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True to the Music City theme, the Tennessee Titans plan to make live music a prominent fixture on game days at the new venue<\/em><\/strong> Reflecting the continuing convergence of sports and entertainment, the incipient Nissan Stadium, new home of the NFL\u2019s Tennessee Titans when it opens in 2027, is being built with a dedicated, permanent concert-production infrastructure, including the league\u2019s first permanent in-bowl stage. To establish the new venue\u2019s role as a live-music venue and destination on top-end music touring itineraries, the design features a large retractable stage in the east end and a smaller, fixed \u201cNashville Stage\u201d at its west end.<\/p>\n Although many NFL stadiums \u2014 particularly domed versions like Las Vegas\u2019s Allegiant Stadium, Inglewood, CA\u2019s SoFi Stadium, and Atlanta\u2019s Mercedes-Benz Stadium \u2014 are designed to accommodate concerts and other types of performances year-round, none currently incorporate permanent, purpose-built stages of this sort. The stage at the Titans\u2019 new facility will be the only one of its type in any of the league\u2019s 30 stadiums.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they were designing it, they didn\u2019t want music to be an afterthought, [as with] most stadiums; they wanted to be a premier music venue,\u201d says Curtis Heath, president, Guitar Center Business Solutions<\/strong> and Audio Visual Design Group (AVDG)<\/strong>, its AV-systems\u2013integration division, which collaborated with the Titans on design of the main stage. \u201cFrom the Titans\u2019 perspective, they\u2019re building more than just a football stadium; they\u2019re building a venue that can support NFL games, concerts, corporate events, community events, premier experiences throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n The venue will also house a 260-component K2 PA system from L-Acoustics, the largest to date globally for the France-based manufacturer, which opened a major U.S. office and distribution center in Nashville this year. That system will be installed by the Nashville office of Clair Global.<\/p>\n Guitar Center Business Solutions and AVDG are owned by Guitar Center, which is the Titans\u2019 official music-gear retailer, a partnership announced in February as the team deepens its connection to Nashville\u2019s music identity. As audio-visual integrator for key areas of the Titans\u2019 new stadium, AVDG will lead the venue\u2019s end-to-end AV delivery from system design and engineering through installation, commissioning, and long-term optimization, such as designing the sound system in the green room.<\/p>\n Built for the Big Show<\/strong><\/p>\n The stage will allow use of the stadium\u2019s field area for productions, which, at the very high end of touring, increasingly use multiple stages. So-called B-stages are either completely separate from a main stage or are connected via a large thrust.<\/p>\n For instance, Taylor Swift has used a B-stage on every tour since her debut Fearless Tour, positioning it on the far end of the venue; that configuration was also used for her subsequent Speak Now World Tour and The Red Tour. The approach was pioneered by the Rolling Stones, which has included B-stages in basically every tour since the late 1970s, and touring artists have to travel with their entire production ensemble. Integrating more stage area into various parts of the stadium in Nashville will offer tour-production designers more opportunities for design innovation and spectacle, which have become critical for ticket sales in what has become a very top-heavy production and high-ticket-price environment.<\/p>\n Making the Music Connection<\/strong><\/p>\n The new $2.1 billion, 1.8 million-sq.-ft. facility was designed by MANICA Architecture with TVS as architect of record. It\u2019s being constructed by the Tennessee Builders Alliance<\/a>, <\/strong>whose members collectively have 55 years of NFL-stadium\u2013construction experience, including 17 of the 30 most recently completed projects. The new venue features a circular, translucent roof, a 60,000 seating capacity, and 360-degree exterior terraces. The new audio system will be paired with more than 77,000 sq. ft. of Daktronics<\/a> LED displays, including a 2,275-ft.-wide \u201cRing of Fire\u201d screen around the upper bowl.<\/p>\n The main stage, which is on the second seating tier and will be visible to every seat in the house, will have its own green room. In keeping with Nashville\u2019s Music City theme, it\u2019s planned to evoke one of the city\u2019s most famous singer-songwriter venues and be able to hold as many as 200 people, creating a venue within a venue.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll literally be able to come out of that [club-like] green room and onto the stadium stage itself,\u201d Heath notes. \u201cInside the stadium, they\u2019re making it very much music-themed, music-decorated. That\u2019s kind of the whole identity of the stadium. It\u2019s the first music-themed stadium ever built.\u201d<\/p>\n Said Tennessee Titans SVP Adam Nuse<\/strong> in a statement, \u201cMusic is at the heart of who we are as a city, and Guitar Center\u2019s expertise and innovation will help us take our game-day experience to the next level, creating a home-field advantage that is uniquely Nashville. Guitar Center knows music is a unifying force, whether that\u2019s at a concert, on a game day, or in the community, and we are proud to welcome them as partners of both the Tennessee Titans and new Nissan Stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n The NHL Stakes a Musical Claim<\/strong><\/p>\n Although the Titans\u2019 stage will the first permanent one for the NFL, Nashville\u2019s NHL Predators have always had a performance platform built into their home at Bridgestone Arena. Constructed over the Zamboni tunnel, that stage is modular and can be removed in part or whole as needed.<\/p>\n The Bridgestone stage is tied into the arena\u2019s main d&b audiotechnik sound system, with a DiGiCo Quantum 338 front-of-house console and an SD stage rack on an Optocore network. A DiGiCo SD-12 console is available for use as a guest mix position. The Bridgestone Arena has also been used regularly as a rehearsal space for major music tours.<\/p>\n