After a decade of planning, a new concert hall opens doors this week in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Pinnacle – a 4,500-person venue owned and operated by concert promotion giant AEG Presents – kicks off a packed spring lineup Thursday with an opening night headlined by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves. In March, the venue offers its first full month of programming; shows include classic rock staple Journey, troubadour Jason Isbell and EDM favorite Deadmau5, among others.

AEG first set sights on a Nashville venue 10 years ago, said Mike DuCharme, regional vice president of AEG Presents.

The Pinnacle opens in Nashville Yards, a 19-acre downtown development that houses condos, retail space and business offices. It joins a robust list of AEG-operated halls in North America that includes the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Roadrunner in Boston and the Eastern in Atlanta.

“I think as we build these venues … we get better as we go,” said Brent Fedrizzi, president of AEG Presents North America. “Special events, trade shows, [this room is] very versatile. It’s wired for television. We want those type of events, being in an industry town like Nashville.”

At a standing-room capacity of 4,500 people, the room fills a need in Nashville’s live entertainment landscape. It fits snugly between the nearby Bridgestone Arena – which regularly draws 15,000+ for large-scale shows – and the historic Ryman Auditorium, which fits about 2,300 seated ticket-buyers. The Grand Ole Opry House holds 4,400 people, but can’t accommodate standing-room tours, a commonplace in genres like EDM and hip-hop.

The Pinnacle offers a space in Nashville for artists who can sell a few thousand tickets without needing to fill an arena. Before the room opened, arguably the best chance for locals to catch acts like EDM duo Zeds Dead or rapper Denzel Curry was at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, an annual event about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.

“When you look at the landscape of rooms in this town, there’s really nothing in this size … a space to be able to put on big-room, GA floor shows,” DuCharme said.

The Pinnacle Highlights:

  • A flexible room: The Pinnacle floor features a standing-room-only space with tiered risers in the back to aid viewing for those who may not want to stand elbow-to-elbow with concert-goers. A U-shaped balcony hangs above the floor level; the balcony offers a mix of sitting and standing-room ticket options. Some shows, such as Journey or Jason Isbell, offer seated floor tickets. For smaller shows, organizers can draw a curtain to cut off unoccupied sections of the room. Capacity options include the previously-mentioned 4,500 people, as well as a 3,100-person and 1,600-person configuration.
  • Show production and acoustic treatment: Venue operators installed state-of-the-art lighting and video displays via Nashville-based Solotech. The company plans to use the room as a showcase space, DuCharme said. The venue features acoustically-treated walls on the main floor and balcony level. For in-house sound, Clair Global provided K2 loudspeakers from L-Acoustics.
  • Artist-friendly spaces: The back-of-house boasts spacious artist and industry gathering areas. Artists can chose from multiple dressing rooms, each curated with local art. Some rooms feature a private, outdoor deck. Other spaces provide access to a side-stage balcony seating area meant for family and friends of the artist.
  • Local art: AEG commissioned work from 20+ local artists to for venue – including pieces installed at the entrance, near bars and backstage. Installations include wallpaper, signage and interactive murals.

Additional highlights from the four-story venue include a 40×80-foot stage, public patio with a performance space and seven cashless bars. Notable shows booked at The Pinnacle include Jack White (two nights), Wilco, Johnnyswim, Pixies and Megan Moroney (two nights).

In a given year, AEG hopes to open The Pinnacle doors for about 100 public events. Venue staffing ranges from 150 to 180 employees, while company leadership plans to open a nearby office space for 70 corporate employees in the coming weeks.

See a full list of shows at thepinnaclenashville.com.

Read the full article from Forbes here.