of retail space and 250 multi-level townhomes.
More than three years later, the site had not been cleared, and the landscape remained much the same as it did following demolition of the structures. In October 2010, the current owner of the site petitioned to allow live concerts on the site as the original development plans had fallen through due in part to the late-2000s recession.
In December 2010, a Nashville band named August Christopher performed on the rubble, weeds, and stage that remained, shooting a music video for their song "Down". Real estate developer Vastland Realty announced plans to return concerts to the site beginning as soon as Summer 2011 using a temporary stage and seating.